Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor entertains and frightens guest every year with their spectacular haunts around and aboard the haunted Queen Mary. This year they welcome their newest spirit, The Iron Master, in the new maze Intrepid. Read the story of The Iron Master below, and get ready to board Dark Harbor this Halloween Season.
Ivan was the ship builder and original iron forger of the majestic R.M.S. Queen Mary. In the early 1930s, Ivan’s shipyard was commissioned by Cunard to build the storied Scottish vessel. Eager to rise to the challenge, he scoured the world in search of a flawless crew and devoted his life to what would be come the most famous shipyard in history. The R.M.S. Queen Mary set sail in 1936 with Captain at the helm and unknowingly, Ivan in the hull.
One fateful night, a mysterious steam engine rolled into his shipyard rail station and beckoned Ivan. Before he realized it, he had boarded the deadly train and was barreling toward darkness. By the end of the dark journey, he realized he had been transformed into a terrifying creature – part metal, part monster. Over the century, his corpse decaying, Ivan was forced to replace pieces of his rotted flesh with cast iron – the same from which he forged his beloved ship. A slave to his craft in life, so too, would he become in death. Cursed for eternity as protector of the Queen Mary, Ivan is now…Iron Master.
Through the best of storms and worst of wars, the R.M.S. Queen Mary remained the fastest ship on the seas until she was laid in her eternal resting place here in Long Beach. Befittingly dubbed “The Grey Ghost”, she eerily hovers in the harbor, marking her 80th year afloat.
It is said that the spirit of Ivan – the Iron Master has grown restless and the Ringmaster’s circus freaks have overstayed their welcome. Now more than ever, he is heard banging his iron clad limbs as he trudges the ship’s hull. Called upon by the Captain, Iron Master has disembarked to restore order to the steely shipyard in the dark harbor.
