Just in time for spooky season, USA Today has released its list of the 10 best haunted hotels in the United States, and a Long Beach ocean liner turned hotel made the cut..
The Queen Mary “set a new benchmark in transatlantic travel” after its maiden voyage in 1936, according to its website, sailing for more than 30 years before its retirement in 1967. Nowadays, it serves not only as a historic landmark but a high-end hotel for visitors to Southern California.
The ship does not shy away from rumors that it’s haunted. One doesn’t need to be a guest to sign up for one of the many paranormal attractions the Queen Mary hosts, including the Haunted Encounters tour, the Paranormal Ship Walk, and graveyard tours.
Pick up a cursed keepsake at Jackie’s Spirit Shoppe, once the Queen Mary’s third-class dining lounge but now a dark harbor for the ship’s most notorious spirits. That includes its namesake giggling child spirit, Jackie, who’s been said to hang around the First-Class Pool.
The Queen Mary was known to have carried a number of international dignitaries and celebrities, from Bob Hope and Audrey Hepburn to Queen Elizabeth and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, but what’s with all the haunted talk?
There are dozens of spirits aside from Jackie who reportedly call the old ship home. According to US Ghost Adventures, 47 deaths have been reported on the ship dating back to its years-long construction during the Great Depression.
And it’s not just those weary souls roaming the halls of the Queen Mary—as many as 150 ghosts are said to regularly haunt the ship.
The Queen Mary served as a transport ship for troops during World War II, carrying approximately 810,000 service members during the war. Perhaps some of them remain aboard, waiting for a ride back home.
The most tragic incident in the ship’s history came during its wartime work when the large ship struck its much smaller escort cruiser HMS Curacoa, while attempting evasive maneuvers on the Atlantic on October 2, 1942. The Queen Mary split the Curacoa in two, sinking it within minutes and killing more than 300 of its crew.
That crew is said to still haunt the ship to this day, just a handful of the many spirits said to be onboard.
Visit The Queen Mary’s website for more information.
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