The Ridge Historical Society
The Paranormal Ridge: Part 9 – Southtown Economist Interview
By Carol Flynn
In 1972, the Beverly Unitarian Church (BUC), owner of the Castle since the 1940s, briefly embraced the Castle’s reputation as a “haunted house.” As part of the sesquicentennial anniversary celebrations of the area, BUC held an event at the Castle to “celebrate Halloween in Chicago’s Only Haunted Castle.”
The event included a walk through the appropriately decorated basement; ghost stories in one of the turret rooms; astrological, tarot card and crystal ball readings; dancing; a costume contest; and “spooky surprises.”
Leading up to the event, Shirley Haas, a newspaper reporter for the Southtown Economist, interviewed Marlene Schultz, a past caretaker of the Castle, about the strange experiences Marlene had while living there.
Shirley lived in Beverly and was a founding member of the Ridge Historical Society. She is 96 years old now, living on the north side in Lincoln Park. Just a few days ago in a phone conversation, Shirley explained that she reported what she was told, but she did caution that the interview was done in the context of promoting the Halloween event at the Castle.
Marlene participated in the 1972 event at the Castle. She is in her 80s now and RHS was not able to reach her to further discuss her experiences.
The entire article is included as an attachment to this post.
In the next post, other newspaper articles and personal accounts will be shared.