Although I have seen no signs of ghostly activity in this alley, it has reason to support spook effects. Famous bank robber John Dillinger was gunned down at the entrance of this alley as he tried to escape police and FBI agents after leaving the Biograph Theatre. Although some people suspect the man killed at the scene was not really Dillinger, it is generally accepted it was here the man was finally 'caught' after his girlfriend in a red dress betrayed him to the Man. It was Sunday, July 22nd, 1934, and Dillinger was set up with a dame who would ultimately betray him. Making a deal with the FBI, the woman told the agents she would wear red to make herself stand out when she would be leaving the theater with Dillinger. Just as planned, the couple came out of the Biograph and were walking down the street after the movie when one agent called Dillinger to surrender. Thinking he could escape down an alley, Dillinger darted to his left, but was shot and killed by four bullets on the spot.
Whatever the case, the alley in which John Dillinger was reported killed has recently been remodeled as of July 22, 2004. The wall which held bulletholes from the shooting have been torn down, and a new wall stands in its place. A year before, I took a picture of the alley, where you can see the original slender bricks of the wall on one side.
One can find stories about the Red Lion Pub in many haunted places/ghost books. Let me tell you, this is for good reason. Every time I go back to this place, I talk to the waiters or bar tenders and get a different story about something the ghost has done.
Most of the ghost stories involve the upstairs portion of the building. This space is set aside for patrons when the downstairs seating is full. Upstairs is equiped with a second bar and a lot of seating in the back. There are also two restrooms. Herein lies one of the most famous incidents of ghost activity. The women's restroom has had a colorful history of ghostly events. On more than one occasion, a waitress has been locked inside the bathroom for over a half hour. The thing about this is, the bathroom door has no lock on it! (There are two stalls inside which, of course, have locks, but when the waitresses tried to leave the bathroom itself, the door would not open!) Finally, the door just opened, as if there had never been a problem.
This door has been busted down before by a local police officer who had been in the pub at the time. Downstairs, people heard a scream coming from this women's bathroom and when he rushed up to see what the commotion was, the door would not open. The screaming continued until the police officer kicked down the door, and then the screaming stopped. Nobody was inside the bathroom.
Two more stories about the upstairs revolve outside the restroom. At the bar area, a bartender was cleaning up one night. A collection of lollipops had been arranged in a basket on the counter; when he turned around, the lollipops were standing on end! A creepier tale involved a bar tender cleaning up, as well. He had just stacked up a bunch of chairs for the evening and left the room. All of a sudden, a huge crashing sound followed; he ran back into the room to find all of the chairs shoved up against the stairway, blocking him from leaving.
As if these circumstances weren't convincing enough, the second time I went to this place, I had my own experience.
Right after talking to the bartender about the ghost in the pub, I went to the downstairs bathroom to relieve a natural body function. Unfortunately, to better describe this situation, I must illustrate part of this in more detail. The downstairs bathroom is located adjacent to the stairs which go to the infamous upstairs. The downstairs women's restroom is a single corridor, basically, with a toliet, a sink, and a mirror inside. While sitting on the stool (I warned you), the sink is less than a foot away. Well, so I wasn't thinking about anything in particular, and just as I was sitting there, listening to the tinkle going in the toilet, the water started running in the sink. Startled, I looked up at the sink while I was frozen in place. The water continued running until my pee stopped. (OK stop laughing!) In the next second, the water had ceased. Completely! Now this is not one of those motion-sensor sinks that turn on automatically. This is an old-fashioned, turn the cold or hot knobs type of sink. Less than a foot from me. Freaked out, I did what had to be done, then I washed my hands. When I turned the left knob, the water came out normally. I had to turn the right knob, the knob closest to the toliet, around more than usual to make water come out of the faucet. I was officially spooked. I quickly left the restroom and clearly shaking, my boyfriend asked me what was wrong. When I told him what had happened, he was as convinced as I that something was in that bathroom with me, declaring its presence. Nothing like getting late notice!
