Fort Lauderdale

Bermuda Triangle

Awareness of this region grew with the mysterious disappearance of the five Avenger torpedo bombers on December 5, 1945. Flight 19 took off
from Fort Lauderdale and was never seen again. A flying boat was sent out to search for the bombers also disappeared. A five day search of
250,000 square miles failed to turn up any trace of the missing planes. A few years later, a DC-3 with thirty six people on board disappeared only
fifty miles south of Miami. The story was the same for dozens of other aircraft and ships. The Bermuda Triangle is not just a modern
phenomenon. Strange lights have been observed in the region as far back as Christopher Columbus. Some researchers believe the Bermuda
Triangle is growing steadily westward and now encompasses much of southern Florida.

The Bermuda Triangle stretches from Bermuda in the northeast to Puerto Rico in the southeast, to the Gulf of Mexico in the west. The city of Fort
Lauderdale is North America's launching point into the mysterious area and is now considered a part of the triangle.

Clearwater

Indian Rocks Beach

A hideous sea creature emerged from the ocean and turned over a lifeguard platform on the beach here. The slimy beast left behind deep gouges
in the wood from it's claws. The first incident took place near Everingham Pavilion, but the Clearwater creature was seen elsewhere on many
occasions in the 1940's and 1950's. The creature has a crocodile-like head, a short jaw, and razor sharp teeth. If left behind a three toed footprint
and walks on its hind legs with a eight foot long stride. The creature terrified guests at the Indian Rocks Hotel and was also spotted on beaches
at Dan's Island, Honeymoon Island, and Tarpon Springs. Police and coast guard investigations failed to provide an explanation for the numerous
sightings.

Key West

Robert the Doll

The Artist House is at 34 Eaton Street in the Old Town section of Key West. The Artist House is now a bed and breakfast establishment that
was built at the end of the nineteenth century. It became known as the Artist House from it's last owner named Robert Eugene Otto, who was a
painter. The house is two stories, with a cupola in the front. The room under the cupola was Gene Otto's nursery, and later became his studio
and bedchamber in his later years. The upstairs rear room was the bedroom of his wife, Ann.

There are three separate ghosts thought to inhabit this house which includes a young girl, Ann (Gene's wife), and the most interestingly being the
ghost of a malicious doll that was owned by Gene. The doll was made as an effigy of him when he was a five-year-old boy. He is a large doll, as
big as a young child, had hair like a child. He named the doll Robert, and is known to take it's life on. Many people have believed it was a voodoo
doll given to the young boy, who later became obsessed with it. The doll was even made the same outfits that Gene had. Everything bad Gene
did he blamed it on Robert the doll. Gene would always say, "I didn't do it, Robert did it."

Ann hated Robert, and her husbands strange obsession with him. He finally put Robert in a closet so she didn't have to look at him every day.
Gene said Robert was upset because he was put there, and he wanted a room with a view. That's when they moved him into the cupola which
became his own room. He remained there for the rest of the time that Gene and Ann was married. There is energy still in the house from Robert
in the cupola. The also used the cupola for storage, and Ann hated going up there because it seemed like Robert changed his positions in the
room by himself. Ann even said that she would hear a child laughing and running around in the cupola, and she'd go upstairs to see who it was
and Robert would just be sitting there snickering at her.

Many people had eventually witnessed the doll moving, speaking, or having a life of itself. An example was in the Key West newspaper, Island
Life, tells the story of a plumber who heard the doll giggle, and who was found sitting in different spots when no one had moved it. Many other
have people heard the doll or seen it moving. Many children in the neighborhood said they saw Robert looking out the window, and running around
watching them. The children became so afraid of the house, they would cross to the other side of the road so they wouldn't be near Robert.

Even pictures of the doll give you an eerie feeling. It has some classic signs of haunting, like pictures falling of the walls and breaking on the
ground, doors would lock themselves. She has been seen sitting on the staircase. She sits all scrunched up in a little white, old-fashioned
nightgown, is about five years old, and has light brown curls. She seems very angry about something, like she was being kept their for
punishment. Another presence is in the back bedroom on the second floor is a woman. She seems to be very warm and loving. This ghost is
thought to be the ghost of Gene's wife Ann, who was a very loving person while she was alive.

Bibliographies: Hauck, Dennis. Haunted Places: Ghost abodes, sacred sites, UFO landings, and other supernatural locations. New York:
Penguin Book, 1994.

Myers, Arthur. A Ghosthunter's Guide: To Haunted Landmarks, Parks, Churches, and Other Public Places. Chicago: Contemporary Books,
1993.

Florida