The Givins Castle

Built between 1886 and 1887 by real estate developer Robert C. Givins in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood, this three-story, triple-turreted building is the only structure in the city commonly called a castle — now home to the Beverly Unitarian Church, which has embraced its haunted reputation since the 1970s. The popular legend holds that Givins built the castle as a replica of one he'd admired in Ireland, meant as a gift for his Irish fiancée, who died before she could join him — and that her ghost has haunted the building ever since. The story is likely just folklore: Givins actually descended from English Protestants who'd emigrated from Northern Ireland to Canada generations earlier. Whatever its origin, staff and visitors report a candle's light floating across windows and up the staircase when the building is empty, an unseen touch on the arm, and the sound of clinking glasses and flatware from parties that aren't happening.