As warm summer nights give way to crisp cold, and the darkness seems to begin each day a little earlier than it had the last, and we creep closer to Halloween like a ghost in the night, the Queen Mary’s annual haunted Shipwreck event continues to be one of the southland’s most popular destinations for thrill-seekers and horror connoisseurs alike.
I’d always brushed off the event, mainly because I’m terrified of scary movies. I eased into the last three Horror Nights events at Universal Studios and found them to be a lot of fun (eventually), so this year I was eager to see how Shipwreck measured up.
The verdict? While Horror Nights is great because you’re surrounded by your favorite movie villains like Jason, Michael Myers and Chucky, I was really surprised to find that Shipwreck provides a more chilling experience and even a better atmosphere.
As the Queen Mary stood watch over the night’s festivities, she pulled a thick blanket of fog up over her shoulders – casting an eerie wave down upon the thousands weaving in and out of frightening mazes and running from ghouls and zombies. The backdrop was really quite stunning and lent support to the “haunted” theory that the Queen Mary proudly boasts. The ship was shrouded in mist and looked quite imposing, looking down on us all. This made the mazes on the ground seem a bit more spooky, but made the mazes within the ship downright terrifying.
When we sent photographer Andrew Veis out to the ship a few weeks ago to snap a few photos, I cracked a few jokes about the ship being haunted. The fact is, when you’re walking through cold, narrow metal hallways and empty engine rooms inside the Queen Mary, it’s very hard to distinguish myth from reality. The mazes are expertly decorated and genuinely crafted to scare, but the truly cringe-worthy aspects are those that couldn’t be manufactured.
For instance, there are parts of the indoors mazes that fall completely dark simply because there aren’t any lights in the walkway. Similarly, there are parts that fall completely silent. Other times, you find yourself in parts of the ship that are clear reminders that the Queen Mary has a vast and naturally creepy underbelly, as cramped hallways open up into vast rooms with high ceilings – creating a movie-like quality of emptiness. And without giving away too much, the ghouls inside play their parts very, very well.
So although I joked earlier this month that the Queen Mary had been overrun by ghosts and that it was “a bad idea” to go there, I would now say that the scariest part of the annual Shipwreck event is the actual ship itself. If you’re a horror fan or just like a good adrenaline rush, I’d heartily recommend a visit. Compared with Horror Nights or even Knotts’ Scary Farm prices, tickets for Shipwreck are reasonably priced at $29 for general admission – although the VIP Pass at $44 is a steal because you have shorter line privileges.
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