Post by Joanna on Feb 22, 2016 23:47:35 GMT -5
The Ghost Chronicles Inspired by Haunted New Jersey Inn
If you ask former Hamilton resident and Hun School alum Marlo Berliner if she believes in ghosts, she will tell you she likes to keep an open mind. And that’s good, because she’s written a book about Michael and Sarah, two spirits trapped in the afterlife. The Ghost Chronicles is a young adult novel with adult crossover appeal, perfect for fans of the 1990’s movie Ghost.
The book was inspired by the legend of a haunting at The Angel of the Sea, an award-winning bed and breakfast in Cape May. This spectacular inn has been featured on several TV shows and in magazines throughout the world. Most notably, it was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as one of the “Best Vacations in the World” and included on her talk show. The Angel of the Sea is one of the most recognized Victorian structures in the United States.
While staying at The Angel of the Sea, Berliner happened to pick up a non-fiction book about Cape May ghost stories in the lobby. Imagine her surprise when she learned the place she was staying was haunted. The book detailed how a girl fell to her death on the property in the late 1960s and her ghost is believed to still haunt the inn. Immediately, Berliner knew she wanted to include Sarah’s character in the book and set most of the story at The Angel of the Sea.
Berliner then did extensive research on the legend surrounding the haunting at The Angel of the Sea. The story is widely known and has been included in several non-fiction books about ghosts in Cape May. News stories about the death indicate the young girl, whose real name was Sarah Brown, was an Irish exchange student rooming at The Angel of the Sea and working at the nearby Christian Admiral Hotel. The story goes that she returned to her room at The Angel of the Sea to shower and change for church, but discovered she had left her keys at work. Because she didn’t have time to retrieve the keys and still get ready, she attempted to shinny along a ledge to enter through the window, but when she tried to pry off the screen, it suddenly came off, smacking her in the forehead and sending her tumbling to her death.
Over the years, guests at The Angel of the Sea have attributed a number of experiences to the girl’s playful spirit. It is said Sarah has an affinity for electronic devices. Lamps, radios and televisions have all been known to turn on and off by themselves from time to time. Guests and staff have noticed items disappearing from one spot only to reappear mysteriously in another. Objects also fall from tables and dressers as if knocked off by unseen hands. Furniture and pictures wobble or shake for no explainable reason. Most notably, the girl seems to have an aversion to locked doors. Given the fact a locked door contributed to her untimely death, it is not surprising that her spirit has been said to lock and unlock doors in certain parts of the inn, in particular, the door in the room where she stayed has been discovered repeatedly unloked.
Formerly an accounting manager for a Fortune 500 company, Berliner is currently an intern with a well-known literary agency based in New York City, as well as an editor at Chimera Editing.
Berliner will be signing her book, at the Barnes & Noble in Hamilton Township, Saturday, March 5 from 1 to 3 p.m., as part of a book fair to benefit the Friends of the Hamilton Township Public Library. For more information, visit marloberliner.com. Online sales will also count toward the fundraiser from March 5 through March 9 as long as readers give Bookfair ID #11808474 when checking out.
Source: MyCentralNewJersey, February 21, 2016.