What to Know
- Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary in Long Beach
- Sept. 20 through Nov. 2, 2024 (select nights)
- The Halloween-themed event will feature mazes, shows, and eerie attractions; tickets will go on sale in the summer of 2024
We're in the "Halfway to Halloween" zone, a time of year that pops up — or should we say "haunts up" — right around the end of April and the beginning of May.
That's when the eeriest occasion on the calendar is six months out, which still seems quite a ways off. But wait: Some of Southern California's biggest Halloween-inspired events start weeks or even months ahead of Oct. 31, and the hiring for those large-scale happenings?
Look to May and June for the scary search to ramp up.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
That haunted hiring has begun, in frightful fact, at the Queen Mary, which will again stage one of the region's best-known haunt-taculars in the fall of 2024.
It's Dark Harbor, a multi-week spectacular that will return, after four years off, on Sept. 20.
The ocean-liner, which has been permanently docked in Long Beach since 1967, shared the announcement on April 30.
"Dark Harbor has become an iconic part of our city's Halloween celebrations, and we are excited to once again transform the Queen Mary into a haunted spectacle for scare-goers," said Mayor Rex Richardson.
"Having brought in hundreds of thousands of visitors to Long Beach in years past, its return is another major step in the Queen Mary's recovery and return to a premier tourist attraction. I extend my appreciation to Evolution Hospitality and Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group for their partnership and to our City Council for their support."
The monster-packed mazes are just some of the draws of the attraction-filled festival; look for spectacles, shows, themed bars, and all sorts of roaming characters, including Scary Mary and the Ringmaster, two terrifying figures from years gone by.
Much of Dark Harbor has unfurled next to the stately ship, but there are a few experiences to be found on-board, too; past years have featured overnight deals for those wishing to stay on the Queen Mary.
Tickets to Dark Harbor will be available later in the summer; if you're interested in working at the experience, keep your eye on this page.
