On Saturday July 29th, The Queen Mary hosted The Sinister Circus in Long Beach California. In celebration of Midsummer Scream, the famous haunted ship threw a huge party. Now not only were humans allowed attendance but all the ghost residence of The Queen Mary were also invited. Normally those characters are only out and about during Dark Harbor, The Queen Mary’s Halloween event. But it was a special treat to see them for this special event.

We arrived early to the check in area and were greeted by a rather long line of people dressed in their best. Now when I say best I either mean blood streaming down their faces or in rather fancy attire. Once we got through the check in, we walked up a flight of stairs to be met with a step and repeat. We even got a picture with the newest character of the Dark Harbor family!

From there, we got to the entrance of the Sinister Circus. A rather familiar looking arch loomed over us as we approached the dance floor.

ALL THE MONSTERS WERE THERE! Scary Mary was dancing with Half Hatchet Henry, The Captain loomed in the corner watching everyone and on the opposite end was Graceful Gale. The music was pumping and the booze was flowing.

Out towards the front of the ship you could find some pizza to eat as well as another bar.

Dark Harbor brought over some of their signature style to the event with a spinning tunnel, a smoke filled scare room and a button at the very end to scare others that follow in your footsteps. Sometimes during the night you could find the monsters pressing that button too! At the front of the ship, you could find a Hookah lounge which we found ourselves at later in the night.

We found the party to be fun, smart and creative! We loved having some of our favorite characters in a new environment. Let alone the fact that we get these characters so early in the season!

As the night went on, some of the issues of the event started to occur. As a steady stream of guests started to come in, it was evident that there simply was just not enough room for everyone in the main section (the dance floor) so they overflowed to the front of the ship. This still was not enough room to comfortably navigate the party. I am unsure if this was because the venue just wasn’t big enough or if they over sold the event majorly. Either way, as the night went on, it made it very uncomfortable. Also, there was a unique way of ordering drinks at the bar. You purchased tickets which then can be traded in for a drink. This system only created a back up of guests who wanted to get their drink on. Luckily for us, we didn’t wait in the outrageously long line to get a drink, which sometimes stretched down the hallway towards the front of the ship. I understand what they were trying to do in taking the money out of the bar tenders hands and having dedicated people who were appointed in taking money. But the extra added step only complicated the situation and caused the massive back ups.