Brooksville's May-Stringer House ranks among Florida's ten most haunted places

With Halloween approaching, May-Stringer House in Brooksville ranks among Florida's ten most haunted places in HauntBound's 2026 index. The index ranks 282 Florida sites by separate published accounts and how far back they go, not by fame or search popularity.

May-Stringer House ranks #4. John May built the home in 1855, and it briefly served as a hospital when Confederate forces passed through during the Civil War; after his death, his widow married Marcius Stringer, giving the house its dual name. Two separate published accounts describe activity there, retold in one later publication.

The house has as many as a dozen distinct reported presences documented by investigators, among the most of any Florida site by that measure, including a woman's crying attributed to Marena, who died in the house during childbirth. The museum's Friday-night ghost tours and its Tuesday through Saturday history tours both draw on the family's own records.

Statewide, Keating Hall at Ringling College in Sarasota (exterior viewing only) ranks #1, and Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, home of Robert the Doll and the state's most famous haunted site, misses the top ten.

"We rank by evidence, not legend: independent published accounts, documented history, and how far back the reports go. We don't claim ghosts are real, or that they aren't. We document where the reports concentrate, and we show our work," said Ben Fineman, editor of HauntBound. The ranking shows each site's documented record.

Visiting:May-Stringer House, 601 Museum Ct., Brooksville, offers docent-guided tours Tuesday through Saturday, including in October; general admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages six to 12. Friday-night ghost tours are $20 per person.

For media:The full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/florida/The fact sheet, with cleared images: https://hauntbound.com/press/fact-sheets/florida/Venue contact: hernandohistoricalmuseumassoc.comA short version follows.

HauntBound (hauntbound.com) is a family-friendly field guide to more than 6,000 documented haunted and historic places across the United States, ranked by published evidence rather than legend. No venue pays to be listed or ranked.

Media contact: Ben Fineman, Editor, HauntBound, editor@hauntbound.com

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