Informant: Robyn Mazza, age 34 from Chicago, IL. Interviewed via phone but annotated by me. This story is important to her because it was her first and only encounter with a ghost.

Ghost Story:

Robyn lived in an apartment in Lincoln Park, Chicago. It was old but she had never heard anything bad about it. She lived there with her husband and their two cats. Leading up to the incident, she would often hear strange noises but figured that it was just because the house was old. One night when her husband was gone she woke up to a man standing at the end of her bed. He was slightly transparent and covered in chains. Robyn was terrified and screamed until her husband came into the room but by that point the spirit was gone. A few weeks later Robyn woke up again to the same man sitting in a chair in the corner of her room. He was still covered in chains and simply sat there. Robyn said that this time she was not afraid, something inside her sensed that the ghost was harmless and that she would be ok. She stayed in the apartment and never saw the ghosts again but later asked the landlord about them. According to him, he had heard that someone had killed themselves and that same apartment but that it was never confirmed so he never told the tenants.

Thoughts: I remember hearing this story from Robyn who was my babysitter for many years. It scared me to death because it seemed so real. She still claims to this day that it happened. Coincidently, the apartment ended up being located next to one of my best friend’s house. One day my friend told me that the apartments were haunted and one day Robyn was dropping me off and told me those were the exact apartments she lived in. Clearly she was not the only one who had a scary encounter in the apartments. I could tell this was not simply a ghost story since Robyn really believes she saw someone, but I tell it as a ghost story to my friends because I find it very interesting and eerie.