Barek Halfhand's Page

This year the intrepid traveler embarked on his early July jaunt south in the wee hours of the morning...the expressway traffic was light yet still spotted with cars and trucks as are all of the highways that skirt the Chicago periphery...despite the absence of congestion and aggravated commuters this early on, the alleviation of urban angst was every bit as tangible the farther from the metro core I drove... and the closer to the Illinois/Indiana border I motored, the greater the volume of “Kra… Continue

The Site Of National Headlines: Burr Oak Cemetery



The Burr Oak Cemetery has been the subject of national headlines on more than one occasion in the last few years ...



The most recent news story involved allegations of cemetery employees disinterring bodies to sell plots in the already capacity exceeded graveyard and reselling them surreptitiously to unwitting grieving families wanting to bury loved ones in a place steeped with African American hist… Continue

An Old VA Hospital


My recent expedition to the old Manteno State Hospital complex has piqued an interest I have had in facilities like this that began with the encounter working in the basement of a Joliet Illinois penitentiary annex building a few years back that housed sex offenders and culminated in my coverage of a west suburban retirement home demolition (Plymouth Pace)
in early 08...I have heard rumors over the years and have even been privy to first hand accounts related to me by source… Continue

The Manteno State Asylum
by Barek Halfhand


It has been close to a decade since I have been to Manteno Illinois, and while growth and development has since peppered the predominately rural landscape with prefab-ish subdivisions along the straights of Rt 57 just north of the Manteno exit, the small town, Main Street charm beside the railway looks unchanged. The community of approximately 7,000 is still largely a farming/agricultural community but also hosts a balance of ind… Continue

Mount Carmel Update: Al Capone-The Italian Bride




Mt. Carmel’s primary point of interest has generally been the grave of Chicago’s seminal Mobster: Al Capone, but that is just a 3rd of a triumvirate of accompanying legends... a distinction shared by “The Italian Bride” and “The Revolving Tombstone” aside from an assortment of other less notable esoteric oddities and various reports that have surfaced over the years of discarnate entities rumored to linger within… Continue