The Ten Best Places to Spot Ghosts in Miami

Have you ever walked into a place and gotten that ineffable “spooky feeling”? If you’ve ever felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, a drop in temperature, or a shift in the electromagnetic charge, congratulations: You might have had contact with a paranormal entity.

Horror movies set the expectation that paranormal experiences happen only in abandoned buildings covered in ivy and flanked by naked trees in the dead of winter. But ghosts don’t discriminate. They can also linger in the scorching heat and stifling humidity of Miami. Mysterious and ghastly deaths, suicides, and murders, ever popular in Magic City history, are rife with phantasmagorical potential. Paul George, the resident historian at HistoryMiami, and Marlene Pardo Pellicer, a paranormal researcher, share their stories of the most haunted places in the 305.
1. Alfred I. duPont Building. One of the first skyscrapers in Miami, the Alfred I. duPont Building was constructed on the site of the demolished Hotel Halcyon from 1937 to 1939. This October 28, paranormal investigator Marlene Pellicer will lead a tour of the duPont, hosted by Exile Books in partnership with Lemon Yellow and the Downtown Development Authority. The tour will be accompanied by the release of a zine made with heat-sensitive paper designed for documentation of supernatural encounters.

Because of its rich and long history, the duPont Building has plenty of stories to tell. In 1963, Grant Stockdale, a businessman and friend of President John F. Kennedy's, died after falling from the 13th floor ten days after JFK's assassination. Whether he jumped or was pushed still remains a mystery. He landed on machinery on the fifth floor. Pellicer says she and another woman in the room had an unusual feeling when they visited the floor during a preliminary investigation.

Through conversations with staff at the duPont, Pellicer is researching several other claims about supernatural occurrences. A maintenance man and a cleaning lady have reported seeing a mysterious man and woman who vanish at a second glance. Some of the floors of the duPont are no longer used, but there have been reports of running faucets in bathrooms. In addition, a technician in a group of workers repairing the air-conditioning on the second floor said that when he opened a unit, he saw a badly burnt man’s face that soon disappeared. The men were so spooked they wrote an incident report.

Pararnormal tour and zine release. Hosted by Exile Books. 9 p.m. Saturday, October 28, at the Alfred I. duPont Building, 169 E. Flagler St., Miami; exilebooks.com. Free to attend, but space is limited. RSVP to [email protected].
2. The Biltmore Hotel. In the 1929, gangster Thomas “Fatty” Walsh was fatally shot at the Biltmore over a gambling dispute. Rumor is that his ghost haunts the hotel, especially the bar, where the glasses and bottles on the shelves have reportedly shaken mysteriously. Known as a man of indulgence who enjoyed Cuban cigars and women, Fatty is said to still wander the hotel and play tricks on staff and guests. His apparition has been seen on the 13th floor, where he was killed, and in bathroom mirrors throughout the hotel. The mysterious scent of cigar smoke, presumably a manifestation of Fatty, has been reported to follow attractive women around the Biltmore.

Paranormal investigators say Fatty is a cooperative and friendly spirit. But he might not be the only soul wandering the hotel's halls. A decade after Walsh’s murder, in the 1930s, eyewitnesses reported that a woman walking in front of the Biltmore mysteriously disappeared. More recently, members of the kitchen staff claimed to have seen mysteriously swinging doors and inexplicable noises. The next time you visit the Biltmore — for the hotel's annual Halloween party perhaps — pay attention to any mysterious smells, sounds, or movements: You might have attracted the attention of a gangster ghost!

Halloween at the Biltmore. 8 p.m. Friday, October 27, at the Biltmore, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables; biltmorehotel.com. Tickets cost $110 per person before October 23 and $130 per person afterward.
3. The Deering Estate. The sprawling 444-acre Deering Estate is a hotbed of paranormal activity, experts say. In fact, the estate holds two ghost tours to share the experience with visitors. The Historic Ghost Stories tour leads guests along the paths walked by Native Americans and Charles Deering, the estate’s owner, who died onsite in 1925. During one visit, a psychic said she heard the voice of a woman begging for help to save the life of a drowning child. Tours on October 19 and October 26 have already sold out.

For those prepared to fully commit to diving into the depths of the ghost world, the estate offers the Spookover, where a group of volunteer paranormal investigators leads guests on an overnight tour to the most active areas of the estate. The Spookover encourages visitors to bring their own equipment that can detect spectral presences. October's Spookover has already taken place, but year-round ghost hunters can grab their pendulums, dowsing rods, EMF meters, voice recorders, and cameras and get ready to witness some bone-chilling activity at the beginning of the new year.

Deering Estate Spookover. 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Friday, January 5, 2018, at the Deering Estate, 16701 SW 72nd Ave., Palmetto Bay; deeringestate.org/ghost-tours. Tickets cost $65.
4. Coral Castle. The story of Coral Castle documents perhaps the most extreme reaction to abandonment. In the early 1900s, 26-year-old Edward Leedskalnin became engaged to his love, Agnes, who was only 16 years old. The day before the ceremony, Agnes canceled the wedding. So Leedskalnin spent the next 28 years building a monument to his devotion to her. He carved and sculpted more than 1,100 tons of coral rock using no outside assistance or large machinery, despite the fact he stood only five feet tall and weighed 100 pounds. He finished building and erecting the massive structure in 1940. He died in his sleep 11 years later at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

At Coral Castle, you can witness the pain and labor of unrequited love embedded in tons of coral rock. There's no guarantee you'll see Leedskalnin's ghost, but that kind of obsessive dedication sure is haunting.

Coral Castle. Daily at 8 a.m. at 28655 S. Dixie Hwy., Homestead; coralcastle.com. Tickets cost $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, and $8 for children aged 7 to 12.
5. Miami City Cemetery. Founded in 1987, this is the oldest and only municipal cemetery in Miami-Dade County. Historian Paul George, whose birthday falls on Halloween, leads an annual walking tour of the cemetery for HistoryMiami. He doesn't believe in ghosts, but he admits some inexplicably spooky things have happened during his tours. Once, a man interrupted George’s introduction by laying a carved-out heart of an animal at the base of a tree as a Santería sacrifice.

The body of Julia Tuttle, the “Mother of Miami,” in interred at this cemetery. The bodies of the founder of the Burdines department store chain and Miami’s first and third mayors also rest here. Though any graveyard can be creepy, Miami City Cemetery has one especially strange grave, that of Carrie Barrett Miller. After her death, Miller’s husband placed her body in the grave and poured concrete over her. The tombstone reads, “The body of Carrie Barrett Miller was moulded in this solid block of concrete. December 4th 1926. After the body has gone to dust, her sleeping form will remain.” Creepy.

Ghosts of Miami City Cemetery Walking Tour With Dr. Paul George. 5:30 and 8 p.m. Friday, October 27, at the Miami City Cemetery, 1800 NE Second Ave., Miami; historymiami.org. Tickets cost $30 for adults, $20 for museum members, and $10 for children 12 and younger.
6. Coconut Grove Playhouse. The playhouse opened in 1927 as a movie theater for Paramount Pictures. With more than 1,130 seats, the theater was used for many types of performances until it closed in 2006 because of debt. The building has been abandoned and in disrepair for more than a decade, making it an ideal ghostly haunt. Rumor has it the windows ooze ectoplasm. The public isn't allowed inside, but keep an eye on those windows as you wander past. And be sure to wander there soon, because Miami-Dade County plans to demolish most of the structure before rebuilding it in the next few years.

Coconut Grove Playhouse. 3500 Main Hwy., Coconut Grove.
7. Villa Paula. Villa Paula was Miami’s first Cuban consulate for Consul Domingo J. Milford. The villa, located in Little Haiti and built in 1926 in a neoclassical style, has ten bedrooms and 18-foot ceilings. The villa currently functions as an art gallery and exhibition space. However, in addition to being known for its beautiful design, the mansion has been rumored to be among the most haunted places in Miami.

The house was named for Milford’s wife Paula, who allegedly died at a young age from complications after a leg amputation. Paula’s ghost, appearing as a one-legged woman with black hair, has been seen wandering the halls. A former owner has said he often smelled brewing coffee and fresh roses when there were none to be seen. Paula reportedly liked keeping a vase of roses in the house.

One source tells New Times he had some bizarre experiences while he lived at Villa Paula. Once, he said, a friend came to visit and fell asleep. Upon waking from her nap, she was possessed by the spirit of Paula and talked to him about her life. So when you visit the villa to check out the current art exhibition, keep your eyes peeled for some ghostly whisperings — and try to stay awake.

Villa Paula. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 5811 N. Miami Ave., Miami; villapaulamiami.com.
8. Pinewood Cemetery. Located in Coral Gables, Pinewood is the oldest cemetery south of the Miami River. The last known burial in the cemetery was in the 1940s, after which the site became overgrown and vandalized. Buried here is the body of Mrs. Dora Suggs, who was violently killed when she was 29 years old. According to a 1905 St. Lucia Tribune article titled “Foul Murder Near Miami,” Suggs had been raped, choked, and mutilated, and her head had been crushed with a heavy object. She was found in the woods near a banana tree. The murder was never solved. If you visit Pinewood Cemetery, be sure to stop by Suggs’ headstone and pay your respects. Maybe her spirit will enlist your help to find her killer.

Pinewood Cemetery. Erwin Road south of Sunset Drive, Coral Gables; coralgables.com.
9. Colony Theatre. Located on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, the Colony Theatre opened in 1935 as a movie house for Paramount Pictures. Today it functions as a performing arts venue with regular music, dance, comedy, and theater performances. Actors and visitors have reported hearing mysterious footsteps in the area behind the main stage. People have also reported seeing the apparition of a white toy poodle running around the building. This is South Beach, after all; even the ghosts have purse dogs. 1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach; colonymb.org.
10. Coconut Grove Cemetery. Known currently as the Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery and formerly as the Coconut Grove Bahamian Cemetery, this graveyard is a burial site for many members of the area’s African-American and Bahamian residents. The graves are aboveground, a common practice for areas that flood. According to HistoryMiami, the woman in the photo, community activist Esther Maye Armbrister, petitioned the city to create historic markers for the cemetery. Armbrister passed away 20 years ago at the age of 81.

For years, rumors have persisted that Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" music video was filmed here, though the director of the video confirmed it was shot in Los Angeles. Nevertheless, Miamians have claimed to see Jackson’s ghost dancing in the graveyard.

Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery. 3575 S. Douglas Rd., Coconut Grove.