Halloween is coming back to the Queen Mary. And Southern California's leading lady of the seas has a big new partner to help her this year. And I mean, really big.
Get ready for Shaqtoberfest at the Queen Mary.
Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has teamed up with Thirteenth Floor - the creative team behind the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride and last year's Delusion haunted house - to put on this new Halloween event, which will open in late September at the Long Beach icon.
"Halloween can't come soon enough," the former LA Laker and Orlando Magic star said. "Thirteenth Floor Entertainment and I have some tricks up our sleeves to make this the most spook-tacular Halloween event ever!"
Shaqtoberfest will feature trick or treating and family-friendly entertainment in the afternoons, followed by "frightfully fun" haunted trails in the evenings. The event will span six themed areas, with the voice of Shaq narrating the experience.
"We are beyond thrilled to be partnering with Shaq and ABG Entertainment for a truly unique Halloween experience coming this fall," Thirteenth Floor Entertainment CEO and Founding Partner Chris Strafford said. "Shaqtoberfest will be unlike any other Halloween attraction that we have ever produced, and we couldn’t be more excited to be launching it at one of the area's most well-known locations and show our fans what we've created for them. Not to mention, we're really excited to be able to produce an event in Long Beach, which has a long running history of hosting amazing Halloween celebrations."
The Queen Mary previously hosted the Dark Harbor Halloween event. California's pandemic restrictions scuttled that in 2020, and the event failed to return in 2021, as well. The Queen Mary has been facing an uncertain future, but with the Port of Long Beach now taking control, the City of Long Beach has been working to get the ship repaired and reopened to tourists.
The Queen Mary long has nurtured a reputation as one of Southern California's most haunted locales, making it an ideal location for a Halloween event. More information about Shaqtoberfest, including dates and ticket prices, will be announced in the weeks ahead.
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Aww..I guess it it's good that an event is coming back, but will miss Harbor. I actually preferred it to Universal & Knotts.
I'd usually do one every week, so it was easy to compare them, and Queen Mary always had the best mazes & scares (and crowd control). There were many times when you couldn't see the group in front of behind you!
It’s nice to see that someone’s doing something at the QM, even though my understanding is that nothing will be happening on the ship, and I’m not a big fan of the QM’s various operators using such a rare and beautiful ship as an oversized spook house. But Shaq’s involvement and the angle f making the event more family friendly (in the daytime, anyway) will probably make it popular.
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I'm bummed the Dark Harbor is officially scuttled (it's long been one of my favorite local attractions) but I think people will dig what this group brings to the Queen Mary.