Well-Known St. Pete Ghost Hunter Launches New Haunted Tour

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Spooky legends abound in St. Petersburg.

There's the Lady in Red who haunts a local music hall. A mummy's ghost that's been spotted roaming the halls of a local museum. And, on certain nights, residents claim to have seen the spirit of a famous baseball player practicing his swings at one of the oldest baseball parks in the country.

Lucky thrill seekers might catch a glimpse of these spirits when well-known St. Petersburg ghost hunter Brandy Stark will host the Shadows in the Sunshine ghost tour Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.

Up to 14 people are invited to tour hidden haunts around the city on an air-conditioned bus. For the Shadows in the Sunshine tour, Stark, a former professor, St. Petersburg artist, author and 22-year paranormal investigator, will focus on the lesser-known ghost stories of St. Petersburg. Participants can disembark and walk through one of these haunted venues during the 90-minute tour.

The tours are hosted by the SPIRITS of St. Petersburg (Serving Paranormal Investigation Reporting Information Through Study) an organization that conducts paranormal research throughout Tampa Bay. Founded by Stark in 1997, the group is celebrating its 22th anniversary of researching urban legends, folk lore, haunted activities and supernatural sitings.

The tour is $25 per person with a limit of 14 people per tour. Seats must be reserved with Paradise Tours (Joy Harlow) at 727-417-8036 or Paradisetourstampabay@gmail.com.

Stark is no amateur ghost hunter. The University of South Florida graduate and former St. Petersburg College professor said she was fascinated by the spirit world at an early age.

She recalls being intrigued after reading a book about legendary spoon bender Uri Geller at age 11.

"From there, my interest branched into ESP, cryptozoology and other paranormal phenomenon," she said. "The subject both frightened and fascinated me."

Her first graduate thesis in religious studies was on the role of ghosts in ancient Rome. She went on to do college papers on the concept of ghosts in Greek, Egyptian and Christian culture.

Before pursuing her own ghost-hunting exploits, she sought the advice of seasoned ghost hunters and studied their methodologies to formulate her own scientific approach to investigating, documenting and recording paranormal encounters.

With her team of ghost hunters, Stark has investigated several hundred paranormal cases including shadowy manifestations, moving objects, unexplained noises, temperature fluctuations and other phenomenon at private homes as well as businesses, cemeteries, parks, historic buildings and other venues.

Many have been debunked. But Stark said she believes her team has gathered enough evidence to verify more than 20 sightings.

“We always hope to prove the existence of ghosts," said Stark, noting that the group never charges for its services. "But at the very least, we hope to bring comfort to the people who contact us. We do not see this as entertainment but as a community service."

In fact, Stark encourages skepticism. Chances are, the ghostly sighting is only a shadow or a trick of the eye.

"But now and then, we see something that's hard to explain," she said.

Click here to read more about the investigations conducted by SPIRITS of St. Petersburg.

In between her investigations, Stark lectures, creates hand-wrapped metal art sculptures and hosts the Paranormal Pets podcast on Pet Life Radio.

October is an especially busy month for Stark. In addition to the Shadows in the Sunshine Ghost Tours, the SPIRITS of St. Petersburg is participating in the Terror Tent ride at the Pinellas Art Village at 5681 Park Blvd. N., Pinellas Park, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Oct. 19, 25 and 26.

The three-minute motorized ride-through attraction features 1,500 square of spooky and fantasy murals, sculptures and paintings as it travels to Cove Studios, Pompei Monster Factory, the Complete Sweet Shoppe, Swartz Gallery and the Pinellas Park Art Society Gallery. The ride runs in conjunction with the Boo-Zaar, featuring supernatural images of pop culture symbols by local artists along with belly-dancing witches, a costume contest and a presentation by Stark.

Stark curated the Boo-Zaar exhibit that includes one of her own works, a glow-in-the-dark wire sculpture of a mermaid.

The finale of the Terror Tent and Boo-Zaar will take place during Pinellas Arts Village's Art Walk Spookfest from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 26. The Spookfest will feature arts and crafts vendors, live painting, food vendors and live music.

Other appearances by Stark include:

• Oct. 18-20 — Stark will speak and display her art at the 38th annual Necronomicon, Florida's science fiction, fantasy and horror convention, at the Holiday Inn Tampa Westshore, 700 N. Westshore Blvd.
• Oct. 30 — Stark will discuss Ghost Hunting 101: Haunted Lore of Safety Harbor from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Safety Harbor Library, 101 2nd St. N.
• Oct. 31 — Stark will discuss the Spirits of Tarpon Springs from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Leepa-Rattner Museum, 600 Klosterman Road, Tarpon Springs.
• Nov. 1-3 — Stark will be a panelist at the Spooky Empire at the Tampa Convention Center.