DESOTO COUNTY, Fla. — Built more than 100 years ago, the Arcadia Opera House is a place known for its paranormal parades.
“There’s a stigma when you watch the paranormal shows where everything is out to get you. Everything is demonic, and everything is evil. And it’s very rarely ever that case,” Ryan Phelan said.
Phelan and his wife, Tiffany, run Phelan Paranormal, Inc. They love coming to the historic section of Oak Street for their favorite pastime.
“Coming here was like the first building we ever investigated,” Tiffany added.
“This place has been here over 100 years, it’s been a staple of the community forever, so it impacted a lot of people’s lives, and therefore, I think a lot of that energy still is here based on that,” Ryan said.
The Phelans said they’ve communicated with the original owner, JJ Heard himself, as well as a little girl who died in the building in the early 1900s.
“There was an orphanage down here in downtown Arcadia just a little bit down the street from here, and they would come here once a week or so and watch plays and everything like that,” Tiffany explained. “Unfortunately, a little girl was in this room, and she fell onto a windowpane, and unfortunately, from those injuries, she passed away.”
A rosary still marks the spot where the little girl died.
Somehow it survived disastrous hurricanes like Charley and Ian.
Phelan shared videos of their interactions with the little girl. They believe she is three years old. They communicate with her through a teddy bear.
“In that instance, it has asked what’s your favorite color, and then a little girl’s voice loud and clear it says green,” Tiffany recalled.
“Some of those you don’t understand how couldn’t have heard it in real-time. It comes through so clear that you’re like they had to be standing right next to you, and yet – no one in the room could hear,” Ryan added.
In a room on the opposite side of the toddler, the Phelans met whom they call Mr. Creepy.
They find him in an isolated back room and use a box to block out natural sound for the clearest communication.
“One time, it got really weird. I was asking, ‘Where are you?’ And he goes 2-3 seconds later, I’m right behind you,” Tiffany shared. “Then I said well, what are you doing, and he says, ‘I’m taking you.’ I literally said nope. You do not have permission to touch me. You don’t have permission to take me or do anything with me. This session is now over. I’m not communicating with you anymore. We’re done.”
For the most part, the spirits they find at the opera house are not scary or intimidating.
However, they can be stubborn.
Krissy Constantino and Danny Mastrodonato run the historic building and welcome paranormal investigations.
“These little, tiny things happening and never feeling like you’re truly alone here. When they asked to come investigate, we’re like, okay yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Constantino said.
You can find haunted tours and paranormal investigations all throughout the year at the Heard Opera House.
“Just after being around it, give it a chance. It’s pretty interesting,” Mastrodonato said.
“I find it fascinating more than anything. There’s nothing demonic about it. There’s just residual energy that when you feel – it’s like a mystery,” Constantino added.
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