The Rave/Eagles Club

The Rave/Eagles Club opened in 1927 as home to the Milwaukee chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Today, the “Million Dollar Ballroom,” as it was once called, is more accurately known as Wisconsin’s most haunted music venue.

Both locally, and among the musicians who visit.

Though some believe The Rave is haunted by Buddy Holly, whose final show is often incorrectly said to have been there, the haunting is typically attributed to 16-year-old Francis Wren, who drowned in the pool in 1927, and much of the paranormal activity seems to be centered around it

“Today paranormal claims remain persistent,” Milwaukee paranormal researcher Allison Jornlin writes for American Ghost Walks. “Employees, musicians, and patrons have described orbs of light, strange voices, and cold spots. Others say they have been touched by unseen hands or glimpsed a hazy apparition. An overwhelming chlorine smell in the pool area, shuffling footsteps, and a shadowy figure seen skulking around the basement are also frequently reported. However, many of the ghost stories don’t seem to match the facts of the 1927 drowning.

“Two witnesses in 2005 were preparing to shoot a music video in the boiler room and claimed to hear a baby crying in the middle of the night. They searched the entire basement, but couldn’t find the source of these strange cries. Some band members claim to have been touched by unseen hands. Even Rob Zombie, musician and shock horror connoisseur claimed to be creeped out by disembodied whispering in his dressing room. The members of another band reportedly observed a mislaid chair in the boiler room begin moving on its own. Other musicians can’t shake the feeling that they are being watched during rehearsals by an unseen presence.”

In recent years, The Rave has been opening up in December for self-guided Haunted Holidays tours, so you don’t have to be a rock star to see the creepy pool.