Chicago is a city with history — a whole lot of history, dating back to before the citys founding in 1837. So its hardly surprising that its also a city with ghosts — a whole lot of ghosts.

These alleged hauntings stem from some of the citys darkest chapters, like the Great Chicago Fire, the sinking of the SS Eastland, and when a serial killer lured victims from the Chicago Worlds Fair.

Check out some of the spine-chilling tales that highlight Chicagos haunted history — even skeptics will be fascinated.

Death alley in the Theatre District

The Nederlander TheatreIn 1903, Chicagos Iroquois Theatre was the site of an infamous fire.

Located in the citys Theatre District, the newly built building claimed to be fireproof. But during its inaugural performance, a blaze broke out. When patrons tried to escape, they found many of the exits were blocked.

After the flames subsided, around 600 people were pronounced dead. As bodies were recovered from the scene, the alley behind the theatre functioned as a temporary morgue.

Today, the site is home to James M. Nederlander Theatre. The alleyway behind the theatre, now known as Death Alley, still exists today. There have been reports of faint cries, apparitions, and feelings of being touched or even pushed by invisible entities.

Ghostly tales dont seem to keep avid theatre-goers away, however. The Nederlander Theatres stunning architecture and run of premieres and Broadway shows keep the crowds coming and the ghosts at bay.

H.H. Holmes Murder CastleMade famous by the blockbuster book The Devil in the White City, the countrys first serial killer is forever linked with the Chicago Worlds Fair of 1893.

Its hard to know definitively just how many people Holmes murdered. While he confessed to 27, most of whom were women lured from the nearby Worlds Fair, some historians believe the number to be much higher.

One of the infamous sites associated with Holmes is the location of his notorious Murder Castle in Chicagos Englewood neighborhood.

When constructing the building, Holmes hired multiple contractors to ensure that no one person, aside from himself, knew the floor plan in its entirety. The bizarre blueprint included stairs that led to nowhere, oddly angled hallways and windowless rooms, designed to disorient and trap his victims.

While the building has been replaced by a post office, maintenance workers report odd sightings and feelings of intense anxiety while in the new buildings basement.

You can learn more about H. H. Holmes and the Worlds Fair on local tours like The Devil in the White City Bus Tour.

Lincoln Park

Couch Tomb; photo courtesy Chicago Park DistrictThe citys largest green space, Lincoln Park is a lakefront oasis thats popular with locals and visitors alike. But the park may be concealing a dark secret underground.

The southern edge of the park originally served as a massive city cemetery throughout the mid-1800s. During the Great Chicago Fire, all the wooden grave markers were destroyed — and their locations became lost to history.

One remnant of this macabre past is the limestone Couch Tomb, which still stands at the south end of Lincoln Park.

In 1998, construction workers digging in the park discovered human bones. In total, experts unearthed the skeletal remains of more than 80 people, including one 19th-century iron coffin.

Today, its estimate that thousands of bodies may remain buried in unmarked grave throughout the park. If youd like to learn more, the Lincoln Park Zoo offers Haunted History Tours each October.

Congress Plaza HotelKnown as one the most haunted places in Illinois, the Congress Plaza Hotels history begins with the 1893 Worlds Fair.

The luxurious hotel was built to help house the influx of visitors to the city during the fair, and quickly became the focus of rumors.

For instance, some say that mobster Al Capone and his cohorts ran their headquarters and even committed gruesome crimes there, although these claims have come under some scrutiny.

Mob rumors aside, if you find yourself spending the night in the South Tower, you might just run into Peg Leg Johnny, the spirit of a man who was allegedly murdered in the alley behind the hotel.

The North Tower has its own urban legends. Hotel staff have reported seeing the apparition of a playful young boy on the 12th floor. He is believed to be the spirit of a child who, along with his sibling, was thrown from the North Tower by his mother. She, too, jumped to her death.

The most hauntings, however, take place in the infamous Room 441. Visitors have reported seeing the silhouette of a woman, objects moving around the room, or lights turning on and off at random. The room is even believed to be the inspiration for Stephen Kings horror story, 1408, about a haunted hotel room.

Explore more: Learn the chilling stories behind Chicagos most historic — and haunted — hotels.

Site of the Eastland Disaster, Chicago River

Photo courtesy Eastland Disaster Historical SocietyChicago suffered one of its most devastating tragedies on July 25, 1915, when the SS Eastland steamship capsized in the Chicago River, trapping 2,573 passengers on board.

The disaster occurred shortly after the Titanic sinking, when the lack of lifeboats on passenger ships came under scrutiny. A new regulation was passed to ensure enough safety vessels on ships.

Unfortunately, the addition of these lifeboats in the Eastlands case caused the already top-heavy ship to roll over in the Chicago River. In total, 844 passengers and crew members died that day.

Various Chicago establishments were used as makeshift morgues to store the recovered bodies. Many of these spots have experienced ghostly sightings, and are said to elicit feelings of general unease among visitors.

Reports of apparitions and unusual wave patterns also extend to the stretch of river where the Eastland disaster occurred between Clark and LaSalle Streets. Many of the victims are buried in the Bohemian National Cemetery on the citys North Side.

The Drake Hotel

The Drake from afarThe Congress Plaza isnt the only hotel in Chicago with a ghostly history.

Built in 1920, The Drake has long epitomized elegance and opulence, with illustrious guests such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Marilyn Monroe, Queen Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, Princess Diana — and a few forlorn ghosts.

Legend has it that the hotel is haunted by two famous women — The Woman in Black and the Woman in Red.

The Woman in Black was a killer who shot a Chicago socialite inside her eight-floor suite at The Drake in 1944, but was never identified or apprehended. Today, a mysterious woman, dressed in black, is sometimes spotted on the hotels eighth floor.

The story of the Woman in Red starts at the hotels New Years Eve gala in 1920. One of the partygoers discovered her philandering husband (or fiancé, depending on whos telling the story). In a frenzy of jealousy and rage, she takes an elevator to the 10th floor, and swiftly jumps to her death. Her ghostly apparition can be seen haunting the hotels ballrooms and the 10th floor.

See if you can spot any spirits during high tea at the Palm Courtor, better still, book a stay at this historic hotel.

Graceland CemeteryBuilt in 1860, Graceland Cemetery is the final resting place of some of Chicagos most notable individuals, like David Adler, John Kinzie, Potter Palmer, George Pullman, Marshall Field, and more.

However, it isnt an illustrious personage that causes a stir at the cemetery. Rather, its a 6-year-old girl by the name of Inez Clarke.

The story goes that Inez was struck by lightning in 1880 while playing in the rain. Her parents memorialized her with a stone likeness on her grave. They added a glass box to symbolically protect their daughter from the elements that had so tragically taken her.

On stormy days, cemetery workers and visitors have reported the statue entirely missing. As soon as the storm subsides, however, the statue of Inez Clarke returns to its glass box. Many surmise that she leaves to once again play in the rain.

Site of the St. Valentines Day MassacreIn 1929, four unknown assailants opened fire on a Lincoln Park garage where members of a North Side gang had gathered. Seven people were killed and the nation was shocked at the brutal crime.

While the killings technically remain unsolved, theres little doubt as to who was actually behind them — Al Capone. The famous gangster was in a brutal gang war with the North Side gang leader Bugs Moran, who managed to escape the hit. But for the rest of his days, Capone would claim that he was haunted by Jimmy Clark, one of the men killed in the Valentines Day Massacre.

Today, the garage has been demolished and nothing physical remains on the site of the massacre — though many claim that something supernatural remains. And you can still visit Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder, situated directly across the street from the murder site. The brownstone that houses the restaurant is said to be the lookout spot used by Capones assassins.

Jane Addams Hull House

The famed Hull House was a communal residence on Chicagos West Side, run by Jane Addams, aka the mother of social work, to assist recently arrived immigrants.

It was Addams, in fact, who first spoke of the propertys paranormal nature when she claimed footsteps could be heard in the room where she slept. She assumed this was the wife of Charles Hull, the original owner of the building, who had passed away in that room.

The most famous urban legend of Hull House, however, is the tale of the Devil Baby. The story goes that a mother-to-be and devout Catholic hung a picture of the Virgin Mary in her home in order to bless her impending motherhood. Her husband, however, was just as devout an atheist, and angrily ripped the picture from the wall declaring, Id rather have the Devil in the house!

The child was reportedly born with scaly skin, hooves, and horns, and summarily abandoned at Hull House. Accounts claim that Addams tried to baptize the baby, but could not, eventually locking him in the attic until his death.

Although this story is a folktale and has no basis in fact, it still captivates those who visit Hull House. And in October, the museum hosts The Haunting of Hull-House tours that tell the story of the Devil Baby and more spooky sightings.