Located at 520 S. Michigan Ave., the world renowned Congress Plaza Hotel maintains an important spot in Chicago’s mysterious history. Originally built for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the hotel later held some of the most notorious gangs and killers in the world. Those who have slept overnight at the hotel contest to an atmosphere of The Shining, with its dim lighting and old wallpaper. It is rumored that guests stay alongside the spirits of Al Capone and Dr. H.H. Holmes, America’s first official serial killer, and the hotel is known as Chicago’s Most Haunted, according to Rent.com. 

“The proof is not logical,” junior Kristian Kicklighter  said. “People distort audio and video.”

One of the spirits taking host in this Chicago hotel is the playful boy on the 6th floor. The story suggests that a Polish woman and her two sons came to Chicago in the 1930s in hopes of starting a new life. The woman waited for her husband to arrive, but he never did. Incredibly depressed, the woman threw herself and her two sons from the 6th floor to their impending deaths. 

“I always get creepy feelings in my house,” junior Savannah Gonzalez said. “It’s hard to disprove all the videos and audios.”

Another story highlights a former captain in the Spanish-American war who reportedly shot himself in the hotel. His shadow and figure is said to haunt guests and workers, and some residents report seeing his figure lurking in the corners of their rooms.

The hotel room holding the most complaints is 441 of the south tower. Sending out the most security and front desk calls, guests have established this as one of the hotel’s most notoriously scary rooms. People say a woman is always present, either standing at the foot of the bed or even shaking the bed posts in the middle of the night.

Is it just imagination or is the mind playing tricks? No one knows. The paranormal stories surrounding the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago are endless, and it is a top paranormal investigation site for people across the nation.