Customer Reviews

A guide to the haunted Queen Mary: Ghostly apparitions, psychic phenomena and paranormal activity aboard the world famous luxury liner

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this recently in the gift shop of the "Queen Mary" in Long Beach, California. It was an impulse buy, as I needed something to read on the flight home from Long Beach. When I flipped through it I noticed some interesting photographs taken of the "Queen Mary" throughout her life, and bought the book mostly due to the historical value of the photos.

The text deals with ghosts and supernatural events on the "Queen Mary", of which I am skeptical. Nothing in the book made a convert of me, nor did I see any ghosts in my most recent three day stay onboard the "Queen Mary". The most intriguing parts of the book concern John Pedder, a young member of the crew crushed to death in watertight door number 13. Perhaps because his story was so compelling I found it the most interesting, and certainly he does seem to be one of the most popular ghosts sighted.

I'm not sorry that I bought the book, but be advised it is a very small volume, and will not take very long to read. The format gives the background of the ship and ghost stories and then lists numerous sightings from a variety of people. The stories range from the easily explained to more otherworldly, but page after page of them makes for tedious reading. There are quite a few grammatical errors that should have been caught in proofreading, and an 11 page long list of "Recommended Reading" which pads the length of the book enormously. There are also "Tips For Releasing a Troublesome Spirit," which is definitely only for the most devout of paranormal believers.

I think the authors and people interviewed are sincere, although I remain skeptical and certainly have never had an encounter in my multiple times on the ship. For what they set out to do I think they covered the material they wanted to cover, and in that regard if you have an interest in the subject this would be a very suitable book. Some of the photos I had not seen before, and for that reason alone I am glad I bought the book. I did appreciate that the authors charted the occurrences on a set of deck plans, which was a nice touch. Overall, though, the book is somewhat monotonous, and is quite small for the price, with much padding to bulk up the book to 106 pages. I recommend the book to paranormal enthusiasts with a keen interest in the "Queen Mary", or to lovers of classic ocean liners for whom it contains some good photographs of the stately ship.

The The Haunted Queen Mary is an excellent resource for paranormal investigators, as well as, anyone interested in the ghosts of the ship and her haunting activity. As a long time member of the paranormal community and a person who has spent countless hours investigating the ship I know how often people want to know what areas of the ship are haunted, what rooms have had activity and what type of things people have reported. This book is a comprehensive guide that answers these questions. For this reason alone I find this book one of those great treasures you want to take with you on the ship and carry with you while exploring. The book also gives you a wonderful glimpse into the long and exciting history of this great ocean liner and the men and woman who worked on her and played on her. This book is a must have in any ghost enthusiast library.

Bob Davis
Planet Paranormal Investigations
Planet Paranormal Radio
Queen Mary Shadows

This is the kind of book one would pick up in a gift shop if they were on board the Queen Mary. In recent reviews I chastised a few authors for giving us pages of story on the history of a place and then one sentence pertaining to any ghost stories. They write travel guides rather than ghost books only to mention the spirits briefly. Those kinds of books got 3 stars from me. Exceptional books that kept my attention until I was running out of pages and panicking that it was going to be the end of the books soon got 5 stars from me.

This book gets 4. Why? It does have pages upon pages of good stories, so that is where the 5 stars come in, but after about page 20 you will get the same story over and over again. A ghost was seen at the closed down pool. The security guards are called and they can find no trace of anyone. This happens over and over. Also, someone will move into a room and will be kept up all night by someone in the next room banging around. Come morning time they go to investigate only to find that the room has been vacant for a while. This as well happens over and over.

Take the first 20 pages, copy and paste it 3 or so times, and you have this book. There are a few interesting stories to scare the 3 star review away though. A very good book indeed, though if I had the option to read it again I would probably deny such a deal. Still, the first time reading it might be worth it to you!

John McAdam, author of:
Enoch and the Extraterrestrials