My Venture at the Haunted Summer Pub Crawl

If you have ever been on a paranormal investigation, you would know that for the most part it is just sitting and waiting for something to happen. You could wave your EMF all over a location hoping to get a reading only to find a hidden electrical box or a crooked window seam making a “wooo” sound.

However, this past weekend I was honored to be invited to a Haunted Summer Pub Crawl hosted by Jack Chavez of Paranormal Chicago and Tony Szabelski of Chicago Ghost Tours and I was not disappointed. Never one to turn down a ghost investigation or a drink, I gathered my crew and we were off, with my wife Melissa as my camera operator and my daughter Nicole on audio.

Liars Club 1665 W Fulton Ave - This was our first stop and as we sat waiting for the presentation to start I was awed by the Death Metal Music and Goth decor. We ordered drinks and settled in, my wife exploring the area and my daughter going towards the back of the bar. I sat on a stool nearest the door, cooling my hands on my beer when I felt my daughter come up behind me and say ‘hey’ in my ear. As I turned around I saw no one but got an image of a young brunette with short curly hair. I dismissed it until I saw my daughter coming back then realized it wasn’t her. Yup this was going to be a fun filled trip. As Jack and Tony introduced themselves they opened the presentation and we were given a bit of history about the bar. Before it was a bar it was a homeless shelter and the location of multiple murders at different times, the place was rife with negative energies. It was the site of not one but two axe murders, one of a wife killing her husband and another of a meek man who killed and dismembered his overbearing wife.

Not to mention the bludgeoning murder of one man who was fighting over a pair of used pants they say he can be seen coming down the back stairs. After this introduction we were guided to the bus for our next stop.

Stop and Drink 742 N. Clark St. - The next bar on our tour brought us to an Ale house on Clark St. I ordered a mixed drink and once again found a table by the door, the place was dog friendly so every few minutes my daughter would stop mid sentence and swoon as another pup entered. Just for kicks, I turned my ghost radar on and set it on the table while Melissa got us a basket of free popcorn. My radar pinged something near a door at the back of the bar, then Tony entertained us with the story of Droopy, a bar patron who was a regular when the area was considered skid row. Droopy would often drink himself into oblivion until he was unable to walk, at which point he would be carried to a cot in the basement to sleep it off, one day Droopy didn't wake up. According to reports he still haunts some areas of the bar especially near the basement, bartenders are accustomed to hearing footsteps in the empy apartment upstairs and things being moved around behind the bar. I looked down at my ghost radar and sure enough there was still an entity near the door, I found out it was the door to the basement, it was then that I noticed every dog in the place was staring at that particular door.

Goldstar 1755 W. Division - The next stop was a doozy, before we walked in Tony let everyone on the tour use an EMF and told us the place was a speakeasy and a brothel during prohibition, a woman in a lime green dress can be seen from time to time and a gentleman in a straw hat has been reported as well. But the kicker was that the bartender shot a robber in the front entrance, and yes I felt a shift the moment I walked through the front door and felt drawn to the back of the bar. A fellow empath named Juan who was also on the tour was already in the back with his pendulum and asked if I had felt it too. Excited, I turned on my EMF and immediately it spiked to 54 v/m then dropped to 32, then back up to 52. I looked around for an electrical source that may be triggering the machine but found nothing that would pulse it that way. I looked at Melissa and Nicole's EMF and theirs were giving off an erratic pulse from green to red in no particular pattern. I felt as though something quick but lethal had happened on the exact spot we were standing. To test my theory, I moved 5 feet in either direction and the meter faded the farther I got. Time moved quickly at the Goldstar and Jack informed us it was time to go, so I left my untouched drink and we made our way to the door. On our way out we were treated to one last sight, the bullet holes in the glass block by the doorway where the would-be robber was shot.

Emmits Pub 495 N. Milwaukee - The final stop on our journey took us to a bar that was formerly a bank in the 1890’s. It is said that it was used by the Italian mafia as both a place to stash their money and a getaway, allegedly there were tunnels connecting different buildings in the area. Legend has it that two intimidating looking gentlemen patrol the area where the safe used to be. We were treated by Tony on the use of dowsing sticks to communicate with spirits, we were then given a set of our own to ask questions of the spirit world. I guess there were too many people asking questions. I felt the spirits may have been overwhelmed, my ghost radar did pick up an entity hiding in the corner behind Juan the empath and his partner Juan. Perhaps they felt safe behind them.

Sadly this was the end of our tour, however on the ride back we were treated by Tony, Jack and the two Juans' to tales of their adventures on past investigations as well as Chicagos' haunted history and the number of cryptid sightings in the area. Not a moment went by on this tour where I wasn’t intrigued, awed or just plain entertained. On the ride between venues, Jack and Tony made sure we were filled in on what to expect at our next stop, and the history of anything in between. If you are ever in Chicago, this tour is a must see, I would highly recommend it, the leaders of this tour were a storehouse of Chicago history and the supernatural. Good job guys, hope to see you at the next one.