Legend has it that motorists driving by Glenwood Cemetery in Collinsville on rainy nights have picked up a female hitchhiker.
When the driver reaches the woman's destination, she is no longer in the car and all that's left is a wet seat.
Some say Civil War widows can be heard weeping at the cemetery. And, children at Webster School, located adjacent to the cemetery, have told teachers they have seen people walking through the graveyard and then vanish in midair.
Collinsville resident Jack Leckel, 73, who is now retired, said no one knows the exact number of gravesites at Glenwood. He was told some bodies were buried on top of one another and others were buried in what now is overgrown woods near the edge of the cemetery.
Maybe that explains the restless spirits.
Collinsville is just one of many metro-east towns where ghost stories can be coaxed from believing residents. Here are a few the juicier stories we found:
McPike Mansion
Built in 1869, the McPike Mansion, 2811 Alby St. in Alton is rumored to be haunted by its last owner, Paul Laichinger, who died in 1945.
When Sharyn Luedke of Alton purchased the house at auction in 1994, she was not very happy to hear the historic house's ghost stories.
"I wasn't really excited about it when I found out," Luedke said.
She had a personal experience with the haunting soon after buying the house.
While watering the plants in front of the house one afternoon, Luedke looked up to see a man in the window of the house. She moved closer to the window to get a better view and saw the man was dressed in a striped shirt and a tie.
Since then, Luedke has seen a picture of Laichinger in which he was wearing a similar shirt and tie.
"Over the years, funny little things have happened," Luedke said
One night in the house, someone who was on a tour of the house with Luedke asked if any spirits wanted to be in a picture. Luedke said footsteps were heard coming from the cellar door. A mist appeared on the photo.
Sharyn and George Luedke have never lived in the house. They live in a house next door. Since Luedke purchased the house, the city has condemned it because of its deteriorated condition.
For the last eight years, the Luedkes have hosted a bonfire and campout in October to raise money for the home's renovation. On Oct. 28, those in attendance will hear more ghost stories about the house and the area, while sitting around the campfire. For more information about the event, go to www.mcpikemansion.com.
Original Springs Hotel
A Lady in White is said to haunt the Original Springs Hotel at 506 Hanover in Okawville.
"If they (ghosts) don't cause any trouble, they are welcome here," owner Mary Rennegarbe said with a laugh. She said she has never experienced any unusual phenomena despite spending all hours of the day and night in the hotel during the past 16 years. The hotel was built in 1867.
One hotel guest said he was visited by the Lady in White late one night, while he and his wife were sleeping.
Rennegarbe remembers the guest walking hastily down the hallway around 1 a.m. He walked past the front desk as if he was looking for someone. He looked up and down the hallways and went out onto the hotel's front porch. He finally asked Rennegarbe and the desk clerk if they had seen someone go by.
The guest said he awakened to find a woman dressed in white with a white bonnet standing at the foot of the bed. When he sat up, she took a step backward. When he placed one foot on the floor, she moved across the room and through the door.
Other guests have told similar stories of seeing the Lady in White. A psychic once told Rennegarbe the ghost may be the hotel's guardian angel.
"Personally, I've never seen anything. We're not a scary place," she said. "I just have a very inventive staff who hears and sees things."
Stephenson House
Col. Benjamin Stephenson died of an illness in October 1822 at his Edwardsville home. Some say that his spirit still roams the home at 409 Buchanan St. in Edwardsville
In the 1970s, the mother of the family who resided in the home was said to have heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs as she lay in bed at night.
At first, the woman's family didn't believe the house was haunted. But one night, as the family sat for dinner, they all heard heavy footsteps coming from the house's side porch. When the woman's teen-age son ran outside, no one was there.
"Those footsteps convinced the whole family that there was a Stephenson House ghost," said Karen Mateyka, a Stephenson House volunteer and Edwardsville historian.
The house was sold in 1982 to the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
"When the fraternity was there, I heard all sorts of stories from those kids," Mateyka said. But during her many years of volunteering there, she has never experienced any strange phenomena.
The house has been restored by local preservationists and now is owned by the city.
"Benjamin Stephenson must have been wanting it to be renovated," Mateyka said.
Albino Railroad Tracks
According to Troy Taylor's book "Weird Illinois," legends have surrounded the Albino Railroad Tracks for years.
Even though the tracks have been removed, teenagers and young adults are still known to go ghost-hunting in the area near Rentchler Road, between Belleville and Mascoutah.
It is believed the tracks were dubbed the albino tracks because of two albino twins. According to legend, the twins were kidnapped and tied to the tracks in the late 1800s by superstitious residents of the little railroad-crossing town of Rentchler Station. They believed the twins brought disease and sickness to the area.
According to another version of the legend, the tracks were the sight of terrible accident in the late 1800s. It is believed several children from a nearby farm took their family's horse and wagon one night without permission. The wagon became stuck on the rails. An oncoming train struck it, killing all the children, ranging in age from 5 to 13. Some say they still haunt the tracks today.
Legend has it that even with the tracks gone, a car set in neutral on one side of the tracks will be "inexplicably pushed uphill to the other side of the crossing," Taylor wrote in his book.
It is also rumored that if baby powder is placed on the back of a vehicle at the tracks, handprints will become visible as the ghost children try to push the car up the hill. And people have told Taylor they have heard the sound of gravel crunching under invisible feet.
In a later book, "Mysterious Illinois," wrote about venturing onto the albino tracks one night. The legend held true. Taylor said his car was pushed up the hill while parked beside the tracks.
"It's the only legend with railroads and bridges that we've been told that actually came true," Taylor said. "I still haven't figured out why it happened."
http://www.belleville.com/mld/bellevill ... ertainment
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