This Overnight Ghost Hunt In Illinois Is The Creepiest Thing You'll Ever Do
By Linze Rice|Published March 30, 2023
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Linze Rice
Author
Ope! From the rural cornfields of DeKalb County, Linze is an Illinois native and true Midwestern gal who can make a mean bonfire and whip up a perfect marshmallow salad. Since 2014, her bylines and photography have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, and Block Club Chicago/DNAinfo Chicago, Only in Your State, and more. She has interviewed Dolly Parton, written about beloved diners along historic Route 66, visited the last Rainforest Cafe in the Illinois, and reviewed luxurious English manor-inspired hotels. Whether it's writing about a local gem or world-renowned establishment, Linze brings a heartwarming and historical perspective to each story, using facts, wit, and personal experience to impress upon readers the importance of culture, food, travel, and all things local. Her favorite destinations in Illinois include Starved Rock State Park, Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, the charming small town of Sycamore, and historic Rosehill Cemetery. When she's not writing or photographing, Linze enjoys gardening, spending time with her husband and pets, cooking, baking, and grilling, and relaxing with trashy TV.
According to research from 2019, about 46 percent of Americans believe in ghosts. Those people most likely think that the other 54 percent’s opinion is moot because, to them, ghosts and otherworldly spirits don’t need to be believed to be real. And those true believers should definitely consider an overnight ghost hunt in Ashmore, Illinois at one of the country’s most haunted places in history.
Ashmore Estates, 22645 E. County Road 1050 N., is a former poor farm, asylum, and state mental health facility with more than 100 years worth of tragic and haunting history. For those brave enough, you can stay overnight in the creepy building to investigate ghosts and spirits.
The structure is the second built on the property, following the original Coles County Poor Farm. By the time Ashmore Estates was built in 1916, at least 32 deaths had occurred on the property, leading to the creation of a cemetery on the ground's northern end. Later, another pauper cemetery was built on the south end of the property, which still contains remains from between 60 and 100 people.
The current owners now offer overnight stays, and they work with third-party organizations, like Ghost Hunts USA, to offer additional overnight investigation packages.
Ghost Hunts USA offers several 12-hour stays throughout the year, with bookings going from 9 p.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Saturday. The tours cost $129 per person and include ghost hunting vigils, a ghost hunt with a team of experts, the use of investigative equipment like EMF meters, and alone time to explore the grounds.
All ages are welcome, but minors must have a guardian sign a waiver. Unlimited refreshments are available, but the home is an alcohol-free zone. Some snacks will also be provided.
If you book through the property owners, private overnight investigations go from 7 p.m. to 10 a.m. and are $550 for a group of up to 12. The price includes use of the home's bunkhouse, which contain heat and air conditioning, electricity, and TV.
The largest bunkhouse also has a recliner, a table and chairs, and a pull-out couch, as well as Netflix. Your stay would also include access to a fire pit (there might be free wood, but it's not guaranteed), bathrooms, a charcoal grill, a coffee pot, a microwave, a refrigerator, and a shower.
Many of the stories of hauntings and paranormal activity tie back to the home's history as an unsanitary and unsafe environment for those who lived there. The boiler room has been noted to have an unfriendly ghostly inhabitant known to bother visitors, while shadows and lights have been seen in an old dining room.
