Miami’s urban legends — from the Phantom of the Biltmore Hotel to river ghosts and even aliens at Bayside — blend glamour, chaos and mystery into the city’s cultural history. Whether you believe them or not, the stories say a lot about Miami itself. 

The City That Haunts Itself: From the Biltmore to the Bay and Beyond 

Miami is a city that wears its mysteries proudly. Its streets, waters and shopping centers carry stories that blur the line between fact and folklore. Ghosts of gangsters, spirits on the river and strange lights in the sky all take root here, showing off Miami’s mix of glamour, chaos and constant reinvention. These aren’t just eerie stories told in hushed voices; they’re legends that shape how Miami remembers itself. 

The Biltmore’s Haunted Glamour 

When people think of Miami hauntings, the Biltmore Hotel almost always comes first. Built in 1926, it was the grand jewel of Coral Gables, often drawing gangsters, politicians, movie stars and soldiers through its halls.  

Yet behind the Mediterranean Revival arches and glittering chandeliers, the stories still linger. 

The Biltmore is more than a haunted hotel — it’s a stage where Miami’s past and present collide, wrapped in velvet and whispers. The most famous ghost is Thomas “Fatty” Walsh, a mobster shot in a gambling dispute on the 13th floor. Guests swear they smell cigar smoke or see elevators stall on his floor for no reason. Alongside him drifts the Lady in White, who is said to have fallen from the tower, leaving the faint scent of gardenias in her wake. And then there are phantom soldiers from the hotel’s time as a veteran affairs hospital, reminding visitors that history here was often marked by violence and loss.  

“I stayed there when I was moving in, and I swear I saw the 13th floor button light up even though I pressed the lobby,” said Grace Guliemo, a freshman at the University of Miami. “I was like, ‘Nope, Fatty, not today.’”  

The River Remembers 

Just a few miles away, the Miami River carries its own spectral tales. Long before skyscrapers lined its banks, the Miami River was central to trade, smuggling and survival. With so many wrecks, drownings and disputes, it’s no surprise the waters are rumored to be restless. Fishermen talk of phantom footsteps pacing the banks at night. Others say they’ve seen shadows that don’t belong to boats or birds, sliding across the water. 

The river ghosts don’t have names like Fatty Walsh. Instead, they reflect Miami’s layered past: the indigenous peoples who depended on the river, the smugglers who used it to move contraband and the workers who lost their lives there. The river’s legends are less about spectacle and more about memory —fluid, shifting and impossible to hold. 

Coral Castle’s Impossible Walls 

Down in Homestead sits Coral Castle, a massive structure carved from coral rock by Edward Leedskalnin during the mid-20th century. Nobody ever saw him work, and since the blocks weigh tons, theories of supernatural powers, secret knowledge of magnetism or even alien technology came about. Whether it’s science or sorcery, Coral Castle stands as one of Miami’s strangest mysteries. 

Aliens Over Bayside 

For years, tourists and locals have whispered about strange lights over Biscayne Bay. Some describe glowing orbs hovering in formation, while others talk about flashes darting across the water faster than any aircraft should. Are they alien visitors, military experiments or just another Miami attraction designed to keep people talking? 

Unlike the heavy ghosts of hotels and rivers, the Bayside aliens feel almost playful — an urban legend that fits with Miami’s taste for dramatics. Whether you scoff or believe, the Bayside sightings show how Miami embraces not just history, but also imagination. 

“I’ve never seen the lights myself, but I like the idea that people look up at the sky in the middle of all that noise and shopping,” said UM student Alana Jaffe .“It’s kind of poetic that mystery shows up where you least expect it.”  

Why The Legends Stick 

Lights flicker, floors creak and reflections play tricks on the eyes. These urban legends may be nothing more than myth, but they still play a vital part in Miami’s culture. They keep history alive in a way textbooks can’t, turning facts into myths, and myths into shared identity. Tourists flock to ghost tours, locals swap stories and the city itself becomes a stage for mystery. 

Miami doesn’t just tell ghost stories — it performs them. Whether it’s Fatty Walsh still haunting the 13th floor, shadows slipping across the river at night or lights dancing over Bayside, the legends say as much about the living who tell them as they do about the dead or the unknown. Maybe the real haunting isn’t in the spirits or the aliens at all. Maybe it’s in the way Miami insists on believing. 

words_alex roszkowski. design_rylee titoni.

This article was published in Distraction’s Fall 2025 print issue.

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