With stories and scares inspired by the real ghosts that are said to still haunt the vessel and mazes that took people into the dark depths of the ship, the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor Halloween haunt was the ship’s most popular event, attracting more than 120,000 people at its peak during its monthlong run.
But things went dark for the haunt when, like all other major events, it had to close due to the pandemic in 2020. It has remained closed until now but the wildly popular haunt and festival will rise again this Halloween season with a total of five mazes on and off the ship, plus carnival, rides, themed and hidden bars and lounges, live entertainment that includes music and all sorts of monsters and other creatures roaming around the grounds of the ship on select nights from Sept. 20 through Nov. 2.
The return of the Queen Marys’ flagship event not only means a terrifying good time for horror fans who will once again be able to board the ship and roam through mazes that will take them through dark metal hallways and eerie, long-abandoned spaces, it also signals brighter days ahead for the Queen Mary, which is once again becoming a hot spot for tourists and locals.
“I think one of the things it signals is that the Queen Mary is back overall. There’s a lot of work that’s been done on this ship through the last couple of years to get it up and going and one of the funnest things we were looking forward to is Dark Harbor and seeing Dark Harbor come back,” said Steve Caloca, managing director of the Queen Mary.
Since its inception in 2010, Dark Harbor featured several mazes on and off the vessel that were inspired by real stories about the ship, which has long been rumored to be haunted. After being shut down by the pandemic, Dark Harbor failed to return in part because of delays caused by renovations on the Queen Mary.
The ship also experienced other mishaps, including financial issues and mismanagement by a previous outside operator before the city…
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