Local author publishes first book devoted solely to ghost stories on LBI

There’s more than meets the eye on LBI: That’s the idea behind local author Lynda Lee Macken’s latest book, Haunted Long Beach Island. Published in October, the book attests to apparitions that eyewitnesses have encountered along the 18-mile span, from a “distinctive phantom form” seen haunting Old Barney’s catwalk to a young girl in drenched rags who wanders about Beach Haven and traipses across the surf.

“For such a small island, there are a lot of haunted places,” said Macken. “There seems to be a concentration of ghosts on the Island, and it seems to me that the reason the ghosts are on Long Beach Island is because they love it; they don’t want to go. Some of the ghosts are shipwreck victims. They’re hanging around, looking for their loved ones lost at sea,” she added.

Influenced by local ghost story writer Charles Adams, who authored Legends of Long Beach Island: Stirring Tales of Ghosts, Haunted Houses, Pirates, and Much More in the late 1980s, as well as by the late Hans Holzer, a paranormal researcher and author who wrote more than 100 books on supernatural and occult subjects for the popular market, Macken said she decided to fulfill her own dream of becoming a ghost story writer when she opened her own book publishing company in 2000. Since then, she has written more than 20 books highlighting the region’s ghost stories. She has consulted for A & E’s “Paranormal State” and “Psychic Kids,” “Ghost Hunters,” PBS and the Travel Channel. She also appeared on “Unsolved Mysteries” to detail her sighting of Grace Brown’s ghost floating over Big Moose Lake in Adirondack, N.Y., where the skirt factory worker was allegedly murdered in 1906.

Haunted Long Beach Island is the first of Macken’s books that is devoted solely to ghost stories on LBI. She said local customers urged her to write the book.

“I’m not a ghost hunter or an investigator,” said Macken. “I’m fascinated by ghosts, and I like the history behind them.”

Although she does not claim to be a psychic, Macken believes everyone has the ability to pick up on spiritual connections. She said she sometimes sees apparitions in her peripheral view and often feels dizzy or nauseous in places that are considered haunted. She said she once got the “heebie-jeebies” at her uncle’s home in Beach Haven.

Macken published her first memoir, Array of Hope: An Afterlife Journal, in 2008, which chronicles the after-life communications she received from her mother.

“Every ghost story is different because every ghost is different. They’re individuals,” Macken remarked.

She said more and more people have approached her with LBI ghost stories since her book was published. She plans to write an additional book to include some of those stories.

Haunted Long Beach Island retails for $9.95 and is available for purchase at The Bywatyr Shop in Beach Haven Terrace; the Hand's Store in North Beach Haven; the Long Beach Island Historical Museum, New Jersey Maritime Museum, Regenerate and Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven; Bookworm, Surf City 5 & 10 and the Surf City Pharmacy in Surf City; as well as at Andy’s at the Light and The Islander’s Store in Barnegat Light. It can also be purchased online through Amazon.

For more information about the author, visit lyndaleemacken.com.

— Kelley Anne Essinger

This article was published in The SandPaper.