OCALA, FL (352Today.com) – Most people drive past the Seven Sisters Inn without a second glance. The Victorian house sits quietly in Ocala’s historic district until you learn it was investigated for a 2008 episode of “Ghost Hunters.” For a town with a reputation for being boring, it is a surprisingly stubborn reminder that some of the older houses in the 352 never fully emptied. The Atlantic Paranormal Society spent days there chasing claims of unexplained activity, and the segment helped lock in its reputation as one of Florida’s more eerily haunted addresses. It is still standing, and you can learn about it and other old haunts in the horse capital through the Historic Ocala Preservation Society (HOPS) ghost tour.
With two weeks to go until All Hallow’s Eve, I decided to check out the tour for myself in hopes of meeting whatever is still walking the horse capital after dark.
The night was perfectly cool and crisp, with a dryness in the air that carried the faint smell of fallen leaves and a drop in temperature that called for cardigans and fire pits. As the sun dipped below the clear sky, the group gathered in front of the Bryant House, the 1892 Victorian that serves as headquarters for HOPS. Matthew Grow, a past president and active board member who guided the evening, greeted everyone with clear enthusiasm. Grow’s reason for being involved with the tour is simple. “I love Halloween. I love Halloween in Ocala,” he said.
According to Grow, on Halloween, Ocala’s downtown fills with people and kids on the 31st, and the community responds by decorating houses and putting out their best seasonal displays. A ghost tour, he added, is one way to walk those streets, take in the decorations, and introduce newcomers to the historic blocks that still stand.
When it comes to the paranormal, Grow says he has seen things he cannot fully explain. “Was it energy? Was it a ghost? Was it an apparition? Who knows?” he said. He believes some experiences may have scientific explanations while others simply sit beyond what human brains can comprehend. Significant events, he suggested, leave a blip in time, and sometimes people cross back over that mark and encounter what feels like an aberration, a ball of energy, or a shadow figure. He noted that the Bryant House itself has shown occasional aspects of that kind. Farris Bryant, Florida’s governor in the 1960s, once owned the house and is buried at nearby Woodlawn Cemetery, which Grow described as “beautifully haunted.” On a full-moon night, with mature trees, old gravestones, and a little mist, he said, it becomes the perfect haunted-cemetery scenario. The connection between the house and the governor’s resting place would be part of the tour’s opening remarks.
Amy Davidson, the society’s administrative and marketing coordinator, stood nearby. Everyone else is a volunteer, she explained, and the organization is actively recruiting more people to help with fundraising. HOPS has launched the multi-year “Bring Back the Bryant” campaign to address extensive restoration and repairs needed from the foundation to the roof. Davidson called this her first successful event since starting the job. “I’m just blessed and thrilled to be here,” she said, both personally and for the community. “I’m thrilled to see HOPS back in action.” She noted that tickets sold quickly and that recurring events bring a particular comfort. “There’s something about a recurring event that brings comfort to people in the community,” she said. “I think it’s a great time in our world to have these familiar events.”
For Davidson, the tour itself is only scary based upon each person’s definition of the term. “Scary is a relative term to some people. I think it’s creative and it’s energetic, and it’s really unique,” Davidson said. “I believe in a lot of things that I can’t quite see.” She has heard from many people about paranormal experiences in Ocala and knows there is interest in formal investigations inside the Bryant House once restoration work advances. “If we could get that restoration completed, we could do events such as that,” she said.
The walk itself moved at a steady pace past decorated porches and older brick. Historic homes along the route were dressed for the season, with carved pumpkins, colorful scarecrows, and slinky skeletons set on the steps and railings. Fake headstones leaned against fences and flower beds, their plastic inscriptions tilted in the late-evening light.
One of the many homes on the tour that went all out for the season included porcelain dolls that filled the porch and spilled onto the lawn, some seated on the steps, others hanging from the ceiling, a few more propped against the railing and furniture. Their pale faces and old dresses stood out in the late-evening light. It was the kind of display that made people slow down, look twice, and probably question any future doll purchases.
During the tour, Grow moved through the layers of Ocala’s older history, pointing out houses tied to the city’s early cigar factories and the people who built them before citrus took over. He also shared that legend has it the town is haunted not only by humans, but also by the very horses it is famous for.
Grow saved the Seven Sisters Inn for the final stop, calling it a perennial fan favorite. “It really caps off the one-hour walking tour,” he said.
Other houses along the route, he added, are simply beautiful, and their history outside of any ghost stories remains worth sharing.
Among the walkers was Natasha Niceforo, who moved to Ocala from Miami a year ago. She had been searching for ghost tours and events when she found this one. “During this time, I look for ghost tours or events, and I just happened to be searching for something, and I came across it; it sounded interesting,” Niceforo said. A fan of historic homes and architecture, she appreciated hearing the layered history alongside the stories. As a believer in the paranormal, shaped by a couple of personal experiences, she said she is convinced Ocala carries a haunted past simply because it is old and full of accumulated history.
By the time the group circled back toward the Bryant House, the night had fully settled, and the stories were still hanging in the air. Davidson had already made the case for anyone who missed it. “You’re missing out if you didn’t sign up and get a ticket,” she said. “But we love to have people that are eager to see more dates added for next year. So if you missed out this time, have no fear; we’ll be back next year.” In Ocala, the treats are the old houses, and the tricks are whatever is still waiting inside them.
While tickets are sold out for this year’s tours, you can learn more about HOPS or become a future sponsor or event volunteer by visiting here.