A gentleman asked me what I thought of Chicago’s municipality. I replied, “It is a pocket edition of hell.” He rejoined, “Do you think that description quite fair?” I said at once, “No, I don’t think it is. On second thoughts, I think hell is a pocket edition of Chicago.—John Burns, Labour MP, 1895

Go to hideoutchicago.com for more information and tickets for the next Pocket Guide to Hell event on April 20, 2024. Poster by Ethan D’Ercole.

Pocket Guide to Hell is a series of free and interactive public talks, walking tours, and historical reenactments that focus on Chicago’s past.

Produced since 2008, these events treat the past as a public space where all are welcome, have something to contribute, and can take what they need.

To request a walking tour, pitch a project, or join the mailing list, email pocketguidetohell@gmail.com

Paul Durica started Pocket Guide to Hell while a graduate student in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago. He is currently the Director of Exhibitions at the Chicago History Museum. To learn more about Paul, click here.

More about Pocket Guide to Hell

Pocket Guide to Hell has been written about in publications such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, The Atlantic Cities, and Vice among others. Paul has appeared on local radio and television and nationally on CBS Sunday Morning, Murderous History, and Mysteries at the Museum.

Past Imperfect, or the Pleasure and Perils of the Reenactment, Journal of American Studies, December 2018

The Future of the Past, Tedx Talk, June 2016

Love of History Fuels Paul Durica, by Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, March 2013

The Bomber Remains Anonymous: Reenacting the Haymarket Riot, by Caroline Picard, May 2011