Sanctuary Fighting back the darkness with style.

Opened in 1860, Graceland Cemetery has grown into one of Chicago's most famous, and supposedly most haunted, places. There are many eerie tales surounding the graveyard, but the two most famous each involve one of the monuments that can be found there. The most famous is the story of Inez Clarke. Supposedly this six year old girl was killed in 1880 when she was struck by lightning. Her grief-sticken parents had a life-sized sculpture of the girl placed in a glass case over her grave. People have reported seing the glass case empty, and hearing the sound of a young girl playing nearby. It is said that the case is more likely to be empty during thunderstorms. The fact that the grave on which the statue sits actually belongs to an eight year old boy named Amos Boggs, and Inez Clarke never actually existed doesn't make it any less spooky to think of the statue coming to life and going off to play in the cemetry.

The other famous monument is the sculpture of Eternal Silence, more commonly known as the Statue of Death, that sits atop the final resting place of Dexter Graves, a wealthy Chicago buisnessman. The statue was orriginally painted black, but years of weather have stripped away most of the black paint to reveal the green of the metal beneath - except for the face of the mysterious cloaked figure. Legends about the statue say that it cannot be photographed, but that one is easy enough to disprove, as you can see by the photo here. Other stories say that anyone looking into the dark face of the statue will see visions of thier own imminent demise.

There are many other stories that have come from this beautiful and haunting place, and supposedly there are many unrestful spirits here. Many of the earliest residents of Graceland were moved from thier original resting places in Chicago's original City Cemetery when the city grew too large and the City Cemetery sparked fears of water contamination and was shut down. Perhaps it is all the desturbed remains that have lead to the abundance of active spirits here.

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Prairie Ghosts