Standing In Chicago's Most Haunted Spot
Some Say A Tragic Fire Left Dozens Of Spirits Stranded Here
(CBS) CHICAGO It's the scene of a deadly fire more than a hundred years ago and some believe
ghosts still haunt the grounds of the Iroquois Theater to this day.
With Halloween just around the corner, it's time to celebrate the season with a downright scary story.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole takes you inside Chicago to a spot where some say ghosts reach out from
the other world.
One of the largest fires in United States history happened in "death alley" near the site of the old
Iroquois Theater.
This is one of the most haunted spots in the City of Chicago
It was December 30, 1903, and audience members packed the newly built and absolutely fireproof
Iroquois Theater for a matinee musical, when a blaze broke out on stage.
Six hundred twenty-seven people perished in the inferno. To this very day, on the site of the Ford
Theater that partially replaced it, spirits remain.
CBS 2 followed Ken Melvoin-Berg, psychic detective, in search of lost souls.
A ghost that shows up here is a screaming figure made up of the bricks themselves.
"Primarily right now I am sensing them right over here down here and then directly above us," says
Melvoin-Berg as he walks the area.
Round, floating orbs captured on film are no illusion. Melvoin-Berg says they're the ghosts from those
trapped on the Iroquois fire balcony who thought they found a way out.
Suddenly a teacher with sharp eyes noticed "A-ha!" there's a fire escape door.
She goes to it, opens it and steps out. But the fire escape had not been built yet.
She opened the door stepped out and dropped six stories to her death.
In fact, 124 others followed her because they couldn't see, due to the smoke, that there was no fire
escape.
Above a sewer main, one of the many schoolchildren killed in the blaze is said to reach for the hands
and clothing of young families passing by.
If you stick your hand out you may feel a vibration. Sometimes people feel vibrations or tingling at a
certain spot.
Are the ghosts of death alley trying to tell us something? Our detective says perhaps.
"To be honest, Vince, it depends from ghost to ghost. Usually they just want to be remembered,"
Melvoin-Berg says.
Some psychics believe the lack of a memorial to the Iroquois' dead is what keeps the spirits roaming
the alley. They are hoping to convince the living to honor their passing.