Photos taken during Ghost Tours at the Queen Mary sometimes have strange marks on them. Could it be one of the many spirits that are said to haunt the ship?
WITH POSSIBLY more than 300 ghosts, Long Beach's Queen Mary has been called one of the most haunted places in North America.
During the ship's 70-year-history, disembodied voices, apparitions and strange smells have been reported by guests and staff. This has led to ghost-hunting teams and mediums coming aboard on numerous occasions to investigate and feel for any otherworldly vibes. Even Press-Telegram columnist and self-proclaimed skeptic Tom Hennessy has had an experience or two on the Queen Mary he said he can't explain.
All this makes the venerable ocean liner a prime location for the first ever Ghost Fest Expo. The event, which is being held Friday through Sunday, is open to the public and promises lectures by ghost hunters, mediums and paranormal experts, seances, tours and booths where attendees can buy their own ghostbusting machinery.
"(The Queen Mary) is truly paranormally active," said Erika Frost, the ship's resident psychic and one of Ghost Fest's organizers. "It's a good place to explore, and there is plenty of room, so people can stay."
Built in the '30s in England by Cunard Line, the Queen Mary took passengers across the Atlantic for more than 30 years, even acting as a troop ship during World War II.
In 1967, it was sold to Long Beach as a tourist attraction. The ship had its engines removed, and it was turned into a hotel.
HAUNTED HAPPENINGS
Though the Queen Mary no longer travels the ocean, the ghosts have apparently not deserted her. Frost leads the "Ghosts and Legends" tour, which hits the main locations where ghostly activity has been reported. One of those is the forward cargo hold, which was damaged during the war when the Queen Mary hit another ship. Three hundred sailors were killed that day, and mysterious sounds, including screams, have been heard in that spot.
A small girl is said to haunt the first class pool, and one room is no longer being rented out, since guests kept getting their covers ripped off. Statesman Winston Churchill, who traveled on the ship many times, may or may not be haunting one of the restaurants, leaving behind his signature cigar smoke, but no smoldering stub in sight.
It is these kinds of stories, as well as the multitude of paranormal experts coming, that has Ghost Fest lecturer Jeff Belanger enthused about attending the expo.
"I'm excited about it; there aren't too many conferences of this size and scale," Belanger said.
Indeed, according to Frost, this will be quite a large gathering for the paranormal community.
Belanger, who developed his fascination for ghosts at a young age, has interviewed hundreds of people about their supernatural experiences, including George Lutz of "Amityville Horror" fame. He has traveled to many allegedly haunted places, including the Tower of London and the Paris catacombs. He has written several books (with a chapter on the Queen Mary), and started ghostvillage.com seven years ago to catalog stories and photos. He will be sharing some of these stories at Ghost Fest, as well as speaking more generally about supernatural topics.
"I'm talking about ghost phenomena, things happening psychologically, physically," Belanger said.
He, however, has not seen a ghost firsthand.
"Nothing that has been a bona fide experience," Belanger said. "But I am definitely a believer."
SPIRIT ENCOUNTERS
Unlike Belanger, Ghost Fest lecturer Jackie Barrett has had her share of one-on-one experiences with spirits. She is a member of the Voodoo Spiritual Temple of New Orleans. She has been a practicing psychic for more than two decades.
Barrett is well-acquainted with the Queen Mary, where she led a tour of paranormal investigators.
"I didn't know anything about the Queen Mary until I was there," Barrett said, adding that on the tour she felt two spirits, including one who committed suicide.
This tour is what led Ghost Fest organizers to ask her to speak this weekend. Barrett plans to talk about her experiences as a psychic medium, but also hopes to educate attendees about voodoo.
"I hope to dispel beliefs of zombie movies on TV," Barrett said. Those misconceptions, she added, include animal sacrifice and putting curses on people.
"There are no curses (in voodoo) that man would put on man," she said. "It's about a door opening on the spirit world."
Apart from her lecture, Barrett will hold a seance. Unlike other mediums, Barrett said she doesn't go into a trance.
"I don't close my eyes and come back with an answer," she said.
Rather, Barrett encourages the spirits to contact audience members, which has led to some interesting experiences. At one such seance, Barrett said, an older woman started crawling around on the floor - the woman had connected with the spirit of a little girl.
Such connections can sometimes be alarming, Barrett acknowledged - a point that will be amply illustrated at Ghost Fest with a screening of "The Entity." The 1981 film, starring Barbara Hershey, is about a woman who is repeatedly sexually assaulted by an invisible spirit. The film is based on a real case investigated by researcher Barry Taff, who will be at the expo to participate in a question-and-answer session about it.
Joining Taff, Barrett and Belanger are a plethora of other ghost experts and psychics. Just a few include psychic Peter James, whose dark mustache and grey shock of hair should be familiar to TV audiences who watched "Sightings"; Todd Bates, who is an expert at electronic voice phenomena, or ghostly voices caught on tape; and Andrew Nichols, the founder and executive director of the American Institute of Parapsychology Inc.
Whether the Queen Mary's ghosts will join them is a different question. But even if they are no-shows, it's all for a good cause. Part of the proceeds from Ghost Fest, Frost said, will go to the Wellness Community, a group that helps cancer patients and their families.
GHOST FEST EXPO 2006
Where: The Queen Mary, 1126 Queen's Highway, Long Beach
When: Events begin 6 p.m. Friday, and continue through 6 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $30 for one-day admission, $50 for
weekend admission; Jackie Barrett's seance, ghost hunts and charity reception require additional fees.
Information: www.ghost-fest.com
