Mary Celeste

The 1956 book, The Wreck of the Mary Deare, by Hammond Innes, drew inspiration from the Mary Celeste story.

Numerous episodes of the Star Trek series recycled the central Mary Celeste myth of an abandoned ship found with no crew aboard.

The Doctor Who serial The Chase (1965) suggested that the arrival of time-travelling Daleks caused the terrified crew of the ship to jump overboard.

In 1973, science fiction author Philip José Farmer penned a novel, The Other Log Of Phileas Fogg, in which he has two of Jules Verne’s most famous characters, Phileas Fogg and Captain Nemo square off against one another in a scene on board the Mary Celeste.

The 1970s British sci-fi serial Sapphire & Steel suggested in Adventure 1 that, in unseen events set prior to the story, interdimensional operatives were assigned to deal with a time break aboard the Mary Celeste (according to Sapphire, the trigger was an out-of-date ship's log – a nautical souvenir belonging to the captain) which would have caused the end of time itself. Steel had been forced to send the original ship and crew out of time (and presumably to their deaths) and although he left behind a replica of the ship, he unfortunately forgot to replicate the bodies...

The 1973 Thomas Pynchon novel, "Gravity's Rainbow," briefly mentions the ship--though as the Marie-Celeste--comparing it to the tunnels of Mittelwerke: "Though found adrift and haunted, full of signs of recent human tenancy, this is not the legendary ship Marie-Celeste--it isn't bounded so neatly . . ."

Stephen King's story The Langoliers, from Four Past Midnight, refers to the incident.

Al Stewart, in the song "Life in Dark Water" from the album Time Passages, refers to the vessel, perhaps to imply that another ship (a submarine) has been abandoned.

In the 1990 horror film remake of Night of the Living Dead, a plaque outside the front door of the farmhouse reads "M. Celeste." Director Tom Savini states on the DVD's commentary that this is a reference to the Mary Celeste. Further details include scenes of still smoldering cigarettes in ashtrays and food still cooking on the stoves, but the residents are missing.

An episode of the 1996 series The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest entitled “In the Wake of the Mary Celeste” deals with the ship as well.

The song "Sinking", from the 2000 Alabama 3 album La Peste, is about a ship that is stranded at sea after its captain dies of a drug overdose. In the song, the captain's dying words are: Beware, don't stare at the Mary Celeste, this quest of ours is cursed.

The title of Nurse With Wound's 2003 album Salt Marie Celeste is a reference to Mary Celeste.

In Roger Zelazny's short story "And I Only Am Escaped to Tell Thee", a seaman escapes from the accursed Flying Dutchman, only to be rescued by the Mary Celeste.

Dean Koontz wrote a book, Phantoms, that explained mass disappearances like the Mary Celeste. In the book, the ‘Ancient Enemy’ is blamed. It lives at the bottom of the ocean and feeds mostly on aquatic life, but every once in a while, it encounters a ship and eats all the passengers.

In Babylon 5 a transport ship named the Marie Celeste can be heard mentioned in background public announcements. Specifically, it is the ship that transports Thomas (aka Jinxo) off the station in the episode "Grail".

The Mary Celeste features in Vampire Hunter D: Raiser of Gales by Hideyuki Kikuchi. D escapes from a dimensional prison, causing a tear in the time-space continuum. This causes many disappearances across history before it seals itself, the crew of the Mary Celeste being among them.

In the 2001 SciFi channel movie Lost Voyage Judd Nelson briefly recounts the tale of the Mary Celeste.

The 2002 movie Ghost Ship makes a lengthy and mostly inaccurate reference to the ship.

In Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, the narrator mentions the ship after hearing the story of Felix Hoenikker leaving his car in the middle of traffic on the way to work one morning.