The Hauntings at Chittyville

The Hauntings at Chittyville
401 Chittyville Rd
Herrin, IL
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618-942-6111
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One of the biggest and longest running Haunted Houses in Southern Illinois. We are celebrating our 20th season this year. Will you dare to come??

History:
Over a century ago, in 1836, a small community, drawn by the local coal mines, began to grow in the area now known as Chittyville. Here they worked hard, raised their families, and died. The dead were buried in a cemetery somewhere along Chittyville Road .As years went by, most of the early settlers died or moved on and the cemetery became overgrown and unused.

Slowly the wooden tombstones rotted away, leaving no sign of the sleeping souls. In October 1912, officials claimed the land to build a new school needed for the thriving community.

The townspeople were thrilled at the prospects of a new school, except for one man, a local who was very old and tended to keep to himself. He warned the officials not to build the school or face dire consequences. "You should never disturb the dead," were the last words ever heard from him, as he was never seen or heard from again.

Officials ignored the old man's ominous advice and construction began. The project was soon plagued by problems. Workers reported constant unexplained events. Nine workers perished over the next ten months due to mysterious construction accidents. The entire project seemed to be cursed.

With construction complete, the school opened in August of 1913. Almost immediately, the children and teachers complained of seeing ghostly figures in the hallways and strange noises coming from the boiler room.

It wasn't until October, however, that the real horror began.On one cold October day, Mr. Haney, the school custodian, thought he heard the sound of someone crying. He went into the boiler room to investigate and never returned.

Teachers and students could hear screams emanating from the boiler room, but no sign of Mr. Haney was ever found. Following the incident, each October a student or teacher would vanish without explanation from the school.

Officials refused to close the building, blaming disappearances on the "Big Muddy Monster" as sightings of this creature were beginning to grow in the Chittyville area. The officials knew the truth, but they took their secret to their graves. They feared the community's reaction should they ever learn what they had done.

After the school closed in 1989, neighbors continued to report strange noises coming from the school. The new school officials leased the property to a local university who used it for offices, but employees refused to go into the school alone due to the strange sightings of ghostly figures and the constant sounds of children both laughing and screaming.

So, Chittyville School sat empty for many, many years...until an unwitting couple purchased the school in December of 2004.

Who will be the next to disappear...will it be you?

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