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[Eua1]

The Amityville House

The house on 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, N.Y., an upscale Long Island suburb, was the site of a brutal family murder in which 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo, Jr. shot and killed his parents and four younger siblings on November 14, 1974. But much of the legend surrounding the home stems from the family who moved in a little over year after the murders. George and Kathy Lutz and their four children, knowing about the tragic events that had taken place, agreed to see the property — including a 4,000 square foot house, waterfront access, a boathouse, heated swimming pool, garage and full basement — and eventually bought it.

"As soon As Kathy had walked into the house, she had a smile on her face that just beamed. That hadn't happened in all the previous homes we looked at," George Lutz recalled later, describing the events at Amityville at a paranormal convention. "I knew from the look on her face, that this was to be our dream home." Soon after moving in, though, things changed dramatically. Even after having the place blessed by a priest at the urging of a friend, George and Kathy said they began experiencing strange things: banging noises, footsteps untraceable to any family member's movements, mysterious and pervasive odors, green jello-like substances leaking from walls, toilet water turning back, swarms of houseflies and eyes peering in from outside the windows. Even the family's behavior began to change: George was often sick, went days without bathing and lost weight while Kathy had constant nightmares. The children began to fight with each other.
After the disturbances worsened, the Lutzes decided to leave the house temporarily. But the night in which they were to depart turned out to be their last night there. Although George Lutz is reluctant to explain the full details of that night, he once said that "the hardest thing for those people [who experience a haunting] is the loss of being able to communicate with anyone else about it...It's not talked about, it's not understood...and when it happens to you, you become an alien to everyone else." The Lutzes' entire account was later dismissed as a fabrication by a paranormal investigator, the late Dr. Stephen Kaplan. Ultimately, Kaplan said, George's stories of haunting were "too wide-ranging" and probably stemmed from a pre-existing obsession with the paranormal.

The Amityville murders's Official web site

[Eua1]

The Queen Mary

A former luxury ocean liner and war ship nicknamed the "Grey Ghost," the Queen Mary was purchased by the city of Long Beach in 1967, transformed into a hotel, and became a popular tourist attraction (a meal and a guided walk around the ship's paranormal hot spots can run up to $109). Among the ghosts reportedly still hanging around are a sailor who died in the ship's engine room, a "lady in white," and children who drowned in the ship's pool.

Resting in Long Beach Harbor is the HMS Queen Mary, a colossal ship that was bigger, faster and more powerful than the Titanic. The 1,000-foot ship began her life when the first keel plate was laid in 1930 at the John Brown shipyard in Clyde, Scotland. The depression held up her construction between 1931 and 1934, but she was finally completed, making her maiden voyage on May 27, 1936.

For three years the grand ocean liner hosted the world¢s rich and famous across the Atlantic including the likes of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, David Niven, Mary Pickford, George and Ira Gershwin, and Sir Winston Churchill, just to name a few. Considered by the upper-class to be the only civilized way to travel, she held the record for the fastest-ever North Atlantic crossing.



The Queen Mary and the Scorpion, a Soviet Submarine,
Kathy Weiser, December, 2005.
This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

But, when World War II broke out in 1939, luxury travel immediately ceased and the ship was transformed into a troopship that would become known as "The Grey Ghost.” During this time her capacity was increased from 2,410 to 5,500. By the end of World War II, the ship had carried more than 800,000 troops, traveled more than 600,000 miles and played a significant role in virtually every major Allied campaign. She had also survived a collision at sea, set the record for carrying the most people ever on a floating vessel (16,683), and participated in the D-Day invasion.

At the close of the war the ship began to transport more than 22,000 war brides and their children to the United States and Canada. Known as the "Bride and Baby Voyages," she made 13 voyages for this purpose in 1946.

Its duty to the war complete, the Queen Mary was refurbished and resumed her elegant cruises in July, 1947, maintaining weekly service between Southampton, Cherbourg, and New York. However, by the early 1960¢s, transatlantic cruises were falling out of fashion, due to air travel becoming affordable for the masses. In 1963, the ship began a series of occasional cruises, first to the Canary Islands and later to the Bahamas. However, without central air conditioning, outdoor pools, or other amenities now commonplace on cruise ships, she proved ill suited for the work. In 1967, she was withdrawn from service after more than 1,000 transatlantic crossings.

That same year, the Queen Mary was sold for $3.45 million to the city of Long Beach, California, for use as a maritime museum and hotel. On December 9, 1967, she made her final voyage to Long Beach. After 1,001 successful Atlantic crossings, she was permanently docked and soon became the luxury hotel that she is today.