Paranormal investigators investigate
"real" haunted house
By Anne Geggis
Staff Writer
Last update: 13 October 2003
DAYTONA BEACH -- Lights flickered on and a wooden gate swung open -- as if beckoning toward the widow's walk atop the city's oldest beachside home. Four women stood at the foot of the stairs frozen for a millisecond. "The light turned on by itself!" said Liz Stiles, 51, of Edgewater. Another stunned pause followed. Gulps of air. Then Maureen Ferencz, 52, of Ormond Beach, raised a rectangle-shaped instrument slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes. Peppercorn-sized lights -- a red one, a green one and an orange one -- lit up. Ferencz could hardly contain herself. "I'm getting a reading," Ferencz said quickly. The quartet ascended the spiral stairs -- for another set of intense exclamations about how their instruments might be showing what they can't see with their own eyes: Spirits inhabit this 119-year-old home known as Lilian Place.
Ferencz and Stiles are part of a fledgling ghost-hunting group, Halifax Hauntings, that, last week, spent from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. trying to measure the amount of ghostly activity in the home that's being renovated into a bed-and-breakfast inn. The group, led by Ferencz's son, Scott, 34, has done the same at the Live Oak Inn and the Halifax Historical Society. Armed with a night-vision camera, electromagnetic field detectors and an electronic voice phenomena recorder -- mostly donated by the Daytona Beach-based business, Spook Tech -- the group also intends to record spectral activity at the Daytona Playhouse and various local cemeteries, such as Pilgrim's Rest. "With all the new technology that's out there, the paranormal community is getting more respect," Scott Ferencz said. And making more money.
Scott Ferencz calls ghost-hunting a passion -- but there are signs he might be willing to grow it into a business. On Halloween, he'll be leading a historic haunted ghost walk through Pilgrim's Rest on Granada Boulevard in Ormond Beach. It'll be a first foray into what has become a multi-million-dollar business in some places. The St. Augustine Chamber of Commerce, for instance, estimates that 400,000 people followed St. Augustine's ghostly path in the last year. A decade ago there were none. Other Florida cities that now have ghost walks or tours include: Cassadaga, Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Orlando and Pensacola.
Two years ago, Dusty Smith started her business, called Haunts of the World's Most Famous Beach, with the Main Street tour, which combined history and ghostly folklore. She now offers it seven nights a week. Smith, 40, has since added a Riverfront Park Ghost Walk and a DeLand Ghost walk, which attract enough business that, four weeks ago, she was able to quit a full-time day job selling herbal teas. On the weekend of Oct. 25, Smith plans to offer her first ghostly weekend package that includes nights at the Live Oak Inn, along with walks through the area's otherworldly hot spots. "I think everyone's interested in ghosts, whether they want to admit it or not," said Smith, who proclaims that her tours are the only ones in the area offered by a certified ghost hunter and paranormal researcher. "It's because we all have that question about whether it's all over when we die."
The night was just beginning as Maureen Ferencz interviewed Lilian Place's owners, Suzanne and Mike Riccitiello, about what they've observed in the home they've owned for a little over a year. The home's original heart pine floors and winding passageways do give the place a certain air. But they've noticed more than that, they said. "When was the first occurrence?" Maureen Ferencz asked. "I heard singing," Suzanne Riccitiello said. "It was in October." The most bizarre thing was Christmas morning when the family came down and found their 9-foot Christmas tree on its side wedged between a glass coffee table and a sofa, she told Maureen Ferencz. The event made enough of an impression that the couple didn't mind hosting ghost-hunters who wanted to spend the night creeping through the future bed-and-breakfast where they also live.
"Nothing was broken -- not a light, not an ornament," she said. "And no one heard anything." Regional folklore tells of a woman in white standing in the southwest bedroom. One of the former owners christened her "Lucille" from more than 30 years experiencing the ghost. With that in mind, Scott Ferencz set up his most sophisticated piece of equipment in that part of the room -- the night vision video camera and recorder. But before starting on ghostly observances, the group went through the house and did an inventory on the position and condition of pillows, electric outlets, fans and other household items.
"You have to be a real skeptic to do this job right," Scott Ferencz explained. "I believe in ghosts 100 percent but you have to take everything (alternative explanations) into account for what you're seeing -- dust particles, mirrors, vents." Throughout the night, the group recorded smelling roses without a reason. A wet, wrinkled towel by one of the clawed foot tubs was not part of the initial inventory and the owners said they had gathered all the towels from that room days ago when houseguests left. Over at the carriage house, the electromagnetic field detector seemed to be responding to the questions Scott Ferencz asked. He said the red light stayed on for a full minute and a half instead of its customary rapid-fire flicker.
"It was like it was trying to materialize itself," he said. "I started getting weak legs." Suzanne and Mike Riccitiello said they don't intend to sell the otherworldly aspect of their property to attract guests. "We're not going to offer a 'Weekend with Lucille' package,' " Suzanne Riccitiello said. "If people hear about it -- fine. But we don't want to frighten anybody." Both the ghost-hunting group and Lilian Place's owners came away from the experience convinced that something otherworldly lives there. "There's something here -- yes," said Mike Riccitiello, classifying himself as a skeptic. "But I don't know if 'ghost' is the right word."
Did You Know?
Lilian Place was built in 1884 -- the oldest home on the beachside of Daytona Beach .
· When it was first built, there were no bridges to the mainland. In order to cross the Halifax River, residents and visitors to the home had to row, sail or take the ferry.
· Lilian Place is where author Stephen Crane stayed after his shipwreck in Ponce Inlet in 1897. There, the author most famous for "The Red Badge of Courage" was inspired to write his short story, "The Open Boat."
· The home was built by Lawrence Thompson, who owned a general store on Beach Street. He came from Cincinnati, accompanied by his family and Daytona Beach's founder, Matthias Day.
· The "Lilian" of Lilian Place was a maiden lady, the sister of Lawrence Thompson, who built the house. Her cousin, Alice Dalton, later named the house in honor of the original family member who lived there the longest.
· It was owned by the Thompson family for 101 years. It has changed hands twice since the family sold the house in 1985.
· Indian arrowheads have been found on the property -- possibly the result of how it was constructed on top of an Indian mound.
-- Compiled from information provided by Patricia Thompson Bennett, the granddaughter of Lilian Place's builder