Ship sails into terror: Spirits wander the decks of the Queen Mary year round

By Carrie Porche Jones, On-Line Forty-Niner

Thursday, October 29, 1998

The Queen Mary is rumored to be haunted by the restless spirits and lost souls of former crew members and unlucky passengers who died mysteriously - and in some cases violently - while aboard the ship.

A women dressed in a white evening gown is frequently sighted dancing alone in the shadows of The Queen's Salon, the ship's former first-class lounge.

Guests in some of the hotel suites have reported seeing the reflection of a man wearing a 1930s style suit in the mirror. A tour guide took pictures of the tinted mirrors and was aghast when he saw the man in the developed picture.

Crew working on the ship report hearing babies crying on the site of a former third-class children's playroom where a baby died during childbirth. Waiters pushing carts are suddenly flung aside and the dishes tossed into the air.

Mysterious things also happen at the swimming pool, where women dressed in vintage 1930s bathing suits climb to the edge of the diving board, jump into the air and disappear.

Spookier than the women is the trail of wet footprints that appear around the pool and the sound of water splashing in the waterless pool.

Down below in the engine room, the bearded ghost of 18-year-old crew member John Pedder, who was crushed to death in doorway No.13 during a routine watertight door drill, wanders through the corridors restlessly.

He may be one of many spirits walking among the Halloween ghosts and goblins in the mazes of Shipwreck '98.

Four dark, terror-filled mazes are for the enjoyment of the courageous.

The haunting begins in the "Marketplace of Madness" and "Londontowne of Terror." Pulsating music fills the rooms, masking the bloodcurdling screams of victims and monsters.

The journey of terror continues in the dark, creepy labyrinths of the engine room.

Lost souls moan and reach out fleshless hands in "Decks of the Dead" and the "Haunted Hull of Horror."

Survivors are invited to join the lively dance party in the Queen Mary Exhibit Hall. On-air radio celebrities from KROQ-FM, KBBY-FM and KPWR-FM are on hand to help drive away the evil spirits.

Shipwreck '98 is not recommended for children under 13 or the faint of heart, and guests enter at their own risk. Costumes are not allowed.