Case file · Haunting
Iroquois Theatre fire and 'Death Alley'
On 30 December 1903 a fire during a matinee at Chicago's Iroquois Theatre killed more than 600 people, many of them children, the deadliest single-building fire in US history.
1903 CE · 41.88, -87.63 · status: legend
The account
Bodies were brought out into the alley behind the theatre, which locals still call 'Death Alley' and where ghost tours report cold spots and voices.
The sceptical view
The disaster led to modern fire codes; the ghost stories are folklore attached to the site.