This is not your
typical ghost tour. Not only are all the locations
featured on the tour researched and scrutinized
for factual accuracy, but a real practicing
Medium guides you down New Smyrna's haunted
& Historic Flagler Avenue.
On this tour
you'll hear about a young boy & an old sailor
that haunt a historic Tavern and of a woman
who was tragically burned to death. You'll hear
about a murder that dates back more than 30
years, and of the parents struggle to move on.
You'll also get to see a grave in a very unusual
place, and quite possibly you'll come face to
face with a ghost.
SpookHunters.com
received a private & exclusive extended
tour. Did we make contact?
Keep reading
and judge for yourself...
Saturday, August
6, 2005:
Let me start off by saying
this was one of the best, if not THE best, ghost
tours I have ever been on! The fact that a real
medium was the guide added an interesting twist
that far surpasses other ghost tours. Susan,
the medium, was able to point us in directions
that normal ghost tour hosts couldn't even think
of. It doesn't really matter if you believe
in mediums, or if you're skeptical like myself,
anyone can appreciate the entertainment value
Susan and her tour brings to the New Smyrna
Beach area. I am convinced that Susan is as
close to the real thing as you can get.
You could
also tell that Susan had actually done
her homework on the places she talked
about. She was able to recall dates and
time periods off the top of her head and
when you asked her a question she was
able to answer it. This was much better
than other tours I have been on locally
where the host reads everything they say
from a piece of paper & when questioned
about something, they change the subject.
This mix of the paranormal and historical
fact made everything almost believable,
no matter how far fetched.
Another thing that put
this tour so much higher in my book than
all the rest is that things actually happened
that are hard to explain. Now, don't misunderstand
me, everything could be explained from
a skeptical point of view, but looking
at the events of the night through the
eyes of a believer, this tour actually
produced hard evidence of ghosts. I've
promised to keep an open mind while doing
these things and hope that this review
will reflect that. I will however, reserve
my thoughts on this until after I have
put forth all the evidence from the night.
Believe me, some things I have a hard
time rationalizing.
Also, I would like to remind
you that as you read the following accounts
of what happened this night, please keep in
mind that we got an extended tour. So basically,
some of the places featured on this site my
not be shown to you, or you might not get access
to like we did, if you decide to take the tour
in the future.
Or,
Join the discussion about
this hunt by Clicking
Here!
Alright, with all that said
lets get down to why you're reading this! Below
is a satellite map of Flagler Avenue with six
points of interest marked. These points of interest
will be discussed further in the order in which
things occurred.
Breakers
Restaurant:
Before
the tour most of us met at Breakers for
dinner. At the restaurant I asked different
Spookhunters to do different tasks through
out the night. Spookhunter Greg &
myself took video & pictures. Karan
volunteered to take temperature readings,
while Gretchen & Dennis used the EMF
detectors. The newest SpookHunter that
night, Corey, took EVPs. Since he was
new I took a few moments to teach him
how to use the recorder. The following
EVP is the actual recording from that
night.
Nobody consciously heard what to me sounds like a scream. My wife Christyn,
as much as she disbelieves, admits to not
hearing it and she was sitting next to us
while recording it. Spookhunter Diana believes
it sounds as if it's a woman yelling "Mommy"
or "Mom".
Now what really makes this recording interesting
is what is believed to have happened in this
area. Shortly after this recording was taken,
Susan showed up to begin the tour. We immediately
asked her if anything had ever happened at
Breakers. She let us know that the spirit
of a woman who burned to death in a hotel
fire across the street is believed to haunt
the restaurant. People often see her in the
upstairs window.
Or,
Join the discussion about
this hunt by Clicking
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Abandoned
Restaurant:
The
next stop was a very small abandoned
restaurant. Apparently this use to be
a home and according to the medium the
ghost of the man that use to live there
haunts the structure. She doesn't know
this spirits name but has nicknamed
him Albert. Susan said Albert made contact
with her earlier in the day and was
in fact standing on the porch of his
old house next to us.
Now, being a skeptic I challenged
this woman claiming that she can talk to spirits,
and said if there's really a ghost make him
touch me. She got quiet for a moment and then
said he was touching me. I then felt a tingle
on my cheek. She asked me if I could feel
him, and I said I felt something. I then asked
Susan to tell me where Albert was touching
me. She correctly said, without hesitation,
that he was touching my right cheek. At that
point the feeling radiated down through my
shoulder arm & then leg.
We stood there and talked
for a few moments more. Then, as we were leaving
the porch area of Albert's abandoned home,
my umbrella was yanked backwards. I suspect
it was caught in Diana's umbrella since she
was also on the porch with me, but special
guest Greg was watching us and saw my umbrella
go backwards. He also added that Diana was
nowhere near me when this happened.
Bauer's
House:
The
next place I am about to describe was one
of the most creepy places I have ever been.
The house from the outside just looks like
an ordinary old run down dilapidated home.
The story associated with it is anything but
ordinary.
In 1974 a 17 year old girl
named Barbara Bauer lived at this house with
her parents & twin brother. One night
she hat to make a trip to Daytona to pick
up some fabric for her cheerleading outfit.
On the way home she stopped to help a stranded
motorist that was having car trouble. This
random act of kindness cost Barbara her life.
The motorist she pulled over to help was a
serial killer name Gerald Stano. Her body
was later found in a dump on the other side
of the state.
As the legend goes, upon
hearing the news that they had found the body
of her daughter, the mother had a nervous
breakdown and her family left the house. They
literally walked out of the home and left
everything behind. Clothes still hang in the
closets, pots are still on the stove, and
food still in the kitchen.
This story gave everyone
the creeps and was supported due to the fact
a light was on in the house and we were able
to peek in through the curtains of one of
the windows. We could see furniture, magazines,
and other normal stuff you'd see in a house.
The only difference was there was a layer
of dust & filth over everything. There
is also a very old Plymouth Champ two door
car in the driveway. The tires were flat and
the car was rusted & dirty. This is allegedly
Barbara's car.
In the driveway by the car
and next to the side of the house where Barbara's
room use to be is where pretty much everyone
felt a little funny. Barbara's ghost is believed
to haunt the old house and protect it from
trespassers and would be vandals. While standing
in this drive way we got a lot of strange
EMF readings and special guest Heidie felt
something grab her.
"When
I got halfway down the driveway, near the
basement window, I felt something grab me
from the back. It was a strong grabbing sensation.
Then I felt my bag being pulled. I also felt
chills."
- Heidie
Whether or not the ghost
of a 17 year old girl haunts her old home
clingy to a life that was cut tragically short
due to a senseless murder is unclear. What
is clear is that this house is up for sale
and it's future looks grim. The story behind
this house is 100% freaky and has all the
workings of a hollywood horror flick. It is
definitely worthy of further investigation
and research. I plan on returning in the near
future and will gain access to the home if
nothing else to see if the stories associated
to abandonment are true. In the mean time,
I hope they don't tear it down.
Lo
Lo's Boutique:
Down the road a little ways
is a small boutique that is allegedly haunted
by a woman. This ghost likes to move things
and levitate make up. While we were there
a tag on a single pair of pants was moving
all by itself. Nothing else was moving. I
thought it could have been the air conditioning
doing it, however I saw no vents anywhere
around the immediate area. Also temperature
readings on the tag were around 86 & 87
degrees while the rest of the store was in
the 70s.
Off of Flagler Avenue a few
blocks is a very unusual grave. This grave
is above the ground in the middle of a street
in the middle of a neighborhood. The story
is that a 16 year old boy named Charles Dummett
accidentally shot himself while hunting. His
father buried the boy where he fell. His spirit
is often seen walking the streets. Susan says
that she can pick up his vibration and says
that the boy is not sad in anyway and actually
enjoys it when people stop and visit his grave.
I'm not sure if he enjoyed
our visit or not, but the following is a video
of the grave.
At the beginning
of the video an orb is said to be seen.
I am not totally convinced this is anything
paranormal, I have a feeling it was
a bug or something, but it does appear
to change shape. To the right is a screen
shot of the anomaly. Click on it to
see a very short animated gif of the
orb / bug.
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Join the discussion about
this hunt by Clicking
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Indian
House:
Then
finally after a little history lesson from
Mr. Charlie Carlson on the finer things of
New Smyrna's history such as Marijuana farms,
we went on to another old home that is being
restored. Susan said that this home just gives
her a very bad feeling & that people have
reported seeing things in the 2nd floor windows.
This house is built on a
Timuccan Indian mound. It was not a burial
mound, however it is believed that it was
a ceremonial mound of some kind. That is the
only house in that particular area that was
built on a mound.
We went upstairs and knocked
on a few windows and then tried the door.
Since the door was unlocked we decided to
go inside and check it out. Spookhunter Greg
& I were the first ones in. The following
two EVPs depict sound recordings that were
taken simultaneously. A yell in the background
can be heard in them both. Corey was down
on the ground recording with the sound recorder
while Greg and I were upstairs about 30 feet
away. You'll notice the scream occurs right
when Greg & I decide to enter the building.
It is important to note that
the camera we were using had a surround sound
microphone attached to it and the mic could
not distinguish witch direction the sound
came from. Also, while our voice volumes are
drastically different between the two recordings,
the yell is not.
That's
not all that happened. When inside a
door was slammed while myself, Greg,
Karan and special guest Brooke were
looking around. Then a little while
later as Karan calls out to whatever
was in the house to prove itself to
Greg, something brushed against him
and made a noise. This can be seen in
the video below.
Or,
Join the discussion about
this hunt by Clicking
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Now, what does all this mean?
How can anybody experience all the things
listed above and still not believe? Well,
here is what I think, whether or not it's
accurate is up to you to decide.
The first EVP from Breakers
could be someone else in the restaurant screaming
in the background. The sensation I felt at
Albert's old house was power of suggestion.
The feelings that everyone felt at the Bauer
house was a mix between imagination &
power of suggestion. The abnormal readings
on the EMF detectors were probably some kind
of electrical interference. The tag moving
at Lo Lo's was more likely an air current
from an AC vent somewhere rather than a ghost.
The Orb caught on tape at the Dummett grave
was probably nothing more than a bug. Then
at the Indian House, the door slamming was
probably just the fact that we were in an
old house and the door shut itself due to
our stomping around and vibrating the floor,
while what Greg heard that startled him was
probably something outside. As for the EVP,
there was a bar a few blocks away and probably
someone screamed really loud therefore sounding
about the same on each of our recorders.
See? Everything can be explained and rationalized
away. But there is one thing I can't seem
to understand. How could all those conditions
be right to produce the experiences we all
shared? And the timing on the EVPs were uncanny.
What are the chances? Or am I just reading
too much into it? I'm very skeptical of this
ghost thing, and don't think I'll ever be
a true believe until something manifests itself
in front of me or throws me across a room.
Until then I will have to continue pointing
out the rational rather than believe the paranormal.
One thing I am 100% sure
of is that whether or not you're a believer
or a skeptic, you will enjoy this tour. It
is definitely worth it. It was fun, informative,
and in general a hell of a good time! Check
out the website for more info!
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