Legends and lore of Illinois

*Legends and Lore of Illinois*
Author	Michael Kleen (2007– )
Categories	Folklore, Supernatural fiction
Frequency	monthly
Publisher	Black Oak Press; Black Oak Media, Inc.
First issue	January 1, 2007
Country	United States
Language	English
Website	trueillinoishaunts.com
ISSN	1934-9106

The Legends and Lore of Illinois was a monthly newsletter written and published by Michael Kleen between 2007 and 2010. In all, 47 issues were produced. Each issue discussed an allegedly haunted location in Illinois and featured the continuing adventures of a fictional team of paranormal investigators called The Fallen. Reviews, interviews, letters from the readers, trivia, and "ghostly games" were also irregular features.

1 History
2 The Fallen
- 2.1 Plot
3 Issues
- 3.1 2007
- 3.2 2008
- 3.3 2009
- 3.4 2010
4 References
5 External links

History

The Legends and Lore of Illinois was an immediate successor to the Legends and Lore of Coles County, Illinois, of which nine issues were produced between March and November 2006. Between 2007 and 2008, the Legends and Lore of Illinois was available directly on the Black Oak Media website, but in 2009 it was hosted on its own website, trueillinoishaunts.com. In January 2011, trueillinoishaunts.com transitioned away from the monthly newsletter, but back issues remain available. The author, Michael Kleen, has expressed interest in writing another 12 issues during 2012.^[1]^[2]

The Fallen

Each issue of the Legends and Lore of Illinois contained a short story involving the adventures of a fictional team of paranormal investigators called The Fallen that took place at the location which was the subject of the issue. The Fallen consisted of five characters: Mike, Greg, Aurelia, Davin, and Emmer. Each character played a specific role in the group and not every character was present in every issue. During 2009, a coydog named Casey was added. Casey appeared sporadically, usually when the team was investigating a cemetery.^[3] The name "The Fallen" is derived from the fact that being outcasts seems to be the common thread that binds the group together.

Plot

The Fallen stories consisted of two separate story arcs loosely tied together by one overall theme. The first arc, issues 1 through 24, involved The Fallen's search for a mysterious astral portal or gate that was hidden somewhere among the haunted places of Illinois. Two other groups, one consisting of satanists and the other of Fundamentalists, were in competition to find the portal, although they often cooperated to get rid of The Fallen. In issue 24, these two groups succeeded in opening the portal at the top of Cahokia Mounds, but The Fallen managed to close it before any damage could be done. In the second arc, issues 25 through 47, The Fallen learned that an ancient demon had escaped during the short time the portal was open. In order to send it back, The Fallen had to find several items located at different haunted places throughout Illinois and use them to conduct a certain ritual, which was described by an old French book located in the archive of Illinois State University. "Acolytes" of the demon opposed them, but The Fallen were helped by an old friend, Misa, a Dhampir from New Orleans. In the final issue, The Fallen vanquished the demon at Starved Rock. Additionally, a group called the "Pan-Continental Paranormal Research Society" (P.C.P.R.S.), a satire of paranormal investigation teams like T.A.P.S., appeared in a number of issues.