The winner of the contest, Greg Stolze, wrote about the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (the famous gangland hit orchestrated by Al Capone) in a story titled "2122 North Clark," which gets its name from the address of the killings. But the inspiration of Stolze's ghost story came from 2005's Weird Illinois book.
Stolze, who says he knocked out the story in about an hour, describes himself as a skeptic of ghosts. But, he tells the Trib, "if you ask me at midnight and I'm standing at 2122 North Clark, I might have a different answer."
All four finalist stories of the contest can be read online at the Chicago Tribune Halloween section.