The Queen Mary

Since I write about vampires and pirates, it was about time I tackled haunted ships. One of the most infamous ships is the Queen Mary, once a luxury ocean liner, located in Long Beach, California. In World War II, she was stripped of her cruise line luxury, painted gray so she’d be harder to detect, and converted into a troop ship. She was called the Grey Ghost. Her job was to transfer soldiers from U.S. to England. Supposedly, Hitler put a bounty on her head.

When I was a teenager, I visited the ship and one of the scariest places is the pool room where visitors reported being haunted by ghost children. The rumor is that a little girl died while playing on a banister. She fell and broke her neck. Now she visits the pool hunting for her mother and her lost doll.

I remember the pool. What struck me was the dreariness of it. Cold. Cement. Green. Goose bumps broke out on my arms and unease gripped me. I didn’t want to stay there long. Did I see the little girl? No. Did I feel something? Yes.

My sister was freaked out by a gigantic propeller that was displayed in a small dark room. Gave her flash backs of Gene Hackman’s Poseidon Adventure.

Another frightening area is the engine room where a young sailor, John Pedder, tried to escape a fire, but ended up being crushed to death by the watertight door. Sometimes the door is too hot to touch. A guard was walking his dog, a Doberman, and when they approached the watertight door number 13, the dog growled and refused to move. The guard searched the engine room, but there was nothing there. When I visited the engine room, it was damp, cramped and creepy, but it still wasn’t as eerie as the pool room.

Have any of you visited the Queen Mary? Tours are available and there is a resident psychic, Peter James, who claims to have communicated with a 150 ghosts. http://www.queenmary.com/attractions-events/haunted-encounters.php It’s one of the most haunted places in America. If you get a chance visit this Grand Ole Lady and tell me what you experience. Did you see the little girl? Touch the hot door? Or see something else?