Haunted Quad Cities

04/20/2026

CRY BABY BRIDGE...LEGEND OR LIE?

North of Monmouth, IL lies a legend; a particular bridge on a dirt road that crosses over Cedar Creek. This is known as Cry Baby Bridge. The mythos of this bridge can be traced to 2 unconfirmed tales; a school bus full of children once plunged off the bridge, killing everyone aboard. The other is that a young u***d mother once tossed her unwanted infant off the bridge into the creek below. Whatever story you do or do not believe, no one can deny the fact of the bridge's reputation.

How the bridge supposedly works is you pull onto it, put talcum powder on your rear bumper, put the car in neutral, and it will roll uphill across the bridge, and there will be hand prints in the powder, the hand prints of supposed ghosts that helped you across.

There have been theories tossed about, one being how it's an optical illusion of the bridge appearing to go uphill. However, if you are wanting to visit the bridge yourself, you may be out of luck as last report was the bridge was closed due to structural issues. So, we may never know the truth of the bridge...is it a legend....or a lie?

PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Kleen

03/01/2026

Hello Paranormal Community!

The process has started for the 2026 Rock Island Roadhouse Esoteric Expo (Rock Island, IL) and now it’s time to gather together the vendors and presenters!

After the success of the 2025 RIREE, we have heard ALL feedback from guests to participants, taking in all consideration and creating new ways from sign up to day of.

The date for the 2026 Rock Island Roadhouse Esoteric Expo, is October 3rd, Saturday.

This is a ONE DAY event, doors open to guests at 10am CST and ending at 6pm CST.

At this time, we are taking the names of those that are interested in being a part of the RIREE 2026 as vendors and as volunteers. If you have interest, please message Kandi Slater and she will help get the ball rolling.

More info to follow with how to sign up, qualifications for presentations and banners along with opportunities to be invested in the expo with ticket sales and more!

Thank you for making the first three amazing…let’s make number four be the best it can be!

02/19/2026

Join us next week for Illinois Libraries Present: Still Afraid of the Dark: An Evening with R.L. Stine (Zoom event) 👻 This event is on Zoom, please register with link below.

LINK: http://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vc04-wcIQOmvC7vQhZZZpw #/registration

Witty, creepy, and compulsively readable, bestselling author R.L. Stine defined horror for a generation of young readers. The generation that grew up with the Goosebumps franchise may be grown, but Stine keeps finding ways to keep us afraid of the dark! Join us with The Guinness Book of World Records’ “most prolific author of children’s horror novels,” R.L. Stine, to discuss his illustrious and still-expanding body of work.

Best known for the Goosebumps and Fear Street series (and their respective TV and movie adaptations), R.L. Stine has sold over 400 million books worldwide in 35 languages. His recent and upcoming works include The Last Sleepover, which is the fifth installment in the Goosebumps: House of Shivers series; The Graveyard Club, a YA graphic novel illustrated by Carola Borelli; multiple Fear Street movies, including Fear Street: Prom Queen; and Goosebumps: The Vanishing, the second season of the Goosebumps reboot TV series.

Becky Spratford, acclaimed horror maven and editor of Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature, will join R.L. Stine in conversation.

This event is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present (ILP), a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

02/15/2026

Thank you to everyone for helping us reach 10,000 followers!!! We are aiming to start doing more this year and hope you all stay tuned!

01/27/2026

Don't forget to subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel! We have big plans for this year, and we hope you can join us!

01/25/2026

Just saw the news that AFTERLIFE SESSIONS, one of the first Quad City-area based paranormal YouTube shows, and IMO one of the best, is returning! If you've never heard of them, visit their YouTube page www.youtube.com/ I have investigated with Nick Simons before and he is the real deal, a gentle giant with a passion for the paranormal that greatly exceeds even mine. This news, as you can tell, excited me.

Zeke Sethwill and Nick Simons travel to America's haunted locations to unearth history, discover secrets within the supernatural, and document paranormal evidence.

01/08/2026

THE SECRETS OF SKELLINGTON MANOR

Historic downtown Rock Island is the home to many iconic landmarks and buildings, and sitting at the corner of fifth avenue and eighteenth street sits a brick building with a very distinguishable MASONIC TEMPLE sign. This is Skellington Manor.

Though now an event center that hosts escape room and murder mystery events, along with its iconic haunted manor attraction every October, multiple people and paranormal teams have reported actual paranormal activity within its walls.

Build in 1913, this 28,000 square foot building was home to the Trio Lodge until the late 2000's when the building was sold and converted into what it is today.

There are almost too many paranormal reports to mention, and pretty much every type of evidence has been reported, from sounds, smells, apparitions, and object movements. My team has also investigated the manor in the past, and caught some very compelling EVP's.

Though they don't officially advertise it's haunted nature, it's the best open secret; with too many experiences and reports to say otherwise, that Skellington Manor may just be one of the most haunted buildings in the entire Quad Cities.

(photo credit: Quad City Times)

01/07/2026

CLICK THE LINK IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

The first episode of our new podcast is LIVE! Come join us as special guest Alfredo Mancilla tells tales of his paranormal experiences at SOUTH PARK MALL!

(As this is our first episode, I apologize for any audio issues)

01/04/2026

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!

I have finally accomplished something I have wanted to do for a very long time….recorded a podcast! It will go live in a day or 2, but I am very excited about it! My aim is to mix the humor with the serious, and we certainly accomplish that in our first episode! The ultimate goal is i want to tell tales of local lore and legends along with our own personal experiences with the paranormal, mixed with humor, here in the Quad Cities.

01/02/2026