I’m back from my week-long break from blogging, and from my trip to Ocean City, MD! While strolling along the boardwalk on my birthday with my mom and husband, we stopped into the Ghoulish Things store (since I usually love going on the Haunted House next door, but didn’t want to chance it while pregnant, this felt like a fitting replacement). While in there, my mom grabbed me a copy of Mindie Burgoyne’s Haunted Ocean City and Berlin.

This is one of those short books you grab as a souvenir while on vacation that makes a perfect beach or car ride home read, a local installment of the popular Haunted America series. Having grown up going to Ocean City every summer, I had heard several of the ghost stories detailed in the chapters, but what really surprised me was the actual history behind the legends.

For example, the Shoreham Hotel (known as the most haunted building in the city). It sits above Shenanigan’s on the boardwalk, where my baby sister works. My sister had told me that it’s haunted by three ghosts, left behind by a suicide, a murder, and an accident. The chapter on the Shoreham in this book goes into more detail about who these people were and what actually happened at the time of their deaths. It’s a bit eerier when the story becomes more real and you can find legal records of the murder online.

Even for those who are skeptical, this book is still full of some really cool history that any regular visitor to the beach would be interested to learn. There are specific people who left their mark on Ocean City and left behind a legacy (whether as legendary ghosts or for the things they accomplished in their lifetime). This includes members of the Trimper boardwalk empire family, the Dolle family, who are known for their saltwater taffy, and the Harrison family, who are locally renowned farmers-turned-hotel owners.

Berlin is an amazing town as well, and I unfortunately didn’t get to stop there this trip like I usually do, but I did get to read more about one of my favorite haunted locations in the state: the famous Atlantic Hotel. There’s also a ghost museum in Berlin now that I’ve been meaning to check out.

If you’re going to Ocean City anytime soon and are interested in a good spooky-season vibe as Augtober approaches, this is your perfect beach read!