The Queen Mary is once again trading its historic decks for haunted corridors as Dark Harbor kicks off its 13th season in Long Beach on Sept. 18, running select nights through Nov. 1. Tickets start at $50.99, and the Halloween-inspired event spreads across the ship and an adjacent outdoor space with six mazes, five secret speakeasies and new theatrical encounters built into the vessel's real maritime history.
According to NBC Los Angeles, this year's lineup includes a brand-new theatrical experience called Gale's Requiem, which leads guests into the belly of the Queen Mary, plus Lady Mabel Presents: Scary Mary's Dark Séance, which pulls visitors into a paranormal investigation that spirals into a terrifying encounter. The event is produced by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, which also operates more than 15 attractions nationwide, including LA Haunted Hayride in Griffith Park. Star Romano, per the NBC Los Angeles report, said new mazes, rides, secret speakeasies and theatrical encounters expand Dark Harbor's stories and experiences, calling the 13th season an exciting milestone.
New Shipwreck Maze Joins Familiar Haunts
For 2026, Dark Harbor introduces an all-new maze called Shipwrecked: Brace for Impact, which simulates historical ocean liner collisions as guests navigate flooding corridors and shattered ship hulls, according to Park Journey. It joins returning attractions like a maze built around the ship's first-class swimming pool and another set in Room B340, one of the six mazes that make up this year's Dark Harbor. The event also brings back an alien abduction ride and blacklight bumper cars, and the Infirmary: The Siren Song maze features a character called Graceful Gale.
Room B340 is said to be the Queen Mary's most spirited space, per the NBC Los Angeles article, and it's not just haunt-attraction marketing built from nothing. The actual stateroom reopened for overnight hotel guests in September 2024 after sitting closed for more than three decades and being resealed during the pandemic because of its reputation as the ship's most haunted cabin, Park Journey has reported separately. Ship logs reportedly record guest complaints of door knocks and turning faucets dating back to 1967, the same year the Queen Mary arrived in Long Beach after retiring from transatlantic service.
Folklore Versus the Ship's Actual Logs
The pool-themed maze draws on the character Scary Mary, based on Southern California urban legends about a girl who supposedly drowned in the ship's first-class pool in 1952. But official Cunard Line logs contain no record of any child drowning in that pool, according to Crescenta Valley Weekly. That gap between popular ghost lore and documented maritime history is part of what makes Dark Harbor's mazes work as immersive horror, even when the scares outpace the paper trail.
The Queen Mary itself has a well-documented backstory that long predates Dark Harbor. Long Beach purchased the ocean liner from the Cunard Line for $3.45 million in 1967 after it retired from North Atlantic transatlantic service, according to Morbidly Beautiful, and the ship has remained docked in the harbor ever since. Decades later, the city reclaimed direct control of the vessel in June 2021 after private leaseholders had racked up more than $31 million in losses between 2007 and 2019, as previously reported by Hoodline. The city subsequently invested more than $20 million in critical hull and bilge repairs to keep the historic liner afloat and operational.
How the Haunt Fits Into Long Beach's Bottom Line
Dark Harbor's own history includes a four-year hiatus after its 2019 season, driven by the pandemic and structural repair work on the ship, before it returned in fall 2024 under new event management, per the Long Beach Watchdog. During that gap, the city hosted Shaqtoberfest, a family-friendly Halloween event developed with Shaquille O'Neal, on the Queen Mary's grounds in 2022 and 2023, according to the Long Beach Post, before Dark Harbor was revived. In April 2024, the Long Beach City Council approved a profit-sharing deal with Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group running through November 2028, giving the company non-exclusive rights to produce events while sending 33% to 43% of net revenues back to the city, the Long Beach Post reported.
Dark Harbor now operates in a crowded Southern California Halloween season alongside major theme park draws like Knott's Scary Farm and Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, but it distinguishes itself by using an actual historic ocean liner as its backdrop, Crescenta Valley Weekly has noted. It also shares its autumn calendar with other Thirteenth Floor productions and SoCal haunts, including the interactive horror experience Delusion. Tickets, dates, details and images for this season's Dark Harbor are available on the event's website.
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