Ghosts and Shades of Samhain
And of course, our beloved Halloween. Believe it or not, Samhain is almost upon us; the yearly autumnal celebration of harvest season and the beginning of winter – or, if you’re of the spookier bent, the night when the boundary between the living and the dead is blurred and spirits walk the Earth. Americans love the paranormal and a good scare; hauntings and poltergeists are recreational for us and the perfect excuse for a family outing. That’s not how Halloween actually began, although it had a healthy amount of supernatural seasoning to make things interesting.
A brief history
Originally it was a thanksgiving for the bounty of the Earth, a successful harvest, and a way to strengthen community bonds. Most villages and towns were pretty isolated and kept to themselves, relying on each other for shared prosperity. Samhain was the yearly block party where there was music, dancing, eating and drinking after a long season of hard work. Over time, the holiday’s influence spread to other cultures, which today is observed as All Saint’s Day, All Hallows Day, or the most familiar moniker – Halloween.
Ocala isn’t slacking in that regard; we have all kinds of unsettling, unreal, and undead stories permeating the area, from gothic Victorian shades roaming around their old abodes, old-timey graveyards with moss-covered headstones and gossamer, mossy ambiance, to the rumored ghosts still occupying the old Fort King site. Each Halloween season, people can walk the charmingly macabre Haunted Trail for a night of adrenaline-fueled, lantern-lit fun or enjoy historic reenactments. It kind of stands to reason that places like this would be haunted; Fort King was a place where thousands of civilians,First Nations people, slaves, and soldiers lived and died – sometimes from less-than-peaceful causes. Graveyards are a no-brainer; they’re filled with crumbling stone and tattered shrouds. As for the Victorians, you won’t find an era or culture more devoted to all things strange and spine-chilling – we’ll get to them in a moment.
In honor of the holiday, we looked up some of the most disquieting and mysterious stories and places in Ocala/Marion County, so you can test your fortitude in some ghostbusting adventures. Have fun, bring a flashlight, and remember not to cross the proton pack streams.
Penny Dreadfuls
The Victorians loved dark and scary stuff; this was the era of the OG Penny Dreadful, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, and Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. On the other side of the pond, not to be outdone, Edgar Allen Poe penned “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and the lesser-known but no less terrifying “The Damned Thing” was the brainchild of Ambrose Bierce.
It’s fair to say this was the era that birthed modern horror; not just in fiction, but for funsies.
Take a jaunt through the Downtown Ocala Historic District, and you’ll find a plethora of imposing, statuesque homes dating back to the 1800s that are full to the literal rafters with stories of strange happenings and eccentric residents who once inhabited them. Some of them (allegedly) still do. You can also check out Ocala Walks and Talks: Mysterious Downtown. This is a monthly program from the Visitor’s Association where you can enjoy a guided evening tour through town and learn more about the city’s historic homes and residents. Pre-registration is required, and there is a $10 fee per person.
Ghostwalking
The HOPS tour takes visitors to one of the town’s old cemeteries – but if you’re the independent type who likes to go roaming the stones and make rubbings of old epitaphs, there are some spooky yet wonderful burial grounds in Marion County where you can discover not only the last resting places of people who helped shape the area’s development – but also some truly beautiful markers and memorials.
Hull-Smith Cemetery in Ocala National Forest (we’ll get to OCF in a minute) is exactly the kind of old-timey place you might imagine as a gothic, ancient graveyard – one of several that are in the boundaries of the Forest. Dating back to the 1800s and often overgrown with brush and weeds, the worn headstones and antique script lend a slightly forlorn ambiance as you wander through and think of the people who had lives and dreams and the hope of being remembered.
Nearby, in another part of the Forest, is Griggs Cemetery – or Griggs Field, named for the family whose homestead once stood here. This is another very old resting place engulfed by the canopy and brush, but full of history dating back over 300 years. Perhaps surprisingly, many of the headstones are still clear, seem well-cared for and are fairly easy to read, and it’s obvious that someone takes pains to keep them that way. Many of the Griggs family members are buried here – one of the youngest, a boy, was just four years old when he was laid to rest.
Last but not least, Evergreen Cemetery in the heart of downtown Ocala was the first ever public burial ground for the city, and is the resting place of many of its founders. You’ll find a Confederate brigadier general, the founder of Citra, and the gent who gave his name to neighboring Dunnellon here, as well as Ocala’s first Mayor. Over 500 people are buried here, from town leaders to freed slaves and soldiers from nearly every major war or conflict in which the US was involved. It’s an amazing cross-section of early Florida society and development, and if there are really ghosts among us, this is a prime spot for them to pop up.
With ANY visit to a cemetery, please remember: Be respectful! Cemeteries are the final resting places of real people with real families, and it’s an incredibly unique space intended to honor and memorialize the lives lost. If you’re unsure on cemetery etiquette, we advise you on doing some research prior to your visit and check on any rules that may be in place.
Into the Woods
The woods are full of spooky, scary stories of creepy mythology, frightening and unidentifiable creatures, and people disappearing under the dark canopies: The Pacific Northwest has Bigfoot, Appalachia has the Wendigo, and the Slender Man seems to have them all beat with his apparent powers of teleportation.
If that whets your appetite for a good jump scare and you find yourself hankering for an autumnal adventure, head on over to the Ocala National Forest website for rules and regulations, pet requirements, and recreational activities. We do not know if they allow proton packs, so check with the Forest Service beforehand.
For more about ghostly places and paranormal possibilities in Ocala you can read about, check out Belleview and what used to be a sanitarium once upon a time. You’ll learn about the tragic tale of a young woman’s suicide a century ago, and the sounds of children playing claim to be heard on the back stairway– where there are of course no children to be seen. And Oak Hurst Plantation has an enduring legend of a ghostly riderless white horse appearing to visitors, often following some tragic event.
