October 9, 2025 • 6 mins
Amy takes us ‘Out and About’ to the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor in Long Beach.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We went out and about for this week's Boo preview
to Dark Harbor at Queen Mary. It's really one of
my favorite Halloween places, even though it cares the bit
Jesus out of me. We caught up with the creative
director to find out what's in store this holiday season.
Please tell us, Aamy Holloman.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
We have six massive mazes this year. Last year we
have five, and we added a brand new one.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Okay, what's it called. It's called Voodoo the Queen's Curse. Okay,
So this.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Is about a voodoo priestess who saw the Queen Mary
years and years ago when she was in Exotic Land.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
She became obsessed with the ship.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
She thought it looked so powerful, so huge, she must
have it and control it.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
So she basically entrapped.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
A group of drunken sailors, possessed them as you may do, yeah,
as you would, made her ride here to Long Beach, California.
She's set up shop out in the harbor. She has
her potion shop, and she has her team of worshippers,
and her goal is to necromance, which means raised from
the dead the sailors from their watery graves.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Oh, that's beautiful, so she can have the navy to
take over the Queen Mary. Okay, and make the ship
move once again.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Okay, So I got to ask you this, Amy, because
these are so well thought out, Like, do you guys
sit around a table and figure this out or does
somebody have an inspiration and go, oh my god, we're
going to scare the crap out of people with this one.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Well, actually, annually, what we do early in the year
we come and stay on the Queen Mary for a
week in the hotel, so we're completely immersed for our
preliminary brainstorming for the season. Okay, so we might like
have an idea at four am while you're laying in bed,
and who knows if it came from your brain or spirit,
(01:53):
it might be in the room with you.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
And right when you said that, he gets just got
a knock in a back.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, I love that. Okay, So tell us then where
are we now?
Speaker 4 (02:03):
I know we're writing the Bowels of the Queen Mary,
but we're in a very special room.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yes, so we are actually standing above a speakeasy inside
of the feast Maze. So at Dark Harbor, if you
come and either purchase a VIP ticket and get a lanyard,
or you can buy a four pack.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Of Lady Mabel's tokens.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
You have a chance to search for the glowing symbols
from Lady Mabel's astrology.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
And when you find it, look around, because.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
There's usually a doorway or a passageway into.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
A speakeasy where you can go.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
You kind of step into another part of the story
and you can have a drink and relax. So there's
some of them on the ship and also in the harbor.
So this is something that's really special about Dark Harbor
and love step further in.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Yeah, and if you're really scared in the mats, you
can step outside the maze, have a quick drink, and
then go back.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So in addition to the six mazes, we have our
giant Shipyard stage where we kick off every night at
eight to eight with the Maiden Voyage where you see
all the Icon characters, the Ringmaster, the Captain, Scary Mary,
all the characters kicked the night off there.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
And then we have our fire show, so we have
had some.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Fire spinners people who eat fire on that main stage
and down at the other end of the harbor, we
have our Harlloween Carnival where there's amusement rides and there's
the Bizarre Bar stage where we have jugglers and all
different types of performers there. So even if you're too
scared to go into a maze, you can have a
full night of Halloween thrills here at Queen mary Stark Harbor.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I love that about it because I'm not huge. I'd
like I get scared way too easy. But I did
go through one last year and I survived it, so
you can do it.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
But I love that there's also sort of a family atmosphere,
and if you want food, there's all kinds of great
food here.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Oh yeah, there's a ton of different kinds of food.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
We have like the giant turkey legs things that you
can find in amusement park. We also have like a
lote with all different flavors.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
We have like all different types of theme drinks.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
We have the fish bowls where you can start your
night off with something a little stronger to get that
liquid courage someone like you might want before you step
inside the mazing water.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
But and we have our slider.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Show that's famous, that Queen Mary's Dark Harbor Sliders that
happens at nine and eleven PM.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
That's very unique.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
I love it, And Amy, tell me, why do you
like to scare people so much?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
I think scaring is a great way to entertain people
and take them out of their everyday lives. You know,
there's a lot of like sad things happening in the
world right now, but entertainment is what keeps us going.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
It's something that makes us imagine.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
It's something that makes you feel like you could be
something other than yourself.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
And it's it's really inspiring.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
So that's why I'd like horror because I think, first
you have to be brave, but at the same time,
you no, you're safe because it's not really a horror movie.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
You're in a safe professional on a house. I'm gonna
try to be brave tonight. You can. You can do
it and get a drink. Listen up, I'll probably do both.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
So if people want to come to Dark Harbor, of
course they want to come to Dark Harbor. When is
it going and when is it through?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Dark Harbor is open every weekend now through November two.
You can go to Dark Harbor Halloween dot com to
see the schedule, buy tickets online. In advance. We do
sell out on sun nights and we're here today. We're
also selling a season pass this year, so you can
come back time after time if you want.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
I know a couple of people definitely would want that.
Amy Hollaman, thank you so much. Prepare to get scared
at Dark Harbor.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
She's ready.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Amy loves to do that.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
She scares me, so I will tell you that I
went through two mazes two and about halfway through, I
was like, can we leave? Is there an exit?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Can we just go?
Speaker 1 (05:59):
They're scared, but it's also fun and I love the
way that she looks at it like it's sort of
an escape and they really do it upright at Dark Harbor.
I'm going to post that interview with Amy on my
Instagram at Amy K King so you can get a
sneak peek at some of the things that you might see. Also,
it'll be posted on the KFI Instagram at KFI Am
(06:19):
six forty. I would love for you to follow me
at Amy Kking. We're going to be doing boot previews
every week leading up to Halloween.
We went out and about for this week's Boo preview
to Dark Harbor at Queen Mary. It's really one of
my favorite Halloween places, even though it cares the bit
Jesus out of me. We caught up with the creative
director to find out what's in store this holiday season.
Please tell us, Aamy Holloman.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
We have six massive mazes this year. Last year we
have five, and we added a brand new one.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Okay, what's it called. It's called Voodoo the Queen's Curse. Okay,
So this.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Is about a voodoo priestess who saw the Queen Mary
years and years ago when she was in Exotic Land.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
She became obsessed with the ship.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
She thought it looked so powerful, so huge, she must
have it and control it.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
So she basically entrapped.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
A group of drunken sailors, possessed them as you may do, yeah,
as you would, made her ride here to Long Beach, California.
She's set up shop out in the harbor. She has
her potion shop, and she has her team of worshippers,
and her goal is to necromance, which means raised from
the dead the sailors from their watery graves.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Oh, that's beautiful, so she can have the navy to
take over the Queen Mary. Okay, and make the ship
move once again.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Okay, So I got to ask you this, Amy, because
these are so well thought out, Like, do you guys
sit around a table and figure this out or does
somebody have an inspiration and go, oh my god, we're
going to scare the crap out of people with this one.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Well, actually, annually, what we do early in the year
we come and stay on the Queen Mary for a
week in the hotel, so we're completely immersed for our
preliminary brainstorming for the season. Okay, so we might like
have an idea at four am while you're laying in bed,
and who knows if it came from your brain or spirit,
(01:53):
it might be in the room with you.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
And right when you said that, he gets just got
a knock in a back.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, I love that. Okay, So tell us then where
are we now?
Speaker 4 (02:03):
I know we're writing the Bowels of the Queen Mary,
but we're in a very special room.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yes, so we are actually standing above a speakeasy inside
of the feast Maze. So at Dark Harbor, if you
come and either purchase a VIP ticket and get a lanyard,
or you can buy a four pack.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Of Lady Mabel's tokens.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
You have a chance to search for the glowing symbols
from Lady Mabel's astrology.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
And when you find it, look around, because.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
There's usually a doorway or a passageway into.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
A speakeasy where you can go.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
You kind of step into another part of the story
and you can have a drink and relax. So there's
some of them on the ship and also in the harbor.
So this is something that's really special about Dark Harbor
and love step further in.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Yeah, and if you're really scared in the mats, you
can step outside the maze, have a quick drink, and
then go back.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So in addition to the six mazes, we have our
giant Shipyard stage where we kick off every night at
eight to eight with the Maiden Voyage where you see
all the Icon characters, the Ringmaster, the Captain, Scary Mary,
all the characters kicked the night off there.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
And then we have our fire show, so we have
had some.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Fire spinners people who eat fire on that main stage
and down at the other end of the harbor, we
have our Harlloween Carnival where there's amusement rides and there's
the Bizarre Bar stage where we have jugglers and all
different types of performers there. So even if you're too
scared to go into a maze, you can have a
full night of Halloween thrills here at Queen mary Stark Harbor.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I love that about it because I'm not huge. I'd
like I get scared way too easy. But I did
go through one last year and I survived it, so
you can do it.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
But I love that there's also sort of a family atmosphere,
and if you want food, there's all kinds of great
food here.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Oh yeah, there's a ton of different kinds of food.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
We have like the giant turkey legs things that you
can find in amusement park. We also have like a
lote with all different flavors.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
We have like all different types of theme drinks.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
We have the fish bowls where you can start your
night off with something a little stronger to get that
liquid courage someone like you might want before you step
inside the mazing water.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
But and we have our slider.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Show that's famous, that Queen Mary's Dark Harbor Sliders that
happens at nine and eleven PM.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
That's very unique.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
I love it, And Amy, tell me, why do you
like to scare people so much?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
I think scaring is a great way to entertain people
and take them out of their everyday lives. You know,
there's a lot of like sad things happening in the
world right now, but entertainment is what keeps us going.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
It's something that makes us imagine.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
It's something that makes you feel like you could be
something other than yourself.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
And it's it's really inspiring.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
So that's why I'd like horror because I think, first
you have to be brave, but at the same time,
you no, you're safe because it's not really a horror movie.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
You're in a safe professional on a house. I'm gonna
try to be brave tonight. You can. You can do
it and get a drink. Listen up, I'll probably do both.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
So if people want to come to Dark Harbor, of
course they want to come to Dark Harbor. When is
it going and when is it through?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Dark Harbor is open every weekend now through November two.
You can go to Dark Harbor Halloween dot com to
see the schedule, buy tickets online. In advance. We do
sell out on sun nights and we're here today. We're
also selling a season pass this year, so you can
come back time after time if you want.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
I know a couple of people definitely would want that.
Amy Hollaman, thank you so much. Prepare to get scared
at Dark Harbor.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
She's ready.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Amy loves to do that.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
She scares me, so I will tell you that I
went through two mazes two and about halfway through, I
was like, can we leave? Is there an exit?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Can we just go?
Speaker 1 (05:59):
They're scared, but it's also fun and I love the
way that she looks at it like it's sort of
an escape and they really do it upright at Dark Harbor.
I'm going to post that interview with Amy on my
Instagram at Amy K King so you can get a
sneak peek at some of the things that you might see. Also,
it'll be posted on the KFI Instagram at KFI Am
(06:19):
six forty. I would love for you to follow me
at Amy Kking. We're going to be doing boot previews
every week leading up to Halloween.
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