Stay At The Creepy California Hotel Called America's Most Haunted If You're Brave Enough

Long Beach, California is home to the former cruise ship RMS Queen Mary. Though this vessel survived duty during World War II, it didn't survive the jet age, which ravaged the transatlantic cruise line business from the late 1950s onward. In 1966, Cunard sold Queen Mary to the city of Long Beach for $3.45 million. Five years later, the old ship reopened as a floating hotel boasting hundreds of rooms and volumes of period artwork and wood carvings. Now, there are 347 rooms and suites aboard the Queen Mary at a three-star standard with amenities including Serta mattresses, flat-screen TVs, and safety deposit boxes. 

All of this character belies the Queen Mary's dark history, which could rank it among the most haunted destinations in the world, such as Mexico's Island of the Dolls. At least 47 people died on the ship during her career and a further 337 perished when Queen Mary crashed into and sank HMS Curacoa on October 2, 1942.

As is the case for many of America's best haunted hotels, like Colorado's Stanley Hotel, such tragedies have helped stir superstitious legends around the Queen Mary. Both guests and staff have reported knocking in the night, water running in empty rooms, and even covers pulled off a freshly made bed. Are these stories explainable? Are they mistaken or fabricated? Or are there truly numerous apparitions that haunt this venerable ship? Delve into the macabre phenomena on some of the best spooky ghost tours in America, including the Queen Mary's Haunted Encounters Tour, and spend the night aboard...if you dare.

During the Haunted Encounters Tour and other paranormal offerings on the Queen Mary, you'll hear about the ship's many spooky happenings. Staff have seen a little girl wandering Boiler Room #4 on more than one occasion, either sucking her thumb or carrying a doll. No one has gotten close enough to discover any more about her. Elsewhere in the ship's innards is Hatch Door #13, which crushed an 18-year-old crew member in 1966. The poor man's ghost is said to be a regular down there, running along the hallways asking for his wrench. 

The paranormal activity continues on the guest floors. The disused first-class swimming pool is home to several ghostly figures, including a young woman in a tennis skirt, a woman and boy in wedding attire, and a girl who appears and vanishes in a puff of steam. In 2001, an unnatural cold fell on the Mayfair Room — an office space — disturbing an accountant who arrived to work early at 5:30 a.m. A glowing presence crossed the room, disrupted perhaps by the worker's premature arrival. 

Creepier than this is the 1989 Mauretania Room sighting. Three cleaners arrived to find a guest sitting on a chair in the middle of the dance floor, staring at them. As they approached the man to ask him to leave, he vanished. Arguably the scariest anecdote of all comes from Stateroom B340, where third-class passenger Walter J. Adamson died in 1948. Years later, a woman woke to a man pulling the covers away from her as he stood at the foot of her bed. The figure disappeared before help arrived.

There are plenty of other things to do on the Queen Mary besides supernatural excursions. The ship's former first-class library houses the Portside Marketplace, where guests can buy clothes, souvenirs, and other themed goods. Further merchandise is available at the J.T. Jones Bookstore and Piccadilly Delights, which specializes in premium chocolate and candy.

You'll want to take your appetite to the Grand Salon for the Royal Sunday Brunch. There are over 50 dishes here, from salads and sushi to prime rib, smoked brisket, and a feast of seafood staples. You should pace yourself as with any buffet, and in the Grand Salon you can do so accompanied by live performances from acts including The Jennifer Keith Quartet.

The Queen Mary hosts seasonal events throughout the year. During the busy Christmas period, you can expect a variety of wholesome and occasionally off-beat activities including eggnog tasting, silent discos, blanket-making classes, ugly sweater karaoke, and Christmas bingo. Come summer, the Queen Mary's music schedule is its leading entertainment attraction, with regular performances by vintage jazz acts like Katie Harris and the Secret Jazz Band.