At the southern tip of the state of New Jersey lies a 7-mile-long barrier island that is the collective home of The Wildwoods–the borough of Wildwood Crest, the city of Wildwood, the city of North Wildwood, and the borough of West Wildwood. These towns have long been a popular summer resort area for vacationers, ever since they were founded at the beginning of the 20th century. Later, in the late 1950s/early 1960s, a building boom took place in The Wildwoods, featuring dozens of what became known as new “mid-century modern” tourist motels. Their architectural style eventually came to be referred as “Googie”, “Populuxe”, or “Doo Wop” (from the style of music popular at the time). At one point there were over 300 of these motels on the island, with their 2-story L-shaped buildings, kidney-shaped swimming pools, plastic palm trees, bright neon signs, and exotic, far-away themes.
This is the setting where “The Mystery of the Haunted Motel” takes place.
The book’s author, Kirk Hastings, grew up in Wildwood Crest, N.J., in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and has been the president of the Wildwood Crest Historical Society since 1995. He has 5 other books in print, including a photo history of the mid-century motels in Wildwood. A writer/cartoonist/graphic artist, he is now retired and currently lives in Somers Point, NJ.
From the book’s back cover:
The old, dilapidated mid-century motel in the little seashore resort town of Wildwood Crest, New Jersey, had been abandoned for years – ever since (or so the story goes) its original owner had, many years before, murdered his wife at precisely the stroke of midnight on October 31st, 1956, and then killed himself by jumping off the motel’s second-story landing into the motel’s empty concrete swimming pool.
After that incident the motel never reopened. Because of its bad reputation it was never resold and remained empty, eventually falling into decay and ruin. The following Fall, though, the rumor began that the motel was haunted – people said that during the dead of night during that October they could hear the moans of its mad owner and the screams of his murdered wife echoing from the motel throughout the beachfront.
Eight years later, in the Fall of 1964, a small group of intrepid local elementary school boys decided that they were going to solve the mystery of the eerie Twilight Motel – once and for all!
“The Mystery of the Haunted Motel” can be found on Amazon.com.
