Starke Ghosts~

I never knew how much I enjoyed acting! In 2007, I wanted to earn money for my favorite horse rescue group and I came up with the idea of a ghost walk in my little town of Starke, Florida. I wanted the stories to be factual and so all my research came from the local paper. This was the last story on the hour walk: The State Prison is home to wrongdoers, murders, and. ghosts. It's no wonder "Raiford" is rumored to be haunted by the men who lingered there. It has all the ingredients to hold a person's tormented soul: misery, confinement and fear. It is even rumored by the Native Americans to be an energy portal where evil spirits are allowed to come through. This may explain some of the events that have been witnessed by prison staff and inmates alike. There are reports of ghostly figures, screams, banging metal doors, putrid smells and sobbing. Death is no stranger to "Raiford". The first reported ones were during the early construction when the prison was known as the state work-farm. There were fatal confrontations between fellow prisoners, guard beatings, and failed escapes. For many, Raiford was the last stop before entering Hell. Old Sparky has its share of ghosts, having claimed many newsworthy names including John Spenkelink and Ted Bundy.Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy was one of the most notorious murderers in U.S. history. A serial killer, rapist, and necrophiliac, Bundy murdered scores of young women across the United States between 1974 and 1978. His total number of victims remains unknown to this day, and there is some speculation that he first began to murder in 1961 at age 15. Bundy eventually confessed to over 30 murders and is considered by some to be the archetypal serial killer, with the term "serial killer" having been coined to describe his crimes. A few years ago a retiring guard told a story to a Tampa Newspaper reporter that was strange and spooky. He said that shortly after Ted Bundy was put to death via Old Sparky that guards including himself would go into the room where the electric chair was located and there would be Ted setting in the chair. He would not be strapped in or anything~ he would just be sitting there smiling at who ever came in the room like he knew a secret. When you would approach the chair or speak he would simply vanish. At one point the former guard said it got so bad that you could not get a guard to go into the room. Others began to report that they would see Ted near his former cell where he spent the last hours of his life. He told several guards, " Well I beat all of you didn't I !" . The Warden went guard to guard and told them that any guard who reported what was going on at the prison would be fired. Several didn't have to be warned! They quit after seeing Ted a time or two. And the former guard said Bundy was not the only ghost haunting the prison. Over the years several stories of other ghosts had slipped out. He said another ghost seen by everyone at the prison was that of Charlie Grifford who was 72 when executed in the Electric Chair in February of 1989. Charlie plays the Harmonica and on many occasions in the middle of the night guards have hunted for the source of harmonica music. Of course no culprit was to be found. John Spenkelink, another well-known inmate who was executed in 1979, on several occasions told anyone that would listen that Charlie Grifford's ghost spent time in his cell, telling him that he, Charlie Grifford was innocent and that he was going to haunt the prison until his name was cleared. Prison officials said Spenkelink was trying to escape execution by playing "crazy". And of course Charlie Grifford has never come forward with any information. It only stands to reason that if you were innocent and executed by the State of Florida you might want to hang around and try to get even. Psychics visiting the prison have reported cold spots, harsh and sudden emotional outbursts, apparitions claiming abuse, vibrations and a myriad of other ghostly traces. In fact, there are few spots in the prison where you can see or feel other worldly energies including the hospital, the Warden's office, Cell Blocks, and the therapy and utility rooms.