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Illinois has a hair-raising history of beasts and legends. Here are 11 of the favorites

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Phil Luciano, GateHouse Media Illinois
·5 min read
This sketch, made in the 1970s, is an artist's attempt to capture the essence of Old Book, who wailed at every funeral at the former Peoria State Hospital. While grieving, he would often lean on a particular tree — the Graveyard Elm — for support.
This sketch, made in the 1970s, is an artist's attempt to capture the essence of Old Book, who wailed at every funeral at the former Peoria State Hospital. While grieving, he would often lean on a particular tree — the Graveyard Elm — for support.

Editor’s note: The weekly Illinois Bicentennial series is brought to you by the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors and Illinois Press Association. More than 20 newspapers created stories about the state’s history, places and key moments in advance of the state's bicentennial on Dec. 3, 2018.

Illinois boasts a hair-raising history rife with spine-tingling stories — and that’s just with politics.

Otherwise, the state’s heritage brims with tall tales of mythic beasts, spooky legends and ghost stories. A few of the favorites:

Old Book

In the earliest years of the 20th century, the Peoria State Hospital in Bartonville was home to a dear, mute man known only as A. Bookbinder. Strong and steady, he would dig graves for asylum funerals, ending each by sobbing hysterically and leaning on a tree that became famously known as The Graveyard Elm. In June 1910, Old Book went the way of all men, and the entire asylum came out for his farewell. Near the end, an apparition appeared at the Graveyard Elm.

The Graveyard Elm

Old Book, weeping and moaning as always. But as soon as startled officials cracked open his casket to double-check on the dead man’s whereabouts, the crying ceased and Old Book’s form vanished from the tree. Inside the coffin, onlookers spotted Old Book’s peaceful face. (Source: Peoria Journal Star)

Piasa Bird

The Piasa (pronounced PIE-ah-saw) Bird — actually more like a dragon, with red eyes, menacing beard, scales and lengthy tail — preyed on Native Americans, eating them alive until a local chief, Chief Ouatoga, lured it out of its cave, using himself as bait.

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When the creature flew out, an ambush of warriors slew it with a volley of poisoned arrows. A mural was said to have been painted (possibly more than 3,000 years ago) as a commemoration of the event.

Though the original mural is gone, a new one has taken its place. (Source: Associated Press)

Cole Hollow Road Monster

In July 1972, an East Peoria teen reported he and friends had spotted a white, hairy, foul-smelling, 12-foot monster around Cole Hollow Road.

“It lets out a long screech — like an old steam-engine whistle, only more humany,” he said. Soon, as many as 200 armed men combed the area but found nothing. During the search, one man accidentally shot himself trying to bag a deer. The hoopla died down before anyone else got hurt. In 1991, that teen said the report was a hoax.

However, that same year, East Peoria police got a call from an anonymous local woman. She said she’d been driving on Cole Hollow Road when an “8-foot-tall hairy beast” grabbed the back of her pickup truck and refused to let go. The “beast” finally relented and let her speed off. That sighting never has been explained. (Source: Peoria Journal Star)