Emerson Point Preserve

5801 17th St. W., Palmetto

Legend has it that Emerson Point Preserve, where Native Americans lived 4,500 years ago, may have its own cryptid—locals swear a shrieking creature has been frightening people there since the earliest settlers arrived. Why Emerson Point? It’s home to the Portavant Mound, the region’s largest Native American temple mound.

Hampton Inn & Suites in Historic Downtown Bradenton

309 10th St. W., Bradenton

In its heyday, the Manatee River Hotel played host to the glitteriest stars of the time—Clark Gable, Rita Hayworth, Babe Ruth and more. In 2013, it was purchased by Hampton Inn & Suites and underwent a $21 million restoration. That’s when employees began reporting ghostly sightings and balcony doors opening and closing themselves—perhaps the spirit of a guest who never checked out.

Powel Crosley Estate

8374 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

Industrialist Powel Crosley built his estate in 1929 for his wife Gwendolyn, who died there 10 years later. Now a popular events venue, visitors have reported flickering lights when a party has gone too late—is it Gwendolyn, tired of the ruckus?—and the Paranormal Society of Bradenton has allegedly recorded a ghostly voice intoning, “I heard what you said.”

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Ca’ d’Zan

5400 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota

Mable Ringling died in 1929, but Ringling Museum visitors swear they’ve seen her standing on Ca’ d’Zan’s veranda at twilight or strolling through the rose garden John built for her. (John has been known to order careless interlopers in his private quarters to “Get the hell out!”) And sometimes, early in the morning, night workers hear old-timey music, the clink of Champagne glasses and the tap of high heels, the spirits hoping for one last dance before sunrise.

Keating Hall at Ringling College

2700 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

Soon after Ringling College acquired the old Bay Haven Hotel, once a house of ill repute, students heard the crying start. The sobs come from Mary, a “woman of the night” who fell in love with a client and hanged herself after her feelings went unrequited. She’s now cursed to spend eternity with a broken heart.

Rosemary Cemetery

851 Central Ave., Sarasota

The rumor mill said it was another woman who inspired Delos Green, a local carpenter, to murder his wife, Ella, and their three children in 1887. Ella and her children were among the first residents of the Rosemary Cemetery, where Ella can still be heard bemoaning her fate while her children play pranks on cemetery visitors.

Belle Haven

601 Quay Commons, Sarasota

The historic Belle Haven, in all its Mediterranean-Revival glory, has made its way onto numerous lists of “most haunted places,” with investigators reporting apparitions, orbs and a “black mass, four to six feet in diameter” that flew past the building’s side stairwell before vanishing.

Keating Theatre at Florida Studio Theatre

241 N. Palm Ave., Sarasota

No one is sure what haunted FST’s Keating Theatre in the late 1980s, but mysterious footsteps, flashing stage lights and shifting set pieces unnerved thespians. Finally, two priestesses performed an exorcism to drive the sinister energy away. The theater was ultimately declared spirit-free, but insiders say props are still strangely misplaced and there are sudden cold spots in the air.

The Gator Club

1490 Main St, Sarasota

The Gator Club (pictured at top), built in 1912 by William David Worth, has been a grocery store and residence,  cigar shop, ice cream parlor, speakeasy and brothel. Rumor has it that the brothel’s madam still haunts the club, ghostly apparitions materialize in photos and on the dance floor, and the spirit of Mrs. Worth, the original matriarch, watches over everything from upstairs.

Sarasota Opera House

61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota

The phantom of the opera is alive and well at the Sarasota Opera House, shuffling through the 100-year-old theater late at night, spooking employees. Could the visitor from beyond be one of the opera house’s early performers, still hoping for fame?

Historic Spanish Point

401 Tamiami Trail, Osprey

Historic Spanish Point has been inhabited since 300 A.D.—including by Mary Sherill, who died in 1892, five weeks after arriving at the property to recover from tuberculosis. Now Sherrill lingers in the afterlife, haunting the 40-seat Mary’s Chapel and its adjoining cemetery.