Books of Horror readers and authors will be in the Chicagoland area in August for the Books and Brews event, where several of the most successful indie authors will be meeting fans and signing (and selling) books at a Brewpub located in Evanston, Illinois. I thought it might be fun to pass on some haunted locations in the area. This one’s in Evanston itself.

Today: Calvary Cemetery in Evanston

Between Chicago and Evanston, there is a place where the street narrows and passes between Lake Michigan and a cemetery. This is Calvary Cemetery. Buried here is Jane Byrne, the first female mayor of Chicago, Charles Comiskey, the original owner of the Chicago White Sox and many Irish luminaries from the Chicago area.

It’s said that people who drive down Sheridan Road (the street between the cemetery and the lake) around midnight often see a ghostly figure walking across the road. He looks like a young man, late 20’s or early 30’s, covered in seaweed. Apparently he emits a slight green glow, and he disappears into the cemetery. Locals have named him “Seaweed Charlie.”

Who is he? One story says he’s a naval aviator who crashed into Lake Michigan, and his plane washed ashore near the cemetery, but his body was never recovered. Another says he is a flight instructor frrom the Glenview Naval Air Station. He lost radio contact, and there was no trace of him or his plane until his body washed up on the shore across from the cemetery.

He is never seen in the cemetery itself. He’s always on Sheridan Road. Anyone can drive past at midnight, as much as they want to, and see if you find him. He does appear often, though; there are hundreds of reports of people seeing him and he’s even caused traffic disruptions in the area. Or so they say.

I’ve been by this cemetery many times and never seen anything. I used to go to college just south of here. But I rarely was in the area at midnight. It was usually earlier or later, after a night out at the live music bars in the area, or a frat party at Northwestern.

There are some cool haunted locations in Joliet (where I’m from) and in other Chicago areas, and I can report some of the details if the post is popular.