Have a Spooky Groundhog Day in Woodstock, IL!

When you're pondering spooky dates, Groundhog Day will never be the first holiday that springs to mind. But for Halloween fans who wish to extend their ghostly fun as far as they can, we have a suggestion. Not only can you revel in the monstrous and ghostly traditions of an Old World Yuletide, but during Groundhog Day Week in a small town in Illinois you can celebrate paranormal happenings both real and cinematic.

The charming little town of Woodstock, Illinois was the filming location for the classic comedy Groundhog Day. TV weatherman Phil Connors, a conceited jerk, gets a real attitude adjustment when he’s caught in a time loop and forced to relive Groundhog Day for an eternity. Like the other moralistic holiday classics, A Christmas Carol and It’s A Wonderful Life, the main character is forced to change through supernatural intervention. But unlike the ghosts and angels who take charge elsewhere, the cause of Phil Connors’s predicament is unknown, but no less numinous.

During a 2021 interview, Stephen Tobolowsky, who played Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, told FOX 32 Chicago, “I remember I asked Harold Ramis . . . ‘How long is Bill really trapped in time in the movie?’ And he looked at me and said, ‘10,000 years!’ And I said, ‘10,000 years!’ And he said, ‘. . . it comes from a Buddhist principle that it takes 10,000 to perfect a human soul.’” Whoa! Cosmic.



Although ghosts don't play a part in the mythos of the 1993 movie which made Woodstock famous, they do haunt the town in droves, which makes the town square a perfect place for an American Ghost Walks tour. One haunt that is not on the route is the Cherry Tree Inn B&B. Many will recognize it as the Cherry Street Inn, where Phil Connors stays in Groundhog Day , but few know that it's haunted.

 The family who formerly lived in the house during the filming of Groundhog Day came to visit and stay the night there this December. According to current owner Lori Miarecki, the first thing Mr. Frank, the former owner, asked when they met was, “Have you met the ghost?”

Mr. Frank claimed to have seen the ghost out of the corner of his eye in the house many times. He also claimed that he heard so many footsteps in the halls and slamming doors one night that he stomped out of the bedroom ready to yell at his kids, who he thought were up to no good. Instead he found the hallways curiously empty and all children fast asleep in their beds.



Lori too has seen a figure out of the corner of her eye, heard footsteps, and experienced doors opening and closing by themselves and lights switching on and off. Lori describes the ghost as “helpful” and a bit on the green side -- not in appearance, but attitude. She says if lights are accidentally left on the ghost usually turns them off. “Electricity was awfully expensive when they first built this house,” she explains.

Although the ghostly antics at Cherry Tree are as pleasant as its cozy interior, as so often is the case, something ghastly is to blame for the haunting. Built in 1894 for Charles Percy Barnes, a self-made man, who became a prominent local attorney, the beautiful facade of the home conceals a tragic history. Mr. Barnes was married three times in his lifetime, each time to a teenage bride. Two of his marriages ended in divorce and one in suicide.

Just before Christmas of 1898, Barnes's second wife, Olive Barnes, née Green, intended to go to Chicago on a shopping excursion. She surprised her husband at work that Friday morning, December 21st. Witnesses soon saw her leave Barnes's office weeping. For some unknown reason, in just the space of a few minutes, Olive's plans had changed drastically. She returned home and promptly poisoned herself by drinking strychnine. Although the maid called the doctor right away, nothing could be done. Olive's muscles spasmed painfully and her whole body experienced severe continual seizures. She suffered for hours until she finally succumbed in the house that afternoon. By June, C.P. Barnes had already remarried.

“Oh, I know it's Olive,” says Lori. For her, as for the previous owner Mr. Frank, the ghostly presence seen in the corner of the eye was immediately identifiable as a female figure.

The ghost is experienced most frequently in Olive's old bedroom, The Cherry Blossom Suite as well as The Black Walnut Suite, which was her upstairs parlor. Those are the rooms with the doors which most often “bang around,” according to Lori. She believes this occasional commotion is due to contemporary changes in the home's floor plan. Where Olive originally was easily able pass through from one room to another there are now bathrooms and closets in between. “Those are the doors that we hear banging all the time . . . I'm sorry, we had to put the bathrooms and closets somewhere,” she says.



Olive's spirit can sometimes also be glimpsed sitting on an antique couch where she formerly rested in life. This gold settee is now housed in the common Bistro area where guests of the B&B regularly come for coffee, treats, and board games. Guests and residents also occasionally sense pleasant, but unaccountable fragrances like lavender, a popular scent that Lori avoids because of an atypical dislike. At times Lori is caught without an easy answer when guests innocently ask, “What's that candle you have burning?”

You can see the interior of Cherry Tree Inn B & B (344 Fremont Street) for yourself during this year's Woodstock Groundhog Days celebration. Open Houses will be held on Thursday, February 2nd from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Friday, February 3rd from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, February 4th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, February 5th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit https://cherrytreeinnbnb.com to book your stay and consult https://woodstockgroundhog.org for a full list of holiday activities in Woodstock. 

For more ghost stories from haunted Chicagoland, please consider our year round bus tour in Chicago or our seasonal walking tours in Woodstock , Aurora , and Naperville.

Dive deeper into the mysterious world of hauntings with our curated collection of paranormal investigations and ghostly encounters. Read more stories like this in “Ghosts of Lincoln Park: A Chicago Hauntings Companion” by Ursula Bielski, a book of downtown Chicago ghost stories written by our own American Ghost Walks team. Click here for more.

Dive deeper into the mysterious world of hauntings with our curated collection of paranormal investigations and ghostly encounters. Read more stories like this in “The Original Chicago Hauntings Companion” by Ursula Bielski, a book of Chicago ghost stories written by our own American Ghost Walks team. Click here for more.

Are you fascinated by the supernatural and craving more spine-tingling tales? Whether you're a skeptic seeking evidence or a believer looking for your next supernatural fix; "American Ghost Books" offers everything from historical haunted locations to firsthand accounts of paranormal experiences. Each book has been carefully selected to provide authentic, well-researched stories that will keep you turning pages well into the night. Don't let your curiosity about the supernatural remain unsatisfied – explore our collection and find your next ghostly adventure today! 

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