During the week of June 6th, 2004, my Wife and I, accompanied by my Sister in law Melinda, her fiance Justin
and their teenage daughter Rachel set out for a week long Summer vacation in the City of Chicago Illinois.

I had visited there in the past....but that was before my involvement in the paranormal
and EVP recordings and research.
Since that time, I had become quite familiar with a couple of locations in Chicago that are considered to
be some of the most "haunted" locations in America.
Of course, there was no way I was going to miss the chance to visit these locations
while we were visiting the windy city. The first place I want to tell you about is one that is considered to be in the "Top 5" most haunted places in the United States.
Its name......

"Bachelors Grove Cemetary"

Location:
Bachelor's grove is a small abandoned cemetery located off of the main road running through
South Suburban Cook County's Rubio Wood forest preserve.
Bachelor's Grove is west of Midlothian.
Take Cicero Avenue to the Midlothian Turnpike and go west to the Rubio Woods.
Parking can be located across the road from the trail entrance in a small park.
It is beyond a doubt one of the most visited and photographed haunted locations in the world.

There is a MAJOR contrast in the surrounding areas within
only the span of a few hundred yards.
I'm talking about both what you "can see"....and what you "can't".
I'll try to explain.
First of all, if you intend to visit Bachelors grove, let me tell you.....its not a easy place to find.
Once you locate the park I mentioned, look across the highway.
There is a private home to the East of the parking area across the road, and there is a Cellular tower
of some sort nearly directly across from the parking area.
Directly West of that tower is the entrance to the little gravel path that leads down a gradual hill toward
the cemetary. There is NO sign indicating that the cemetery is down that path....and until you get right up
on it....you can't tell theres a path there at all.
When you cross the highway....which is 4 lanes, be CAREFUL!!!
Even during the time we went there, which was a weeknight and nearly dusk, the traffic was horrid.
Please be careful not to misjudge the speed of the approaching cars as "we" nearly did. They can be on
you in seconds and this could easily be a place for your earthly existance to be ended if you aren't careful.

Anyway....another thought.....if visiting during the Summer, take PLENTY of mosquito repellant!
We didn't take any, and were nearly eaten alive!
Trust me....Chicago mosquitos are bad news for the unprotected! :(
Note:
The cemetary is patrolled by the police and area forest rangers.
It is closed after sundown.....but believe me this is probably for the best.
In my opinion this is NOT a place you want to be after the sun goes down.

Now in what I do, often dealing with spirits in haunted locations as I attempt to get ghost voice recordings,
I have been "spooked" a few times. Most of those times is because of me simply letting my
imagination get away from me.
However, I will admit....that there have been a few locations where I have experianced "bad feelings" while recording.
I always attributed the feelings to possibly being the energy from spirits residing there that didn't
like me or my being there.
This doesn't happen often, but when it does, the feeling is pretty unmistakable.
Now, at "Bachelors Grove", there seemed to be so much negative
energy surrounding us that you could almost touch it.
Once...when I was a child, my Grandpa and I were walking past a graveyard on our way to our favorite fishing hole.
Being a kid, and becoming frightened that "ghosts" would get us, I told my Grandpa about my fears.
His reply,

"Them dead folks can't hurt ya Boy.....its the live ones you got to look out for."

Well, it turns out that Grandpa was right, which brings me to "another" warning about Bachelors Grove.
Don't go there alone.
I don't recommend you go there with just "two" people either.
The cemetary has a history, although many years ago of Satanic worship and the like.
There has been MUCH desecration to this place, from tombstones being moved about, to graves being
completly dug up by thugs, satanists, and God only knows who else. These are not just "Urban ledgends"....they are documented cases.....which may explain why there is so
much turmoil with some of the spirits there.
Basically, take my Grandpa's advice, its the "live ones" you have to look out for.
I'm not trying to scare you away from visiting Bachelors Grove, but trust me, even though you are only a couple
hundred yards from civilization.....should you happen to be unlucky enough to encounter some of these undesirable people down there that might mean you harm......
NO ONE,
would hear you scream.

There is an old pond near one end of the cemetary, and bodies have been fished from it in years past.
Just something to think about.

Okay....getting back to those "contrasts" I was telling you about.
Up at the parking area, the sun was still shining brightly, there was a baseball game still in progress in the nearby
park. Its a nice, clean, happy place where families gather to share thier liesure time.
But....once you start down that trail.....the surroundings take on a much different perspective.
The sounds of area residents and highway traffic only a few hundred yards away are muffled by
the thick brush and trees on both sides of the trail.
In just a short walk down the trail, the surroundings became reletivly quiet, and dark.
Just about the time you think that you should turn back because you arent finding the cemetary....you finally
get there. Its on your right....between you, a section of the forest, and the highway, which can no longer be seen.
I was amazed at the fact that we were in the heart of one of the largest cities in America....yet it seemed we were
deep in a old growth forest. Only the now muffeled sounds of the traffic up on the highway could be heard....
along with the whining of ten thousand mosquitoes.

Bachelors Grove has been a hotbed of ghostly activity for many years.
There have literally been hundreds of reports of sightings of paranormal occurances there, ranging from fast
moving multicolored "ghost lights" to actual apparitions.
One of the most famous ghost photo's ever taken was obtained here.
Taken by investigator Mari Huff with high speed, infra-red film, it clearly shows the image of "The Girl on the Gravestone."
This spirit is known as the "White Lady" or the "Madonna of Bachelor's Grove".
She is presumed to be the spirit of a woman buried in the cemetery next to her young son.
According to local storytellers, she has been seen on several different occastions,
wandering the cemetery with a baby in her arms. When visitors to the cemetary attempt to approach or call out to her, she is said to vanish
as if she were a mirage, leaving witnesses to wonder if they ever saw her at all.
Before I list the EVP ghost / spirit voice recordings that we recorded at the site, I'm going to list a few other websites
with pages devoted to Bachelors Grove.

The cemetary has long been neglected.....and if not for its ghostly reputation, I'm sure it would be lost to most
memory in no time. During our visit.....the grass and weeds were tall, and completely obscured some of the stones.
However, there are thin trails leading through the graveyard that you can follow.

Three of us followed the trail down to the cemetary, although we were rapidly losing the light of the day.
We had with us a camcorder, digital camera, and three recorders.
All were fully charged or had brand new batteries installed in them.
I have often read about the strange occurances of "battery drain" that plague some paranormal researchers
when visiting haunted locations. I have to tell you the truth....I didn't really believe it until I visited Bachelors Grove.
The camcorder immediatly went dead, a victom of so called spirit "battery drain".
I wished I had also taken a regular "film" camera....because apparently the same energy that zapped the
camcorder affected the digital camera. I took over 40 pics, and each one of them was blurred in a strange way.
The camera had not malfunctioned like this before....nor has it since.
Only the recorders worked properly, thier batteries were seemingly uneffected.