The George Stickney Haunted House, McHenry County Illinois, in the Village of Bull Valley.

The tiny Village of Bull Valley, Illinois, has one of the strangest houses in northern Illinois. Initially located far off the beaten path, it remains secluded today along a quiet, primarily deserted country highway. George and Sylvia Stickney built this English country house in the middle 1800s. They chose such an isolated place for peace and quiet and for their spiritual activities. Both were said to be accomplished mediums and wanted to host parties and seances for their friends. The seclusion offered by the Illinois countryside made the perfect setting.

The George and Sylvia Stickney House.

The house itself was very unusual in its design. It rose to a full two stories, although the second floor was reserved for a ballroom that ran the entire building length. During the Civil War, the house served as quarters for Federal soldiers and was home to the first piano in McHenry County. But this was not why the place gained its fame or notoriety.

As devout practitioners of Spiritualism, the Stickneys insisted on adding distinctive features to the design of the house. These features, they assured the architect, would assist them when holding seances and gatherings at the property. Since the seances would be held quite often, they specified that the house should have no square corners in it. They explained that spirits tend to get stuck in corners, which could have dire results. It has also been suggested that the Stickney's believed that corners attracted the attention of evil spirits as well, a common belief in Spiritualist circles of the time.

According to legend, one corner of a room accidentally ended up with a 90° corner. How this could have happened is unknown. Perhaps the architect either forgot or could not complete the room with anything but a right angle. Maybe he thought that the Stickneys would never notice this one flaw. But they did see! And here, the legend takes an even stranger turn.

The stories say that it was in this corner that George Stickney was discovered one day slumped to the floor, dead from an apparent heart failure, although no visible signs suggested a cause of death. Was he right about square corners? Could a ghost, summoned by a seance, have been trapped in the corner?

After the death of her husband, Sylvia Stickney gained considerable fame as a spirit medium. The upstairs ballroom was converted into a large seance chamber. People came from far and wide to contact the spirit of their deceased loved ones and relatives. Sylvia also claimed to stay in contact with her unlucky husband and departed children.

Today the mansion is occupied by the Village of Bull Valley and its police department.

In 2005 Bull Valley Police Chief Norbert Sauers described his experiences with possible paranormal events in the Stickney Mansion. Sauers said village employees have heard numerous sounds that defy explanation. He heard footsteps in the second-floor ballroom, a room used today as storage for village records. The footstep sounds have extended out onto the stairwell at times. Other occurrences include hearing human-sounding voices and noises. Sometimes they hear toilets flushing when they are alone in the house.

The Village of Bull Valley and Bull Valley Police Department.

The Chief said he has personally experienced objects moving around on his desk, lights turning off, door knobs turning and a door opening seemingly by themselves, and voices from thin air. The Chief once heard a shout in his ear when no one was around him. Another police officer in Bull Valley claims to have come face to face with an apparition of Stickney's father-in-law.

According to a local news report, "over the years, two men who carry a badge and gun" have quit their jobs over supernatural events.

The Stickney house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is presumed to be haunted.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.