By Walking slowly through a dark hallway, you try your hardest to stick your head around the corner without being noticed. Nothing is there. You turn back to your party to let them know it’s safe to pass, but when you go to take your first step, a monster comes out of nowhere and growls, “ARGHHH!”
The monster’s growl makes you jump despite your best efforts to stay cool. The only thing that drowns out the monster’s yell is your own shriek and, of course, the laughter of all your friends. What else did you expect from the Queen Mary’s Shipwreck?
This October brings the 13th anniversary of Shipwreck, and to celebrate, two new mazes were built for a total of seven heart-stopping mazes.
Shipwreck can’t claim to instill the mind-torturing fear most people would hope for on a supposedly haunted boat. The scariest thing about the mazes is the “monsters” constantly jumping out around corners, from behind curtain or sliding on the ground in front of you. But it can claim to be a lot of fun.
Shipwreck has seven mazes, two dance floors and a live band playing nightly. Not to mention all ages can attend, but if you’re 21 or older, you can purchase alcoholic beverages (which might make the mazes a little scarier).
One maze to definitely check out is the “Hallway of Hallucinations.” At first, it looks and feels like all the other mazes, but once you put on the 3-D glasses provided for you, your vision is skewed. It becomes hard to distinguish between what’s painted on the wall and what’s about to jump in front of you and scream. If you keep the glasses on, this maze may take longer to go through because you’ll probably naturally slow down and walk with your hands in front of you, or push a friend in front and use them as a shield.
The “Hallway of Hallucinations” and a few other mazes are not actually on the ship itself. Because of the magnitude of this event, some things had to be put ashore. One very long maze is in the aluminum dome next to the Queen Mary.
Some of the mazes on the ship will take you through restricted areas that usually aren’t open to the public. These are the areas where most of the paranormal activity on the Queen Mary has been reported. Walk through one of those mazes and you’ll run the chance of seeing a real ghost. Just remember to keep your eyes open for what’s real and what’s staged.
The bands play between the outdoor mazes and the entrance to the ship. The dance floors (and bars) are on board. But because Shipwreck is open to all ages, the dance floor seems to consist mostly of high school students grinding on each other. If you like to dance you might want to wait until after their curfews.
If you’re a person who is susceptible to headaches caused by loud noises, you may want to avoid the mazes entirely. Some people walking through feel the need to emit ear-splitting shrieks constantly throughout the entire maze. The pitches you’ll hear may send more chills down your spine than the monsters.
The monsters don’t come in short supply, either. There are over 400 of them trolling around the area. Some are in mazes while others just wander around aimlessly, keeping the crowd on guard even as they move from one maze to the next.
If you’re thinking of going to Shipwreck to pull a masterfully planned prank, you might want to seriously consider not doing it. The security force is almost as numerous as the monsters. In some mazes it felt like more security guards were waiting around corners than monsters. I’m sure if you mess with them, they can be just as scary.
Even after 13 years, Shipwreck is still a frightfully good time.
Shipwreck runs this Friday through Sunday, and then from Oct. 26 until Halloween night, Oct. 31. Tickets are $35, not including parking fees.
