“One of the things I remember so vividly about Brigantine Castle was the costumed ghouls that were hired to haunt the place and scare the visitors. One afternoon, I found several of them near the back of the castle, in full costume, having a cigarette on a break while waiting to go back to work. The illusion was shattered.”
— Bruce Kaminsky
“I worked there, I believe, in 1974 and 1975. I was Dracula in the Portrait Room and a werewolf when they had a little forest. I also worked in the Rat Room, and of course I was a roving ghoul. I think most of us worked in one exhibit or another inside the castle. So many stories. So much debauchery. A customer once broke my finger because I scared her.”
— Stu Shames, Brigantine Castle Facebook page
Brigantine Beach has many charms, including a pristine beach, world-class fishing, the fabulous Brigantine Golf Links, the venerable Brigantine Hotel, great restaurants, and seasonal activities ranging from sailing and kayaking to shopping at the famed farmers market and visiting the ever-popular Shark Park kiddie park.
What Brigantine does not have, at least at this moment, is an amusement pier. But from Memorial Day Weekend of 1976 through the spring of 1985, there was, in fact, an amusement pier in Brigantine.
in more than one million visitors and an estimated $2 million in revenue each year.
It was home to restaurants, a miniature golf course, gift shops, a fishing pier, an arcade, and an attraction that city fathers have called “the most famous single attraction in the history of Brigantine Beach.” It was Brigantine Castle, a haunted castle-themed attraction built to look like a medieval haunted mansion, complete with turrets that rose well over 100 feet tall.
The structure was populated by “live spooks”—i.e., live actors in ghoul costumes—who “haunted” the castle’s five levels. At the height of its operation, Brigantine Castle employed almost 40 people and brought in more than a million visitors per year and an estimated $2 million in annual revenue. Some say Brigantine Castle put the city on the map as a tourist attraction.
Carmen Ricci was a businessman and a visionary who spearheaded the building and promotion of Brigantine Castle. Sometime in the early 1970s, Ricci came upon the city’s decrepit fishing pier, The Seahorse Pier, located on 14th Street North. The pier was also home to a taproom that had seen better days. There was also an old motel just across from the pier.
The whole structure, quite simply, was a mess. Years of storm damage and general neglect had rendered the pier almost structurally unsound. Because the Seahorse Pier was an embarrassing eyesore, it was relatively easy for Ricci to convince the city to allow him to realize his vision for the pier.
Once Ricci got approval, he moved quickly. From the time construction began early in 1976, it took only 150 days for Brigantine Castle and attendant attractions to open for business.
It succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations, thanks to great word-of-mouth and an intense print and television advertising campaign that focused on the Philadelphia and New York markets. Before long, busloads of people were visiting the castle, and lines went around the block.
The influx of tourists to the sleepy shore town caused problems like impossible parking, insufficient restroom facilities leading to public urination, and lawsuits by Brigantine residents to limit buses. Yet tourists continued arriving in droves.
The beginning of the end for Brigantine Castle was a fatal fire that occurred on May 11, 1984, at the Six Flags Great Adventure theme park in Jackson Township, Ocean County. Eight teenagers lost their lives when they were trapped inside Great Adventure’s haunted house. As a result of that tragedy, the City of Brigantine immediately began looking at Brigantine Castle to determine its fire safety, structural soundness, the state of its sprinkler systems, and whether other mandatory fire code measures were being met.
Ricci was told to get an engineering study done, and the results were not good. The whole structure, it seemed, was unsound, and a lot of repairs were needed in order to pass inspection and get Brigantine Castle up to code.
Ricci did what he had to do, but he was discouraged. Though he was ready to open for the 1985 season, it was reported at the time that Ricci and the city were still at odds over several issues, including the castle’s general condition, as well as how the overwhelming influx of tourists should be handled.
Ricci decided he didn’t want to deal with it and closed the castle. Not long after, the pier and the castle were sold to a developer who planned to build condos on the site. Demolition began around August, 1987, but in late September, a fire broke out — later found to be arson — and destroyed everything, save a couple of pilings.
In addition to those pilings, what’s left are memories. And they’re all very fond ones. The following was posted on the Real Brigantine Facebook page three years ago:
“Brigantine Castle was legendary in its prime. Brigantine Castle certainly was a sight from the beach. People would stop and watch you playing the old-school mini-golf course that used to be on the pier. Cute little stores and shops were also located on the pier. Was it Brigantine or Disney Town? It almost looked like something out of a Disney movie, didn’t it? It’s wild to think that this whole structure was there for years and now you’d never know. The castle looked creepy in that sepia lighting, and it was a great place for family pictures. It was once a wild view from the beach. Now, it’s only a memory. RIP to this epic tourist attraction.
There is, by the way, no truth to the rumor that the area around Brigantine Castle is haunted. That’s just not possible, as the ghouls who haunted the original castle are still taking their cigarette break.
Bruce Klauber is the author of four books, an award-winning music journalist, concert and record producer and publicist, producer of the Warner Brothers and Hudson Music “Jazz Legends” film series, and performs both as a drummer and vocalist.
