Ghost Brothers To Appear Live To Screen Tampa Theatre Haunted Episode

TAMPA, FL — The Ghost Brothers are back on the haunt with the much-anticipated second season of "Ghost Brothers: Lights Out" on discovery+, the non-fiction, real-life subscription streaming service.

This season's programming lineup includes an episode featuring the reputably haunted Tampa Theatre.

Tampa Theatre has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the most haunted buildings in Tampa.

Earlier this year, the supernatural stories surrounding this historic landmark caught the attention of best friends Dalen Spratt, Juwan Mass and Marcus Harvey, otherwise known as The Ghost Brothers, who visited with a camera crew to investigate the claims for themselves.

See related stories:

• Official Ybor Ghost Tour Adds Downtown Tampa Ghost Tour
• Dare To Check Out These Spooky Places: Tampa's Haunted Venues

On Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m., there will be a special screening of the resulting episode of +discovery's "Ghost Brothers: Lights Out."

Then, the audience will hear from Spratt, Mass and Harvey live on stage at the Tampa Theatre to talk about their experience at the theater and take questions from the audience.

Movie-goers enjoyed silent films featuring actors Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Buster Keaton when the Tampa Theatre at 711 N. Franklin St. opened in 1926. And, according to locals, some of those movie-goers never left.

The theater is rumored to be haunted by a number of spirits including Foster "Fink" Finley, the theater's first projectionist. Finley worked in the theater starting in the 1940s and reportedly died there from a heart attack in 1965.

Some claim he continues to roam the theater where he chain smokes. Theater-goers swear they can smell cigarette smoke in the theater where smoking has long been prohibited.

The ghost of Rosa Rio may also linger in the theater. The theater's Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ is a 1,400-pipe instrument installed to accompany silent films, and Rosa Rio was the organist who played it until she died in 2010 at the age of 107.

On nights when the public has gone, staff claims to hear Rosa playing the organ. She's also very protective of the antique instrument. A theater manager accidentally stepped back into the orchestra pit and was about the fall on top of the organ when Rosa diverted her fall so she wouldn't damage the precious organ.

Then there's the Lady in White who has been seen pacing backstage and the mysterious man who appears in seat 308.

The Ghost Brothers will talk about their ghost-hunting adventure and reveal whether they heard from Rosa or saw the mysterious man in seat 308.

In the episode titled, “Midnight Movie Show," Spratt, Mass and Harvey cross the velvet rope to the other side of the historically haunted theater. As the eerie experiences pile up in this menacing movie house, the guys step into the spotlight to confront the source of the disturbing activity.

This free community watch party is sponsored by Film Tampa Bay and Visit Tampa Bay. The Tampa Theatre episode of "Ghost Brothers: Lights Out" begins streaming Friday, Oct. 28, on +discovery.

Admission to the screening is free, but reservations are required by selecting your ticket here. Doors open at 6 p.m.

In addition to the Tampa Theatre, the unorthodox paranormal investigators explore the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio; the legendary Bobby Mackey’s Music World Nightclub; and the Perron family farmhouse, the location that inspired the feature film, “The Conjuring.”

The second season featuring eight one-hour episodes of "Ghost Brothers: Lights Out" premiered on discovery+ on Oct. 7. A new weekly episode rolls out each Friday.

“This is honestly the first time that I think we’ve taken things a bit too far … and that says a lot coming from me,” said Spratt of the second season.

“This is the greatest season of 'Lights Out!' This time me and Juwan got payback on Dalen. These are the nation’s freakiest locations. Get ready for the craziness,” said Harvey.

“This might be our most active and frightening season. Things get dark," Mass said. "I almost wish we could just keep the lights on."

The Ghost Brothers have spent the last six years as a team chasing ghosts. Spratt and Mass met when one was a sophomore and the other a junior at Clark Atlanta University. The two would have random spiritual conversations that began after Mass found out Spratt's mom was a pastor.

Spratt met Harvey, who was a barber in the Atlanta University Consortium, when Harvey started cutting his hair. Soon after, Spratt introduced Harvey to Mass, and the three became fast buddies.

The premise for the ghost-hunting escapades came to Spratt in a dream in 2010. They started in 2011 in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, filming their own stuff and putting it on YouTube to attract attention.

What intrigued the guys at the time was that they couldn’t find any other people of color in the field.

In 2014, they were contacted by a network and the rest is haunted history. Since they were all interested in the paranormal and friends, it was a no-brainer for them to team up, Spratt said.

Staying true to their church roots, the Ghost Brothers say a prayer before entering each situation to keep them safe.