PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Last weekend, I was invited to attend media night for the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor haunted maze event in Long Beach, California. I had never attended such an event, and to say I was excited, thrilled and honored is an understatement. The more I read about it, the more elated I was. There was promise of a red carpet, celebrities, free drinks, a secret bar, front of the line passes and more. And boy, did they deliver. It was everything promised and beyond.
The official description for Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor:
As Dark Harbor descends upon the haunted Queen Mary in 2018, a leader has emerged from the darkness to inflict her will upon her evil cohorts and those that dare enter our gates in the port of Long Beach.
The Ringmaster’s corrupt control of over 200 heinous monsters has dragged our six terrifying mazes further into the depths of decay, promising the most intense season of LA County’s most authentic Halloween attraction.
The ocean liner the Queen Mary has been named one of the top 10 most haunted places on Earth by Time magazine. So what better venue for a series of haunted mazes than a haunted ship? Now a hotel, the Queen Mary was permanently docked in Long Beach in 1967. This is after (at least) 49 crew and passengers died upon the ship. The Queen Mary is ridiculously full of history and haunted lore, providing a very heavy atmosphere. When you’re onboard, you can’t help but check over your shoulder every now and then.
This year, Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor featured six mazes – Intrepid (All Aboard! The Ghost Train Waits… based on a visit to the birthplace of the Queen Mary, the John Brown Shipyard in Scotland), Circus (Clowns!), Feast (inspired by an actual Queen Mary chef who was shoved into an oven by his kitchen staff during war time), B340 (based on the infamous state room), Lullaby (Scary Mary, a young girl that might have drowned in the Queen Mary pool), and Deadrise (based on the Grey Ghost that now rests in her watery tomb).
With three mazes constructed in the parking lot and the other three on the ship, no two mazes are the same. In Feast, you find yourself crawling on all fours as passing guests watch, or you can participate in the obstacle course of Deadrise, wriggle your way through the ball pit of Circus, feel heartbreak for little Scary Mary in Lullaby, or the delve into the dread of death and the unknown in B340. In Intrepid, you’ll sneak through a cemetery in the dark as fake snow swirls around you. These mazes were unlike any I have seen before, with careful detail courtesy Jon Cook, a veteran haunted maze designer who is also a contractor for Knott’s Scary Farm.
As the ship looms in the background, you realize that there’s more to Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor than just mazes. Throughout the lot, you’ll find food vendors, sideshow acts, a hookah lounge, bars, beloved ghostly characters such as The Captain and Graceful Gail, and a sinister set of swings that used to call Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch home. Even a few celebrities made appearances! There’s fire, fog, ghosts and more – something to stimulate all of your senses. It’s dark and cool down by the water, which adds to the ambiance of the massive and beautiful luxury liner.
As we entered the ship, I couldn’t help but think to myself just how pissed off the spirits of the ship were at this point? Does having Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor held there every year make them feel exploited, or do they revel in it and squeal in glee with the opportunity for new visitors? You’ll just have to visit the ship on your own to find out. With Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor running from now until November 2, now is the perfect time.
