Main Piece:

“Serial Killer. John Wayne Gacy. He one’s of the most prolific serial killers in the United States and killed over 30 people in his house. Anyway, so a lot of the houses surrounding his have reported to be haunted. I know two people who live a few houses down from him and they’ve seen ghosts in their house in the middle of the night & heard strange voices on several different occasions. One of my friend’s younger sister used to always talk to someone in the corner of her room,  even though no was there. A lot of people in my neighborhood have suspected that the area surrounding Gacy’s house is haunted since not all of his victim’s bodies were recovered, so it is possible that there are still remains buried underneath his property.”

Background:

My informant is a 19-year-old female who attends the University of Southern California and is currently living in Los Angeles. However, she is from Chicago, IL and lived there for the first 18 years of her life. John Wayne Gacy was an American serial killer who lived at in Norwood Park at 8213 W. Summerdale Ave, Chicago, IL. He is known to have at least 33 victims, many of whose bodies he hid under his house in a crawl space. Around the area, it is commonly thought to be haunted even though Gacy’s original house was torn down. My informant has heard about these events through her father and friends that live close by the house and does not know whether she thinks that house is haunted or not.

Context:

This legend was brought to me after I inquired whether the informant, my roommate, knew any legends from around her area. She remembered the story from her earlier life.

My Thoughts:

This legend seems typical of many haunted house stories where after a traumatic event occurs, the land surrounding it is haunted. John Wayne Gacy was one of the first major American serial killers and had many victims who were children so it is unsurprising that the city might have a major negative response to even the location where he committed his murders. Furthermore, the fact that Gacy kept most of his victim’s bodies on his property, even long after they were dead, creates a stronger tie between the crimes and land which would make the neighborhood even more weary of the property and maybe cause people to see things. I do not think that there is that big of a lesson behind this Haunted House but more of reflection by the city of Chicago of what happens when people are not paying enough attention.