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From ruthless gangsters to restless mail
order kings, from the Fort Dearborn Massacre to the St. Valentine’s
Day Massacre, the phantom remains of the passionate people
and volatile events of Chicago history have made the Second
City second to none in the annals of American ghostlore.
With the first edition of Chicago Haunts,
author Ursula Bielski captured 160 years of Chicago’s haunted
history in the first volume ever devoted to this intriguing
subject. Combining lively storytelling with in-depth historical
research, exclusive interviews, and insights from parapsychology,
Bielski penned a unique and fascinating exploration of the
region’s supernatural folklore.
Now in this revised edition, Bielski has
expanded on many of the original stories, presenting dozens
of new firsthand accounts and a compelling new theory about
the real Resurrection Mary. Join her armchair expedition through
haunted cemeteries, forest preserves, homes, churches, schools,
military sites, and restaurants in search of Chicago’s favorite
phantoms.
Historian, author, and parapsychology enthusiast,
Ursula Bielski has been writing and lecturing
about Chicago’s supernatural folklore and the paranormal for
more than 16 years. She is a recognized authority on the Chicago
region’s ghostlore and cemetery history.
Ursula’s interests in ghost hunting began
at a young age. She grew up in a haunted house on Chicago’s
north side and received an early education in Chicago history
from her father, a Chicago police officer. Since that time
she has been involved in numerous investigations of haunted
sites in and around Chicago, including such notorious locales
as the Country House Restaurant in Clarendon Hills, IL; Chicago’s
Red Lion Pub; Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery; and the Oshkosh,
WI, Opera House.
Aside from her writing, Ursula has been
featured on several television documentaries, including productions
by the A&E Network, The History Channel, The Learning Channel,
The Travel Channel, and PBS. She also appears regularly on
local Chicago television and radio, and lectures throughout
the year at various libraries, historical and professional
societies. In addition to her books, Ursula is the author
of numerous scholarly articles exploring the links between
history and the paranormal, including articles published in
the International Journal of Parapsychology. Ursula is a past
editor of PA News, the quarterly newsletter of the
Parapsychological Association, a past president and board
member of the Pi Gamma Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national
history honor society, and has membership in the Society of
Midland Authors.
A graduate of St. Benedict High School
in Chicago, Ursula holds a B.A. degree in history from Benedictine
University and an M.A. in American cultural and intellectual
history from Northeastern Illinois University. Her academic
explorations include the spiritualist movement of the 19th
century and its transformation into psychical research and
parapsychology; and the relationship between belief, experience,
science, and religion.
Ursula lives in Chicago with her two daughters.
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