Hunting for 'Hauntings' in Long Beach

Starr Faithfull has been seen in Long Beach several times. 

Surfers, morning joggers and a few beachcombers claim they’ve spotted Faithfull standing at the edge of the jetty on Monroe Boulevard, dressed in the same black and gray flapper dress that beachcomber Daniel Moriarty found her in when stumbling upon her body in 1931. Her controversial case of murder vs. suicide remains unsolved, keeping her presence in Long Beach for 80 years.   

“I want nothing to do with seeing anything foggy or eerie when I'm out on the water," said East End surfer Jimmy Cardone. "I won't even look past Lincoln beach until the sun is up and people are around. Ghost or no ghost: I don't want to see to find out."

With more than 100 years of history, Long Beach has seen its share of murders, fatal accidents, secret history, and tragic drownings. But that's all in the past. Or is it?  Ghost hunters, paranormal activists, homeowners, and eyewitnesses say that the tragic deaths of these people have created a existential porthole for the unresting souls—as well as a few good ghost stories. 

Long Beach Island Landmarks Association capitalized on the ghosts of Long Beach three years ago when they introduced their annual "Hauntings" tour to the public. The organizations take guests on a hair-raising tour of paranormal hot spots in Long Beach, including a walk through one of Long Beach's Haunted Mansions.

The LBILA also covers the exorcisms once performed by a local pastor, Father Tom, at the former Bel Air Apartment House; reported haunted homes; the spirit of former Long Beach Mayor Louis Edwards, who some say they’ve seen his image walking down the driveway and peering out the living room window on to the spot where he was murdered; and the gruesome murder/mutilation of a young man whose remains were buried and found in the backyard barbecue pit of a quaint residential neighborhood.  

The ghoulish stories of Long Beach even grace the walls of the Long Beach Historical Society’s museum on West Penn Street, where the original police blotters and hand-written statement from the Watkin's murder — the first murder to ever take place in Long Beach — are kept. Displaying the documents attracts people who are drawn to the rumored tales of strange activity in the former Watkins home's backyard, as well as the details behind the murder.   

"The Watkins murder is a really good and true story," said Long Beach historian Roberta Fiore. "Dr. Watkin's brought his wife to their summer home in Long Beach during the winter months and murdered her.  He reported to police that someone else was in the house and plead innocent. He wound up in jail in Mineola and committed suicide."

And some claim that there's still the faint smells of perfume that inhabit the area of the former Long Beach Hotel, and the strange noises and whistles from the former watchtower off the boardwalk that remain untold. 

"I guess like most of us, nobody, whether dead or alive, wants to leave our beautiful City by the Sea, Long Beach," said Linda McNeill, LBIA’s secretary and trustee.

* Tickets for Long Beach Island Landmark Association's Hauntings Tour are $10 and are only available through reservations. Call the LBILA at 431-2140.

Also, be sure to enter Patch's Little Pumpkin Halloween Costume Challenge with Heidi Klum.