One of the “42 Most Haunted Places in the World” is a theater in downtown Chicago, a new report from Condé Nast Traveler said. The report, with locations independently selected by editors, spans remote forests, churches, hotels, castles and more.
It includes 12 spots in the United States, including the Oriental Theatre in Chicago.
The famed theatre, originally known as the Iroquois Theater, at 24 W. Randolph Street, opened in 1903. That same year, nearly 600 people died after a fire broke out during a performance of a comedy-musical called “Mr. Bluebeard.”
“As the show began its second act at 3:15 that afternoon, a spark from a stage light ignited nearby drapery,” and excerpt from a Smithsonian Magazine account of the event read. “Attempts to stamp out the fire with a primitive retardant did nothing to halt its spread across the flammable decorative backdrops. It was soon apparent that the fire could not be contained. Audience members bolted from their seats toward what few exit doors they could find, but most were obscured by curtains.”
The account, which refers to the event “The Great Chicago Fire Disaster,” goes on to say that “hundreds” of bodies piled up in the theater, with the space next door transforming into both a morgue and hospital.
In 1926, the became the Oriental Theatre after it was rebuilt and refurbished. In 2018, the theater was renamed to the James M. Nederlander Theatre, after the founder of Broadway in Chicago.
Still, ghosts are said to remain.
“Even though the theater was completely rebuilt and rebranded, spirits of the dead remained,” Condé Nast said. “Apparitions have been seen in ‘Death Alley,’ the street behind the theater where bodies were stacked after the disaster (and a common stop on many a Chicago ghost tour).”
Hamilton is currently playing at the James M. Netherlander Theater, with a show run through Dec. 30.
Other U.S. locations on Conde Nast’s list include the Mytrles Plantation in Louisiana, the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, the Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania, and the St. Agustine Lighthouse in Florida.
You can see the full report from Condé Nast here.
