Over the past few years, Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor has become a venerable haunt well worth visiting in Southern California. It has established itself as a top-quality, good-value attraction, and we found the 2013 event to be no exception.
This year, Dark Harbor brought us another new maze, called “Circus,” as well as a Big Top–style theme to the grounds of the event. There was an actual carnival ride (a crazy looking Ferris wheel that spins riders upside down), a mechanical bull, and a zip line. There’s a stage for bands to play, plus several bars and food stands, all with horror/Halloween themes (for example, the “Terror Tavern,” and “Dracula’s pizza,” with extra garlic, of course). There’s a whole schedule of live entertainment to check out, plus a freak show.
We do our best not to spoil the mazes for those who’ve yet to experience them, so we won’t provide scare-by-scare reviews, but we will share highlights and our overall opinions from our own experiences in the mazes. Haunts are rated on a 1-5 “skull” system.
MAZES
Circus (New for 2013)
Located inside the dome, this maze replaces one of Scare Zone’s favorites, “The Cage.” There are no clowns with chainsaws in here or 3D glasses to wear. “Circus” is Dark Harbor’s take on an old-fashioned, early 20th century circus, which makes it feel right at home in the overall theme of the event. There’s an aged feel to the sets, and the lighting casts and eerie, dirty glow over everything. The entrance is through a clown’s mouth, and from there you encounter typical circus scenes, such as an actual mirror maze you can get lost in, a spinning wheel of daggers, an unfortunate woman who has been sawed in half, and a creepy marionette show. If you’re lucky, you might even find a secret slide you can go down! The scares were pretty good in here, and they got us good as we were distracted by the awesome sets and detailed props.
Ratings:
- Haunt Design: 4.5 skulls
- Theming: 4.5 skulls
- Scare Factor: 4 skulls
Overall Rating: 4.5 skulls
Deadrise
Located in the middle of the Dark Harbor grounds, “Deadrise” is a maze that takes you through an old, rotting ship that appears to be sinking right into the ground. The maze winds through the barracks and bowels of the ship, encountering half-dead sailors who loudly bang on metal barrels with pipes. We found this maze to be pretty scary last year, but as we went through it this year, there seemed to be fewer scares. It’s still an excellent maze, with many dark corners for the actors to hide in. Plus, it’s a ship-themed maze, so can it be any more perfect for Dark Harbor?
Ratings:
- Haunt Design: 4 skulls
- Theming: 4 skulls
- Scare Factor: 3 skulls
Overall Rating: 4 skulls
The Village
This is the longest maze at Dark Harbor, and it has a lot of different scenes and environments. We’ve said in past years that we wish the scenes were more consistent, but as you walk through, you actually do get a sense of traveling through a “village,” and this was evident a bit more this year. The actors in here also always do their best to really create full characters and scare the hell out of you, and the group of girls in front of us screamed like crazy the whole way through.
Ratings:
- Haunt Design: 3.5 skulls
- Theming: 3.5 skulls
- Scare Factor: 4 skulls
Overall Rating: 3.5 skulls
Containment
This maze suffers a bit from its changing story line. Originally themed to the ship’s infirmary during a virus outbreak, and then changed in 2012 to follow the story of “Samuel,” who was held in solitary confinement after a violent rampage, evidence of both themes creates a clash that is hard to follow. We encountered some doctor/patient characters in the maze, and then came across a confusing throne of bones and skulls. The scares were weaker this year, but this is one of the mazes with the best natural setting on the ship, with narrow passages, portholes, and stairs that remind you that–oh yeah, I’m on an actual boat.
Ratings:
- Haunt Design: 3 skulls
- Theming: 2.5 skulls
- Scare Factor: 3 skulls
Overall Rating: 3 skulls
Submerged
This maze has a lot of cool animated props and water effects. The ship’s decks are taking on water, and victims are drowning and coming out of the dark at you. The finale of the maze takes place inside the ship’s pool room, which is reported to be truly haunted. In this room, the ghost of the little girl, Scary Mary, sings and runs along the side of the pool as you pass by.
Ratings:
- Haunt Design: 3 skulls
- Theming: 3 skulls
- Scare Factor: 3 skulls
Overall Rating: 3 skulls
Hellfire
Last year, we complained that this maze had gone a bit downhill. We’re happy to report that it’s made a comeback in 2013, and we found it to be one of the scariest at Dark Harbor this year. The actors were timing the scares perfectly, the fog and lighting effects were all in working order. This just goes to show how subjective haunts can be–if the scareactors are having an “off” night, if an animated prop breaks in a maze, or if a couple of light bulbs go out, the effectiveness of a maze can be greatly dampened. So it’s great to see this maze running on all cylinders again.
Ratings:
- Haunt Design: 3.5 skulls
- Theming: 3.5 skulls
- Scare Factor: 4.5 skulls
Overall Rating: 4 skulls
FREAK SHOW
Step right up to see the freaks. Sneak a peak at the five new freaks of Dark Harbor & experience all new scares never before attempted at Dark Harbor. But Beware. These aren’t just any scares. You will never guess what’s waiting for you inside the containers of freaks – Headless Hannah, Human Crab, Sparky, The White Spirit and the Shadow Spirit. But be on look out for the Twins and The Beast, whom roam freely amongst our Freak Shows. Step right up.
This is a brand new attraction for 2013, and it’s unlike anything we’ve experienced at a haunt. This is actually an up-charge attraction ($5). Each “freak” is located in their own shipping container (some freaks have a maze of containers), and each experience is different. We don’t want to ruin any surprises, but we’ll say that some freak experiences are scary, and some are more comical. Some are very short, and some take longer to walk through. But we did have a lot of fun visiting each freak, and we think the $5 is worth it for this unique type of attraction.
Ratings:
- Haunt Design: 4 skulls
- Theming: 4.5 skulls
- Scare Factor: 4 skulls
Overall Rating: 4 skulls
SUMMARY
We loved the new “Circus” maze this year, and the returning mazes were solid. The scare factor was high in many of the mazes, and we actually found it to be scarier overall than Knott’s or Halloween Horror Nights this year. Of course, Dark Harbor doesn’t have the full detailed sets of HHN or Knott’s, but the dark corners and tight passages of Queen Mary’s mazes made it much easier to startle us.
Lines get long as the night goes on, so we suggest going on an off-peak night or arriving early. There is also the option of a “Fast Fright” pass that will get you to the front of the line. With general admission tickets starting at just $20, it’s a good overall value, and you can count on seeing some great mazes and getting scared.
Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor Overall Fright Value: 4.5 Skulls
Overall Rating of Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor 2013: 4 Skulls
