The Queen Mary, Long Beach, California, USA

The Queen Mary was one of the most luxurious ocean liners in the 1930s, transporting movie stars such as Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Bob Hope. With the advent of World War II, however, the ship was repainted and used as a troopship. She became known as the "Grey Ghost", a fitting nickname for a ship that would come to be known as one of the world's most haunted.

As air travel increased, the era of the luxury liner came to an end; on Halloween, 1967, the Queen Mary set out on her final cruise, arriving in Long Beach on December 9. She has been there ever since, converted into a hotel.

With ghosts.

One crewman played "chicken" with a watertight door once too often, and was crushed when it slid shut during an emergency (to prevent water from flooding other sections of the ship). He has been seen near the fatal door, usually disappearing near or through it.

During her years as a troopship, the Queen Mary accidentally rammed a smaller ship, causing it to sink. Screams can still be heard in the bow.

The swimming pool in the First Class section is haunted by several female ghosts, many wearing swimsuits in the style of the 1930s.

Cabin B340 is so haunted - sheets flying across the room, faucets turning on and off - that it is no longer used as a guest room.

A cook who traveled in the ship during WWII was such a bad cook that he was stuffed into an oven and roasted. His screams are still audible.

There is also an eerie legend that during the ship's travels of the 1930s, a certain passenger asked a crew member to bring him some "company". Money changed hands, and a young woman was sent to the man's cabin to "entertain" him.

When the man didn't appear at breakfast the next morning, and didn't answer his door, the door was forced open. The cabin was found to be soaked in blood - the blood of the young woman. The man was never found; there was no record of any passenger being assigned the cabin in which he stayed, and no luggage for him was ever found.

Battery Carriage House Inn, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

The Battery Carriage House Inn dates from 1843. It calls itself "Charleston's most haunted inn", and this may be true.

The ghosts are a rather obliging crew, generally staying to their assigned rooms. The most haunted areas are Rooms 3, 8, and 10.

Room 10 is the domain of a specter known as "the gentleman" ghost, who has a liking for the ladies; indeed, one guest reported that she saw a figure float over to her bed and lie down on it with one arm around her! Another woman saw a shadowy form cross the room and fade through a closed door. The ghost is thought to be a 19th-century man who committed suicide by jumping off the roof of the house.

Room 3 has several presences, as witnessed by a couple who stayed there. A light emanated from the bathroom, a cell phone refused to work, and several figures were seen.

Room 8 is one the faint of heart might like to avoid. The ghost is thought to be that of a Civil War soldier. Only the torso appears, usually next to the bed. One brave guest touched the torso (clad in rough material) and the torso made a sound as of raspy breathing. Another guest claimed to have photographed the torso when aiming her camera up at the room window from the courtyard.

Happy hauntings, everyone.

The Feathers Hotel, Ludlow, Shropshire, United Kingdom

According to the New York Times, The Feathers Hotel is "the most handsome inn in the world."

According to other sources, it's one of the most haunted buildings in the U.K.

The building was constructed in 1619 as a private residence (and what a residence!) by local attorney Rees Jones. After the English Civil War, Jones' son Thomas had it converted to an inn. In 1863, The Feathers Inn became The Feathers Hotel - ghosts and all.

- In one room, a man wearing old-fashioned clothing is seen sitting in the window, a dog at his feet.

- An employee, when cleaning a lounge late at night, would hear his named called. He was the only staff member working, each time.

- Footsteps have been heard in the Prince Charles Suite.

- A couple who stayed in Room 212 were unable to remain in the room. The husband left after three hours; the two never said what had happened, but another woman claimed that King Henry VIII was there.

- A woman was pulled out of her bed, by her hair, in the middle of the night. Her husband merely felt someone stroking his face.

- The man with the dog has been seen walking through one of the rooms (in an extension to the hotel, built in the 1950s) and disappearing through the wall.

- A woman has been seen outside the hotel, crossing the street and walking through a parked car. In this case, it is believed that the apparition is that of a living woman - she is wearing the clothing of the 1960s - and that the woman in question is well aware of the appearances.