Experience The Haunted Side Of St. Pete On A Ghost Tour

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — If you're looking for something that will give you chills this Halloween, go on a ghost hunt with local paranormal investigator Brandy Stark, founder of Spirits of St. Petersburg.

The ghost tour includes stops at some local reputed haunts such as Detroit Hotel, Jannus Live, Cordova Inn and others. The one-hour and 20-minute downtown St. Pete walk includes Stark sharing true history tales of St. Petersburg dating back to its beginnings. Some of the spirits are well-known, such as the late novelist Jack Kerouac, who is said to pay his visits to a local bookstore.

"My hope is that people gain a new understanding of St. Pete history, as well as a new appreciation for the dead," Stark told Patch. "The response has been pretty positive. The tour is not designed to be cheesy, but it is designed to be truthful, and to connect people to the supernatural in a unique manner."

Stark started reading about ghosts when she was 11, and felt terrified of them. But that changed when later on as an undergraduate in college when she started researching the role of ghosts in ancient cultures. Soon after she officially started doing paranormal investigations and hasn't stopped.

On Friday night, a Patch reporter went on Stark's Shadows in the Sunshine ghost tour and things got very interesting at the Mirror Lake Library stop.

According to Stark's investigations from local archives and history housed at the St. Petersburg Museum of History and speaking to locals in the area, multiple deaths have occurred throughout the years near the lake's water. L egend says that one of the spirits that haunts the lake is 29-year-old Marcia Elliott, a transient woman who was strangled to death by a transient man in July 2004, according to the Tampa Bay Times, and thrown into the lake.

After the group stopped in front of a banyan tree by the lake, Stark calmly informed the spirits in this area of human presence and began reading about the first victim's death, Elliott, hoping Elliot's spirit would peak the electric and magnetic field meter her guests were holding. There was no activity seen on the meter.

Stark started to read about the 2016 Mirror Lake drowning death of the next victim, Eric Hall, 44, from her book "Supernatural St. Petersburg & Paranormal Pinellas Vol. 1 & II." The meter moved a little and this excited the crowd.

"Eric Hall, if this is you, can you spike the meter to confirm your presence," Stark asked.

The needle moved again slightly, which didn't give the group total confidence that it was Hall's spirit. Spark addressed another spirit and the meter spiked along with a ruffling noise of the leaves on the banyan tree. This happened multiple times. No birds or any type of animal was observed at that moment on the tree.

Stark thanked the spirits for their time, and told them they had to stay put and could not follow the group.

The end of the tour wrapped up at The Art Lofts, 10 5th Street N., which used to be Rutland's Department Store, owned by the late entrepreneur Hubert Rutland Sr.

"Some of the old employees and management from the old Rutland's building may still be haunting the building," Stark said.

No ghosts showed its figures or orbs were seen at the art building, but the meter experienced spikes multiple times in what would have been the women's section of Rutland's.

Stark said the ghost seen in this building is described as an older gentleman with sandy hair, glasses and a button-down shirt.

"There are some mysterious presences that include the stairwell where people often times feel like they're being followed or the sensation of pressure on the chest," Stark said.

If you would like to set up a ghost tour for $18 with Spirits of St. Petersburg, contact Brandy Stark at brandybstark13@gmail.com or call 727-417-8036.

For more information, visit Spirits of St. Petersburg's website.