Boarding the Queen Mary
Do you have friends who treat Halloween like a month long celebration? Their costumes are over the top and they know every haunted house in your town and the next. Our Halloween aficionado friends are Steven and Christy, and when they suggested Dark Harbor, we listened. As they described the real horrors that occurred on the Queen Mary and how the mazes actually traveled through spookiest parts of the ship we were intrigued. When they said it was one of the best fear tours in Southern California we were sold. We had to experience this for ourselves.
The Grey Ghost
We arrived in Long Beach Harbor for a round of drinks with our friends. As we approached the ship, we noticed was how big the Queen Mary was. She holds the record for the most passengers on a transatlantic crossing. HMS Queen Mary was intended to be a luxury liner but she was built right at the start of World War II. Instead of luxury passengers, her first duty was as a troopship. In December of 1942, she carried 16,082 American soldiers to Europe. During this time, she was painted grey to hide from German U-boats and affectionately called The Grey Ghost.
View From the First Class Lounge
As we walked up to their room, we were greeted with an expanse of dated opulence. In 1947, she finally began life as a luxury liner. However, her furnishings were already a decade out of date. During her conversion to a troopship, all of the luxury accouterments, including six miles of carpet and 220 cases of china, were kept in a New York warehouse. When she retired from service in the late sixties, she became a floating museum and tourist attraction in Long Beach Harbor. There is good reason why we felt like we were walking through living museum, frozen in time from the 1930’s.
Hallway to Hell (or the first class cabins)
The hotel rooms are the old first class cabins. Everything looked a little off and dated but not overtly creepy or evil. Then again, few calamities ever befell the elite. Soon, the rest of our party joined us in the room. We had Kathy, our designated screamer, and her husband. We also had Big Earl, a statuesque man, and his wife. The eight of us toasted the night’s adventures to the setting sun. From the porthole, we could see the ghosts and ghouls arriving for work. This was going to be fun.
Soulmate: Till Death Do Us Part
Our first maze was Soulmate: Till Death Do Us Part, where Graceful Gale and her minions were looking to gather and re-assemble suiters. It looked like a horrific reenactment of Silence of the Lambs. Dismembered body parts were hung and sorted. Patches of flesh were being sown into the perfect man. A suspended bridge took you over the sinister lair of Gale in her full horror and minions waited around every bend with implements of death and dismemberment. All of this was based on an actual haunting on board Queen Mary.
Soulmate resides deep in the bowels of the ship, well below the waterline. The air smelled dank and musty. Big Earl had to slump over to avoid hitting his head on the low ceilings. Exposed pipes and scaffolding made it clear that we were in a different world than the first class cabins we came from. A world that is very dark.
Our resident horror historian, Steven, told us more about the Grey Ghost times. After the troops were dropped in Europe, she would not return empty. Thousands of prisoners of war would be locked below deck for transportation to American detention camps. The rooms we were walking through served as a floating prison. The prisoners would cross the Atlantic in the dark holds. Their stomachs empty and their lungs filled with diesel fouled air. The lucky ones reached New York hungry and sea sick. The unlucky ones never saw daylight again. An untold number of POW’s died during these crossings.
B340: A Descent Into Insanity
The next maze was B340: A Descent Into Insanity. In real life, B340 on the Queen Mary is a room so haunted that it remains empty for all time. Guests refuse to sleep there and the staff refuses to clean it. This small room was used as a holding cell for anyone apprehended aboard the ship. There are a host of rumors about which psychopathic murder or rapist is responsible for the haunting. Dark Harbor created Samuel the Savage to personify the hauntings.
This maze kept us winding through the bowels of the ship. Murders and victims lurched through the dark hallways in a frightening macabre dance. We could hear Kathy’s screams as the characters would emerge from the darkness. Big Earl remained unmoved by the horror that was unfolding. I wouldn’t say I was afraid, but I wasn’t looking forward to my turn at leading the adventures. Photo: The Real Room B340 credit
Lullaby: Hush Hush Don’t Cry
The final shipboard maze was Lullaby: Hush Hush Don’t Cry. This maze was an amalgamation of several hauntings observed in the first and third class pools. Dark Harbor embodied these haunts in Scary Mary, a drowned 9-year-old girl trying to lure you to hell. Unsolved Mysteries interviewed Kathy Love who told a collaborated story about seeing wet footprints and hearing a laughing child. Others have reported seeing a child clutching a teddy bear. (The dismembered teddy bear is a motif that got repeated often in this maze). The following footage from a 2008 American Paranormal Research Association trip captured what they claim to be an apparition around the pools. Ghost or no ghost, this video shows just how creepy this place is, even without costumed actors and disemboweled teddy bears.
The First Class Pool
The maze took us right through the abandoned swimming pool. Between Kathy’s screams, Steven told us about how the pool was drained and servicemen slept inside the pool on bunk beds stacked four high on their passage to WWII. Just past the pool was the changing area. The maze was dark and unassuming in this section but Spencer recounted how this was a vortex to the underworld and perhaps the most haunted section of the boat. I was happy to have that pool behind us and happier still to breathe the fresh air upon our exit.
Under the Spruce Goose Dome
Howard Hughes built the largest airplane in history – The Spruce Goose – that used to be housed in a dome beside the Queen Mary. For Halloween, Dark Harbor transformed this dome into two more mazes. Intrepid and Circus: Big Top of Terror. Perhaps it was because we were finally free from the hold of the ship but I found Intrepid to be a bit contrived. The showmanship and set design were spot on but I didn’t get into the back story of John Brown, the original ship builder, being tied to the ship through a pact with hell. I also didn’t understand why he would be at odds with the Captain for the control of the ship. Surely, a ship builder would understand the basic tenants of his contract and not expect eternal dominion over his ship once it leaves the yard. Big Top, however, was fantastic.
Circus: Big Top of Terror
This maze has the least tie-in to the Queen Mary lore. Instead, the artists were given free reign to create something special. They succeeded. Zombie clowns are scary enough, but put them into a disorienting funhouse and watch out. As you are wading through a ball pit could an arm reach out and grab you? Winding through a mirror maze, you can come face first into a real freak show. Spinning optical illusion tunnels leave you feeling a bit off only to be rushed by undead circus freaks. Time and time again our group was separated into alternate paths through the maze. We didn’t know where we were going. We didn’t know the way out but we could always hear Kathy screaming.
Deadrise: The Depths of Darkness
Deadrise: The Depths of Darkness is the only open-air maze at Dark Harbor. It pays homage to the most deadly accident associated with the Queen Mary, the sinking of the HMS Curacoa. Perhaps it was the 29th infantry division on board the Queen Mary or maybe she was carrying a special passenger – Colonel Warden, AKA Winston Churchill. Perhaps it was the million dollar bounty Hitler had placed on QMII for the u-boat who sank her. Either way, the Allies were not taking chances with the Queen Mary. There was a cruiser escort and orders to not slow down for any reason. While making evasive maneuvers off the Irish Coast, she sliced the light cruiser Curacoa in half and sped on as the ship sank. 239 men died in the water that night. Shipwrecks are the theme for Deadrise.
Deadrise Was Fully Immersive
The maze designers took full advantage of the liberties that the open space offered. A flame cannon shot fire 30’ into the air. Water sprayed from simulated holes in the deck and flowed freely through the maze. Heavy smoke billowed into the air, making it hard to see the zombie sailors lurking around the dark corners. Strobe lights fired into the darkness intensifying the fog of war. We could barely make out the mock up of watertight door 13, which in real life crushed crew member John Peddler to death on July 10, 1966. Deadrise was a fully immersive horror maze experience.
Deadrise quenched our thirst for mazes, which was just as well since it had gotten quite crowded. We definitely realized that we had done it right arriving early and knocking out the three most popular mazes, the ones aboard the Queen Mary first. The longer the night wore on, the more people converged into Dark Harbor’s inner sanctum.
See You Next Year
Steven and Christy, being the Halloween masters that they are, had booked their room early onboard the ship. Perhaps for the best, there were no last-minute rooms available to us. Afterward, as we drove to our hotel, we wondered what it would be like sleeping on the ship after our experience tonight. On one hand, it would be fantastically convenient to roll up into bed after playing late into the night. I have heard that the Sunday brunch on the boat is fabulous and the daylight historical tours are good as well. Perhaps, we would have taken a midnight paranormal tour to hear more about the actual hauntings. Maybe we would have just stayed awake all night listening to the old boat creak in the harbor. Next year, we would love to plan ahead and take the opportunity to explore everything the Queen Mary has to offer. However, this time, we were very happy to be returning to our safe, modern hotel room for a good night sleep.
Disclaimer: Although our experience was complimentary, the views and opinions expressed are entirely our own.
That is super creepy stuff! I don’t have the stomach for such things, LOL, but clearly it is great fun for those that do!
We are all about expanding your comfort zone here at ColemanConcierge.. lol. If you’re willing to open yourself to new experience you never know what you could find.
I admit this isn’t my kind of thing but the history behind the Queen Mary is fascinating. Thanks for sharing in so much details!
You are welcome. Thanks for stopping by.
This looks a lot of fun. I love immersive theatre and this seems very well done. Also helps that the ship has such a rich history of death and destruction.
They actually have a 4-d immersive theater there. Apparently they put on something scare and find all kinds of ways to interact with you. That would have been super fun.
Also, the official history of the Queen Mary is somewhat redacted. They count 49 deaths on board but there is little to no mention of the ship being used as a POW transport on the way back from England in WWII. It wouldn’t surprise me if something (or things) went down on those voyages.
Nope nope nope! I’m definitely not a haunted house person, since I don’t understand why someone would pay to get terrified. But even your descriptions of these mazes made me frightened so I know this one is a good one! That Circus maze section sounds like the stuff of horrors but I wouldn’t have made it that far anyways 🙂
The walking waist deep through the ball pit and not knowing if there was somebody hiding in there was super creepy but it was the bowels of the ship that did it for me. Everything was just wrong there. The air smelled and even tasted funny and the hallways weren’t really meant to be walked in unless you were fixing something.
Oooohh, shivers! Creepy as creepy can be! I can’t even enjoy horror movies, and being there in person is unimaginable for me 🙂
But I loved the picture from the First Class Lounge, it looks like a painting..so perfect!
Thanks, Jenn was pleased with how that picture turned out. We had to work hard to balance the dark interior with a sunlight scene on the outside. She is getting to be a magician these days.
oh god I’ve been to the Queen Mary and yes it is creepy by itself already! I’m not sure if I could handle going there at Halloween!! I even hesitated a long time before watching the video !! That being said, they go all out and it’s pretty awesome! Such a perfect place for Halloween! I love your style of writing: I was hooked and embarked (!) into your story immediately! I will recommend it to my LA friends while I keep on wondering if I’ll ever be ready or not for such an experience and will be haunted by your post for quite some time!!
Thanks for the props on writing. I kept the narrative of our friends taking explaining the history so we had a first person observe to tell the backstory. “props” for your use of embark too. The music and voice over on the video kept it from being too creepy but I certainly saw the figure they were pointing out.
I am not sure I could of done this, I have nightmares just watching criminal minds!!! It looks like a lot of fun, but think I maybe couldn’t have managed more than 1 maze. It makes me wish we celebrated halloween more in the UK.
Very much like a Criminal Minds episode. The amount of work they put into the storylines for these mazes was something else.
Wow this is a completely new level of Halloween creepiness! If I were not such a coward, this would be an amazing experience!
It was pretty intense for sure. There are other tours of the Queen Mary that aren’t so scary that you would probably enjoy more. There is a little of everything there.
Uff, I realize some of this is scaring ourselves but a drowned 9-year-old girl trying to lure you to hell sounds horrifying. I am sure she’ll pop up in my dreams now that Halloween is here!
I’m with Kathy the screamer because that’s all I would’ve done! I’m a total scaredy-cat. The history of the ship is very interesting, though. I’d visit once the horror shows are gone, during the day and accompanied by a large group. Lol.
The Queen Mary has several museums for the day time visitors and a world class Sunday brunch. I bet you would love the Princess Diana exhibit.
AHHHH I feel like I will be so freaked out to even try.
It’s all about expanding your comfort zone. Sometimes the best adventures are just beyond where you feel safe and spiced with just a tinge of fear.
I’ve done haunted woods before but this takes spooky fun to a whole new level!
turn the spooky up to 11
I would have been freaking out!! I can’t believe you actually wish you could have slept on the boat. You are brave!
Probably more of we are a sucker for punishment. lol. We are all about expanding our comfort zone. We might not sleep that night. In fact, I almost hope that we are entirely afraid but in the morning we will have had an experience as stories to tell.
Now, this is taking a haunted house to the next level! What a cool event that the Queen Mary does for Halloween. Like you, the events if you booked a room aboard sound awesome, but I don’t know if my heart could handle a full overnight of ghosts and goblins!
The ghosts and goblins on display are one thing. The creaks of an old ship at night is something else entirely. One is the fear that you can see and the other is the dark unknown.
Okay, this is, to me, crazy, haha! I would probably go for a haunted house in a theme park somewhere but this? A paranormal tour on a real old ocean liner with dark history? No, thank you! Hahaha! Glad to have been able to read your experience here though!
It depends on the theme park. Six Flags puts a lot of scare into Fright Night. Disney has a kinder, gentler Halloween for sure. On the subject of Disney Halloween, I just heard a great tip. A friend just got back from going to Disney on Nov 1. The Halloween gala was still going but the rides had almost no lines. It was a 2/10 busy day per the calendar. Something to consider for sure.
We visited the Queen Mary last year (not during Halloween), and it was incredible – I can only imagine how they go all out during Halloween. I’m not a huge fan of scaring myself with “haunted” per say though I do always find the history of the actual stories fascinating!
There are two separate agencies operating. Dark Harbor is run by Ace just during Halloween. Queen Mary has year round management from a different company. Dark Harbor was flash and scary with an elaborate back plot based on events, but not really historical per se. Queen Mary has a couple of no kidding historical tours, as you well know, including so specific paranormal tours.
Interesting as the stories are very dark. I have heard of the Queen Mary before! And now very interested to do this tour as it seems like a fun (and creepy) way to learn more about it. Really wonder what it would be like to stay in a room aboard now!
You definitely should make a point to go. You could probably explore the ship all weekend and keep finding new things.
Wow. The inside hallway looks so classy. Reminds me of the titanic. I would love to take cruise soon.
Queen Mary is one of the sister ships to the Titantic. There is a good reason this hallway looks familiar. Actually, it’s more than that. The Titantic was filmed on the Queen Mary with Long Beach being so close to Hollywood.
I knew about the historical ghosts but wish I had your nervous system to handle the fright night activities.
As long as you remember it’s just theater you’ll be ok. If not, there are many historical based tours you can do.