Writing historical fiction novels is like researching a ghost story….you get to know dead people.
Now that the Halloween month is upon us, I was wondering if the same legends occur in various parts of the country. Do you in other states have this same sort of story?
In southwest Chicagoland, we have Resurrection Mary, a famous and enduring ghost story — a “vanishing hitchhiker” legend.
In the 1930s, a young blonde woman — wearing a white dress and dancing shoes — was reportedly seen at the Willowbrook Ballroom (then called the Oh Henry Ballroom) on Archer Avenue. She would dance with local men, then ask for a ride home. As the car approached Resurrection Cemetery, she would vanish — often right through the car door or near the cemetery gates.
The driver, confused or frightened, would later learn that a young woman named Mary matching her description had been buried at Resurrection Cemetery years earlier after dying in a car accident along Archer Avenue.
Resurrection Cemetery itself is a large Catholic cemetery established in 1904. It’s known for the famous “burned handprints” on its wrought-iron gates — said to have been left by Mary when a caretaker once found a girl locked inside the gates and the metal appeared to melt where she grabbed it. (The gates were later replaced, but the legend persists.)
Sighting reports span from the 1930s through the 1980s. Witnesses have claimed to see Mary:
- Walking along Archer Avenue between the ballroom and the cemetery, sometimes looking dazed or glowing faintly.
- Jumping in front of cars, causing drivers to swerve — only to disappear.
- Dancing alone at the Willowbrook Ballroom before vanishing mid-dance.
Do you have some version of Resurrection Mary in your area? Has anyone in Illinois seen Mary lately???
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