Dark Harbor’s return to the Queen Mary this fall will feature four new mazes and the return of the popular Sinister Swings ride, event organizers announced this weekend.
Running from Sept. 20 through Nov. 2, the popular Halloween event will be back this year aboard the iconic ship in Queensway Bay after a four-year hiatus.
Organizers of the haunted carnival, Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, made the latest set of announcements at Saturday’s Dark Harbor panel during the Midsummer Scream convention in Long Beach.
The four new mazes are Big Top Terror, Lullaby, Breakout and Infirmary.
Big Top Terror is a circus-themed maze hosted by the Ringmaster, while Lullaby will feature a character portraying the ghost of a girl who supposedly drowned in the Queen Mary’s pool.
Breakout centers around Samuel the Savage — a character from past Dark Harbor haunts who mysteriously disappeared despite being confined in room B340. In the Breakout maze, Samuel the Savage has escaped and maze participants have to help track him down.
Infirmary is a three-deck maze that features a deranged surgeon named Dr. Edwin Masters.
“He is a sadistic, torturous beast of a human conducting horrible, unnecessary experiments on the third class passengers of the Queen Mary all under the guise of scientific advancement,” Ted Dougherty, the character’s writer, said on stage Saturday.
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Dark Harbor will also see a return of the Decayed Brigade Southern California Sliders and feature a new carousel ride called Scary Mary’s Ghost Rider.
On the first two days of November this year, Dark Harbor will also host a Dia de los Muertos celebration. Details about that celebration have not yet been released.
The haunted event drew hundreds of thousands of attendees during its run from 2010 to 2019 under Epic Entertainment Productions. This year will mark the first under the operation of Thirteenth Floor, which also produces the Haunted Hayride at Griffith Park.
In early April, Long Beach city officials entered into a profit-sharing agreement with Thirteenth Floor for events through November 2028.
The entertainment company was also involved in the launch of Shaqtoberfest, a Halloween event inspired by basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, in 2022.
Dark Harbor fans can watch the teaser trailer here and sign up for presale ticket access here.
Alternate paranormal activities aboard the Queen Mary
Fans of the paranormal do not have to wait until late September to experience spooky scenes aboard the Queen.
During a panel at Midsummer Scream on Sunday, city staff detailed new offerings for the fall season ahead of Dark Harbor.
On Sept. 13, the Queen Mary will host a Spooktacular Bazaar and a double-feature movie night on the top deck along with a Nightmare Before Christmas-themed labyrinth.
Overnight stays in the purportedly haunted room B340 will also reopen in September.
A new paranormal shipwalk called The Forgotten Stories will also join the list of existing tours.
Details and pricing information on the Haunted Encounters and Paranormal Ship Walk tours can be found here.
Paranormal investigations through the Grey Ghost Project and a séance hosted by 57 Ghosts are also available Friday through Sunday starting at $75 for adults.
Long Beach took over operation of the Queen Mary in summer 2021 after the bankruptcy of leaseholder Urban Commons. The city started investing heavily in repairs, and the iconic vessel reopened to the public last year — three years after the onset of the pandemic.