Thu 22 Oct, 2009
My paranormal life often takes me to America’s oldest, and most haunted, seaside resort. People are always dying to get to Cape May’s cool beaches, especially the dead.
I had spent many summers as a child in Cape May, coming to visit my aunt and uncle who had moved from Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn to North Cape May in the late 1960s. At the time, my mind was more fixated on the boardwalk and rides in Wildwood and riding my inflatable raft (remember those?) at the beach near Broadway in Cape May. Ghosts were always an interest of mine, but ghosts and Cape May were two subjects that I rarely connected together.
It was long after my Aunt Ella had passed that I decided to make the three hour trek south to New Jersey’s southernmost peninsula and revisit my childhood summer stomping grounds. It was now almost 20 years later that I returned to the old seaside town and it was not long before I realized that something had changed. There were now three walking ghost tours in town! Had Cape May suddenly become haunted in my long absence? I was now an adult and had, since my late teens, been developing the family gift for psychic ability. Ghosts, long a passion, were now within reach. Until this point the only exposure I had to ghosts was those unseen entities that I had experienced through my novice psychic senses. Now it seemed the entire town was a buzz with paranormal activity!
After many years of staying at Inns and Hotels reputed to be haunted, I decided I would start publishing my notes and findings. One winter night in Cape May, my partner Willy and I were having dinner at The Blue Pig Restaurant in Congress Hall, when we overheard two gentlemen with thick Scottish brogues discussing advertising with General Manager Patrick Logue. Patrick had been kind enough to allow us access to the hotel when it was closed for a complete renovation, so kidding, as we left our table, I quipped to him not to forget to mention the ghosts in his advertising. The two gentlemen were Jack Wright and David Grey who had just started their new Cape May publication called Exit Zero. After getting to know Jack, I came up with the idea, one night at dinner, that I could put all of my years of research to good use and start a column called The Ghost Writer. Within a few issues the positive response from readers was overwhelming and we knew we had a hit. Jack then suggested that I should turn my columns into a book, which he graciously published for me. The Ghosts of Cape May Book 1, was born.
During my early tenure in Cape May I had met a few of the ladies from The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts who were taking Diane Bixler’s ghost tour with me. After Diane introduced us to each other, we started chatting about all things paranormal. It was not long before the group arranged a private visit for me to come and investigate the ghosts at the old Emlen Physick Estate where they worked. Let’s just say, in the beginning, ghosts were a very “touchy” subject around the old mansion, but luckily since that time I have developed a wonderful partnership with MAC and we have developed some fabulous ghost tours of our own! For more information visit MAC’s website.
Since my first book was released in 2003, two more volumes have been written, in addition to new columns for Exit Zero. I am presently working on a coffee table book featuring a compilation of my Ghosts of Cape May photographer, Maciek Nabrdalik’s magnificent black and white photography. 400 Years of the Ghosts of Cape May will be arriving to stores early next year.
Cape May Haunts | iNewsBox says:
[...] case, then by all means, get involved in the Cape May social scene. You’ll probably meet Craig McManus, or hear his name mentioned multiple times, because he’s one of the more prominent writers [...]