Welcome to The Attic, enjoy your stay among the dead.
My first visit to the Queen Mary was on my birthday in 2007. I told my family it was my present from them, and that was all I wanted. I had seen countless TV shows on the Travel Channel about the many reports of paranormal activity on board the historic ship and had to see it for myself. Despite my desire for a cool, cloudy day to go with a haunted location, it was a hot August day in Long Beach, CA. The magnificent ship stood proudly, resting in its permanent berth after so many years of both grandeur and turmoil. I’ll get to the haunted part soon, I swear. First let me recap a bit of the history, because for one to understand a ghost story, one has to respect the past that created it.

In 1930 construction began on the ocean liner. The Great Depression set the schedule back, and it wasn’t until 1936 that she embarked on her maiden voyage. The Queen Mary was a transatlantic luxury liner that carried big-name celebrities like Bob Hope, dignitaries like Winston Churchill, and even royalty, for 3 years. It was the finest, most elegant way to travel across the ocean. But in 1939 she was called upon to lend aid to the effort during WWII, she was stripped down, painted a camouflaging grey color and nicknamed the “Grey Ghost.” She was both the largest and fastest troopship to sail, carrying as many as 16,000 servicemen at a time. After the war, it was restored to its original elegant glory and once again carried passengers across the ocean until 1965. It was then sold, and she sailed one last voyage in 1967 to her now permanent spot in Long Beach, CA.

Now, on to the good stuff. The Queen Mary has seen numerous reports of paranormal activity, and these are just some of those: The most common tale told is that of John Pedder. He was down in the engine room and watertight door #13 began to shut, as they all did during emergencies. Now, this is where the story varies a bit. Some say he simply didn’t get to it in time, and was caught in the door and crushed to death. Others say he was playing a game called “chicken,” a common game among workers where they would hop back and forth to see how many times they could cross the threshold before the door would close. If that’s the case, then he tried one too many times and was killed as a result of this game.

During its WWII service, The Queen Mary was involved in a terrible accident. It collided with its escort ship, the HMS Curacoa, cutting the smaller ship in half. Of the 338 crew members of the Curacoa, only 99 were said to survive. The accident left a big mark on the Queen Mary’s darker history, and possibly hundreds of lost souls now wander the hallways, looking for their ship they set off on.

There is also a story of a young girl named Jackie who drowned in a lower class pool on board. It has long since been removed, and she now frequents many areas on the ship, including the first class swimming pool. It now serves as a stop on both the Haunted Encounters guided tour and the Ghosts & Legends special effects tour. The changing rooms adjacent to it are supposed to house a vortex, some say a very negative one. On my first visit to the Queen Mary we were allowed into those rooms, and were instructed to hold our hands out where the vortex itself is supposed to be. Did I feel anything? Well, yes and no. I didn’t feel anything tingling or electrical as you’d expect, but it was incredibly heavy and musty in that dark cramped hallway. Was it creepy? Absolutely! Is it a vortex? It’s hard to tell, but I highly recommend going in there yourself to see what you feel… if you dare.

Another story surrounding this highly active pool is the woman in a bathing suit, who can be seen walking along the pool on both the lower level and upper balcony in her bathing suit. Wet footprints can also be seen along the outside of the pool that has been drained for many, many years.

As for my personal experiences I can tell you these stories: On that day in August of ‘07, I had been wandering down in the engine room with my mother and brother, and we all happened to stop at the same time. No one else was around. It felt heavy and more overbearing in that spot, which that is what stopped us in our tracks. We stood there, motionless, and quietly listened. We were looking at each other, unsure of what we were feeling and wondering if it was just in our heads or not. I pulled out my camera and started to film a video clip of the area we stood in. I felt compelled to, and didn’t even know why. Later that day on the Haunted Encounters tour, we learned that that very spot was where John Peddler had been crushed to death in that watertight door. Coincidence? Maybe. But that has always stuck with me. And our decision to stop and listen in that location makes me wonder what we were really sensing.

On our way out of the ship we found ourselves lost and turned around. We were in a main stairway at the center of the ship. The long hallways seem to stretch forever, and you can’t actually see the end of the them due to the natural upward curve on either end of the ship. We felt disorientated. The only person around was a man walking towards us in a bellhop uniform, so we stopped him to ask where the exit was. He politely instructed us and headed off around the corner and down the hallway again. I grabbed my purse from the bench I had been sitting on and turned around the corner to head down the hallway in the direction he had gone. I stopped dead in my tracks. He had disappeared. No sound of a door closing, and no corridors for him to duck into. Just like that, he was gone without a trace. I whirled around to my family and asked “where did he go?” We all just stared at each other for a moment and decided to leave without questioning further. I wanted a haunted location for my birthday, I think I got one.

As for the many reports of the ship housing the paranormal.. Maybe an old bellhop simply wants to proudly continue his duties on the Queen Mary. Maybe Jackie wants to know what happened to the spot her final moments were lived out in. Maybe the woman in the bathing suit is just waiting for the pool to be refilled so she can go for another swim. Maybe John just wants to finish his game. There are so many stories from on board this timeless luxury liner-turned-hotel and I only covered a handful. If you’re ever in Long Beach, CA I highly recommend visiting the Queen herself, and seeing what you can experience.

You can book reservations, and view all tours available as well as upcoming special events here: Queen Mary Hotel

Stay scared,
Dark Princess