Queen Mary's Dark Harbor Sinister Circus Haunted Costume Ball

While the Queen Mary has been home to a yearly Halloween Haunt called "Dark Harbor," they've never put on an actual costume ball. Until now.

The "Queen Mary's Dark Harbor Sinister Circus" is their first foray into an off-season Halloween event, and their first ever Costume Ball. Taking place aboard the legendary (and haunted) Queen Mary, the Ball took on the theme often used during their annual haunts -- that of a demented circus.

Guests were inspired to wear circus-inspired costumes, but in all honestly, any old costume would do. (There was a delicious Frida Khalo.) The promise was that the night would be filled with the denizens of the Dark Harbor's usual haunts all while dancing under the stars and mingling with other circus "freaks."

To be fair, this is the Queen Mary's test run for what could become another annual event -- and it's a great idea. Poised as part of the "Midsummer Scream Halloween" convention that took place at the Long Beach Convention Center that same weekend, the Costume Ball was a place for fans of Halloween, haunted mazes, and horror films to band together and celebrate everything ghoulish.

Taking place on the upper deck of the iconic ship, guests are led up a few narrow staircases to an area where they could sign up for the costume contest which offered prizes ranging from VIP tickets to Dark Harbor to a check for $250. My date and I didn't decide to join in on the fun there, but we did make a quick stop in front of the "step and repeat" red carpet backdrop to show off our outfits. (He was the Bearded Lady and I was a "sexy" Ringmaster.)

We then slinked through a narrow hallway to the main dance floor. Surrounding the undulating mass of costumed bodies were various funhouse goodies like stretchy mirrors and creepy mannequins. On one side were VIP cabanas which we weren't sure how to attain entrance to and across the floor was the DJ and a bar.

The throbbing music altered between some Halloween inspired tunes like "Thriller" and "Ghostbusters," and more traditional club music most likely found in straight bars. (In all honesty, at times I felt like I was at a heterosexual wedding.)

The bar was fairly small and you had to wait in one line to get drink tickets, then wait in another to get drinks. However, as poorly thought out as this was, it moved fairly quickly and the people manning both stations were friendly and swift.

Once we had our libations in hand, we passed the deafeningly throbbing DJ booth, down a short hallway to an area where pizza, pretzels and lemonade were for sale. Through another doorway we were back outside where there was a Tequila Flight bar and costumed freaks taking a breather away from the music. Down a few more steps and we passed through a Vortex Tunnel (hard in heels stated my date) and a cool tent that had mist and a green light that hid everything from our waists down. While we thought it just looked sort of cool at first, we soon realized there was something hiding in that mist -- ready to pounce and freak us out.

At the end of the festivities was a Hookah Lounge.

The night consisted of a lot of picture taking of some amazing costumes and people stopping us to get our picture taken too. (We've never felt so popular.) The funny thing is, with my date dressed in drag so the illusion of the bearded lady would work, it was clear that the attendees hadn't been accustomed to seeing a man in drag. That said, there seemed to be a lot of curious "straight men" who were dazzled by my date and even one who called us the hottest people at the party(!)

Toward the end of the night the costume contest took place. It was difficult to see through the dance floor crowd, but we were both surprised that some of the more amazing costumes weren't chosen. (One that was picked was a store-bought clown costume -- baffling as there was a guy we met who literally had artistically bedazzled his entire face yet didn't make it into the finals.)

All in all, the Ball was a nice first effort by the Queen Mary who really has become the venue to beat for their yearly Halloween Haunt. (Universal Studios might be the more popular, but Dark Harbor is creatively the best designed.) I think some of the logistics of the evening will be ironed out by next year (please put the dance floor at the end of the party, rather than right at the beginning, where you literally walk smack into it when you enter). And hopefully we can get this marketed to the LGBTQ community who would certainly show off some jaw-dropping costumes and liven up the party. There were a handful of LGBTQ folks there, but not enough to make a dent.

In fact, before the night was over, a very attractive young woman looked at me from across the room, smiled seductively, and drew a heart in the air. It was sweet and flattering, but when I put my hand on the ass of my date, she sort of figured it out. And then we got interrupted by an excited straight guy who couldn't wait to get his picture taken with a man dressed as a woman.

"Queen Mary's Dark Harbor Sinister Circus" was held July 29-30 on the Queen Mary. For information, visit http://www.queenmary.com/events/dark-harbor/