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Weird Chicago Tour, an Alternative Tour of Chicago’s Ghosts, Local Legends & Best Kept Secrets - Greetings and Welcome to the strangeness that is Weird Chicago!

The Weird Chicago Tour is based on the book Weird Illinois by author and tour creator, Troy Taylor — a project that came about by accident because of his love for the history, mystery, ghosts and general weirdness in the state of Illinois and the Windy City. It all started with a little magazine called Weird N.J.

As a longtime fan of the magazine (and the book that followed), Troy was asked to assist when the Weird N.J. creators, Mark Moran & Mark Sceurman, decided to branch out into Weird U.S. After the success of this book from Barnes & Noble Press, Troy was tapped to put together Weird Illinois and the rest, as they say, is history. In 2006, Troy and his staff of “Independent Traveling Mystery Solvers” created the Weird Chicago Tour, an Alternative Tour of Chicago’s Ghosts, Local Legends & Best Kept Secrets. Based on the book, and keeping with the same general themes, these excursions appeal to not only tourists who are looking for something a little different when they come to the Windy City but to Chicago natives too — who frequently tell us “I never knew this was here!”

But what can you expect from a Weird Chicago Tour? It’s all about the offbeat and the left of center — the kind of things that may leave you chuckling, a little unnerved or just scratching your head in confusion. Our tour is created to showcase the unusual aspects of Chicago — and what makes it so haunted, weird & unique. We do this by combining:

Ghosts, Ghosts & More Ghosts: As the author of more than 40 books on haunted places, Troy Taylor and the staff offer a chilling look at some of the most famous, and most unsettling, Chicago ghost stories! This is not your ordinary ghost tour either, but a visit to some of the darkest and most unsettling spirited spots in what they call “the most haunted city in America!” We never guarantee that anything supernatural will happen in the course of a tour but trust us when we say that very strange things have happened on some of our tours in the past!

You Don’t Have to Leave Chicago to Visit Egypt!

In Addition to Ghosts, You’ll see some of the city’s Weirdest bars, eateries, houses, buildings and (haunted) pubs!

Local Legends & Lore: From myths of the Great Chicago Fire to just what happened to John Dillinger’s missing member (if it was John Dillinger at all!) are all part of the legends of Chicago.
Unexplained Phenomena: Has the Virgin Mary visited Chicago? Many people believe so and we’ll take you to some of the most famous local sites and let you judge for yourself!

Fabled People & Places: We’ll take a look at some of Chicago’s greatest disasters, from the horrific Iroquois Theater Fire to the Green Hornet Trolley Disaster and take visitors to sites all over the city where horrific events have made a lasting impression on the city through tales of sadness — and ghosts!

Local Heroes & Villains: Weird Chicago also delves into the history of crime in the Windy City from the Roaring 20’s to the modern day and you are sure to find some of the most unusual — and bloodiest — crime spots in the city on every tour! Do ghosts still linger behind? Join us an find out!

Personalized Properties & Roadside Oddities: Have you ever been driving down a Chicago street and had a place so weird catch your eye that you had to stop the car for another look? Weird Chicago specializes in such places, from dancing weenies to giant “Muffler Men”, the House of Crosses, crazy hamburgers, cars on spikes and more!

Roads Less Traveled: One of our most popular tours takes visitors down one of the most famous “Roads Less Traveled” in the country, infamous Archer Avenue — Home to Resurrection Mary, Chicago’s most elusive ghost!

And you are going to find many other weirdness creeping into the tours as well, from the most famous Hot Dogs in the city to the strangest collection of weird and haunted pubs and taverns that you are going to find anywhere!

Here are some things that you really want to know
about the Weird Chicago Tour:

1. All of the Weird Chicago Tours are conducted aboard Weird Chicago Voodoo Bus and are about 3 hours in length. We do get on and off the bus throughout the evening so don’t think this is just a tour where you ride around and look out the window! We want you to check out these places for yourself — because that’s the only way you will believe some of them! Some of the locations will be seen from the bus only though and we can never guarantee which ones those will be, anymore than we can guarantee what sites will be on the tour each night or whether or not you might meet a dead resident of Chicago face to face!

2. The Weird Chicago Tour runs every Friday & Saturday night (with other tours sometimes added to the schedule (see home page) and prices are $30 per person and $20 for children 10-12. Children over the age of 10 are welcome on the tours, but kids under the age of 10 are not allowed. Sorry, no babies or infants in strollers. No one under the age of 21 is admitted into any of the Weird Bars on the tour and no one under the age of 21 is allowed on our Weird Pub Crawls. We also offer a discounted price of $25 for groups of 8 or more booked at the same time.

3. Private Tours Are Available for Groups of 10 -16 and we can customize your tour to fit the needs of your party or you can choose from one of the specialty tours that we offer! These Weird Tours are great for bachelorette parties, groups and corporate events!

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