My favorite Halloween attraction returns to its home in Long Beach. What is that, you say? Why it’s Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor.
Since COVID, the space has been taken over by a Shaquille O’Neil-produced knock-off of the event, but now it returns to all its previous glory—to mixed results.
The event features DJs, the group LVCRFT, Dark Harbor sliders, rides, food, special spooky events, and five haunted mazes on and outside the ship itself, so there’s a lot for fans of the season to do.
See Also: Descanso Garden’s “Carved” is a Delightful Mix of Spooky Vibes and Light
The most popular part of the attraction is the mazes, which are well put together and utilize the ship and locations off the ship very well. Makeup and costumes are terrific, definitely surpassing Universal’s rather bland Halloween Horror Nights Spirt Halloween masks.
The problem is that the mazes seem very underpopulated. Usually, there are creeps around every corner, ready to scare the living daylights out of you. This year, you could walk through half of a maze without interacting with anyone. This was a bummer because isn’t that the point?
Within the mazes are five Speakeasies available to those with the inside scoop to where they are. If you purchase special coins and spot the secret markings, you can enter one of them and purchase a specialty cocktail.
For an upgrade fee, you can experience other attractions like The Observation Deck bar for VIPs, the Anchor Axe throwing experience, a Pirate Shootout, and Lady Mabel’s The Summoning of Samuel, an incantation experience not for the faint of heart.
The event is decorated to give the area a spooky Halloween vibe, and the layer of fog that floats through it gives it an otherworldly feel. Seeing the actual ship (which is allegedly haunted) is a treat in itself!
There’s a lot to do at Dark Harbor, and it’s nice to have it back. I hope they’ll hire more actors next year to fill out the gaps in the mazes, though, as their haunts were and are some of the best in Los Angeles.
Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor runs every night through November 2, 2024.
For more information and tickets, visit www.darkharborhalloween.com.
