The folks responsible for the Dark Harbor haunted event at The Queen Mary in Long Beach presented their diabolical plans to terrify you this year, and those of us lucky enough to attend ScareLA got to hear all about it.
Senior Entertainment Events Manager Charity Hill, Executive Talent Director David Wally! and Creative Director JJ Wickham took the stage to enthusiastic applause, which quickly turned thunderous and crazed as soon as The Ringmaster was introduced.
The Ringmaster takes over
Yes, last year’s master of scare-a-monies is back, and she has many loyal fans in the haunting community, as evidenced by the screaming and cheering of the audience when she commandeered the panel and started giving her own unique, sarcastic, smarmy, and decidedly PG-13 comments about Dark Harbor.
The Ringmaster introduces Scary Mary to the audience
MAZES
B340: Step inside the twisted mind of Samuel the Savage, experiencing his bad beginning and demented demise in room B340. You’ll also be terrorized by nasty nuns and have to find your way through Samuel’s schizophrenic brain as you beg to be released.
SOULMATE: Graceful Gale is looking for her next dance partner, and she’s got her eye on you. Or, at least, on the best parts of you. And the best parts of him. And parts of that other guy, too. All the best man bits will be enough to make one perfect partner for Gale.
The Ringmaster informed us that SOULMATE’s location is “in the Queen’s rear.” We think she meant “aft.”
Soulmate
DEADRISE: It’s World War II and the ship Deadrise is escorting The Queen Mary across the ocean. Tragedy strikes, sending the escort ship to a watery grave. But you can’t keep a good captain (and crew) down, and the dead seamen have returned to seek vengeance for their fate.
CIRCUS: The Ringmaster’s personal collection of freaky fiends, malevolent magicians, and creepy clowns has gathered together to put on a show just for you. Take a seat in the front row, and try not to scream.
VOODOO VILLAGE: The Voodoo Priestess has returned, and she wants you to join her Village Of The Damned. Creepy crypts, zombie rituals, and deadly swamps await those brave enough to visit
LULLABY: NEW MAZE! Scary Mary just wants someone to play with. In the first class pool. At the bottom. Forever. The Queen’s most famous ghost is back to frighten you in a rand new terrifying walk-through! Can you hold your breath a long, long time?
Lullaby with a Scary Mary
In addition to the mazes, a new experience was announced that immediately piqued everybody’s interest: The Curse of Anubis. What is this, you ask? Paintball. With monsters. Hosted by the faceless Professor, you will be given a 50-shot paintball and forced to defend yourself against many stationary targets ( and a few moving ones, hehehe). This awesome experience will have an up-charge of just $10.00.
Curse of Anubis
Also announced was a first-of-its-kind officially-sanctioned LGBT night at Dark Harbor on October 4th. This is the same weekend as GayDays at Disneyland, and was a very smart move by Queen Mary to capitalize on the influx of tourists that weekend.
LGBT night at Dark Harbor
Here is an EXCLUSIVE backstage interview with the folks from Dark Haarbor including the Ringmaster.
Dark Harbor is a fantastic frightening fun event, and it just gets better every year. They have really knocked it out of the park this year, with a good mix of past favorite mazes and new experiences. It runs Oct 1 – Nov 1, and tickets are available now.
