Prairie State Wire

Ghost sightings recorded in Illinois over the past 50 years numbered 2,398, the fifth highest number of spooky reports among the 50 states, according to a study by the online poker community CardsChat.

Based on the data provided by CardsChat, the odds of running into a real apparition in Illinois – as opposed to the Halloween-costumed variety – is 5,769 to one. In contrast, Maine residents have the best odds of seeing a spirit at 1,824 to one, the study found. 

The study also provides specific locales of ghostly encounters over the past half century. Among them is the site of a 1993 tragedy in Palatine, where seven people were murdered during a robbery at a chicken and pasta eatery and stuffed in freezers. The building where the restaurant had been located was later linked to numerous reports of unexplained phenomena.

“People began experiencing very violent and angry vibes, while some felt sudden drops in temperature, even during the height of the summer,” the website reported. “Nearby residents even claimed they heard faint shots and screaming during the evening.”

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State-by-State Ghost-Sighting Statistics

Rank	State	Number of Ghost Sightings, 1972 to 2021	State Population	Odds of Seeing a Ghost
1	Texas	7,099	29,472,295	4,152 to 1
2	California	6,558	39,937,489	6,090 to 1
3	Ohio	2,776	11,747,694	4,232 to 1
4	Michigan	2,576	10,045,029	3,899 to 1
5	Illinois	2,398	12,659,682	5,769 to 1
6	Pennsylvania	2,138	12,820,878	5,997 to 1
7	New York	2,044	19,440,469	99,511 to 1
8	Indiana	2,032	6,745,354	3,320 to 1
9	Oklahoma	1,835	3,954,821	2,155 to 1
10	Virginia	1,787	8,626,207	4,827 to 1
11	Florida	1,697	21,992,985	12,960 to 1
12	Georgia	1,683	10,736,059	6,379 to 1
13	Missouri	1,558	6,169,270	3,960 to 1
14	North Carolina	1,475	10,611,862	7,194 to 1
15	Wisconsin	1,474	5,851,754	3,970 to 1
16	Massachusetts	1,328	6,976,597	5,253 to 1
17	Tennessee	1,272	6,897,576	5,423 to 1
18	Washington	1,235	7,797,095	6,313 to 1
19	Kentucky	1,185	4,499,692	3,797 to 1
20	Alabama	1,157	4,908,621	4,243 to 1
21	Minnesota	1,058	5,700,671	5,388 to 1
22	New Jersey	1,033	8,936,574	8,651 to 1
23	Oregon	1,011	4,301,089	4,254 to 1
24	Iowa	984	3,179,849	3,232 to 1
25	Kansas	908	2,910,357	3,205 to 1
26	South Carolina	849	5,210,095	6,137 to 1
27	Maryland	815	6,083,116	7,464 to 1
28	Colorado	797	5,845,526	7,334 to 1
29	Arkansas	785	3,038,999	3,871 to 1
30	Maine	738	1,345,790	1,824 to 1
31	Arizona	730	7,378,494	10,108 to 1
32	Louisiana	677	4,645,184	6,861 to 1
33	New Mexico	586	2,096,640	3,578 to 1
34	Mississippi	573	2,989,260	5,217 to 1
35	West Virginia	573	1,778,070	3,103 to 1
36	Utah	565	3,282,115	5,809 to 1
37	Nebraska	548	1,952,570	3,563 to 1
38	Idaho	508	1,826,156	3,595 to 1
39	Connecticut	452	3,563,077	7,883 to 1
40	South Dakota	409	903,027	2,208 to 1
41	North Dakota	400	761,723	1,904 to 1
42	Montana	368	1,086,759	2,953 to 1
43	Nevada	349	3,139,658	8,996 to 1
44	New Hampshire	261	1,371,246	5,254 to 1
45	Rhode Island	239	1,056,161	4,419 to 1
46	Alaska	228	734,002	3,219 to 1
47	Vermont	224	628,061	2,804 to 1
48	Wyoming	201	567,025	2,821 to 1
49	Hawaii	182	1,412,687	7,762 to 1
50	Delaware	124	982,895	7,927 to 1

Source: CardsChat.com