A Scary Good Time...

I recently had the opportunity to visit Knott’s Scary Farm for the first time and have to say that Knott’s definitely turned the “volume to 11” on delivering a horrifying Halloween experience. The programming throughout the park and accompanying hotel and restaurants was on point and I found myself using one eye to watch out for monsters lurking in the dark and one eye to zero in on the design details throughout the park. Who would have thought that cheesecloth could be turned into spider webs? But the high-end set design, passionate employees who spend hours in hair and make-up getting ready, and masterful storytelling will definitely have me coming back again. I have been to other regional haunted houses and theme parks, visited Disney when we lived in Orlando, and even did Halloween Horror Nights years ago at Universal Studios in both Orlando and Singapore, but Knott’s Scary Farm is hands down my favorite.

While fairly consistent, Knott’s Scary Farm updates their product offering every year with the inclusion of

a few new mazes, variety shows, monster themes and more. This year they had nine themed mazes, four scare zones, two “variety shows” and access to all the rides and attractions that make visiting Knott’s so great. With most haunted houses or mazes folks just pack as much blood and guts into the experience, but every maze I experienced at Knott’s Scary Farm had a clear storyline and was further “fleshed out” along the way.

Mazes

• Origins: The Curse of Calico = One of the newer mazes, I absolutely loved this maze and felt I was getting jump scared left and right. The Curse of Calico tells the story of Sarah Marshall and her rise to become the Green Witch. Along the way she has to fight off cursed townspeople who are in search of blood.

• Wax Works – Didn’t get to experience this maze, but from the description online and the pictures…it appears the complexity in design of the experience is beyond amazing. This maze takes you on the journey of a disfigured Dr. Scratch who has been forced to live out his life in an abandoned wax museum which he transforms into a studio for his “art.” Given the masterful set design, I feel I would have been yelled at while exploring this maze as I stopped to take in the gory and disgusting imagery, puppetry and evil poured into this design.

• Dark Ride – Just phenomenal! I loved this maze as you go on a journey through a haunted Carnival. You begin in a control room which includes video screens of other parts of the maze and end in a souvenir shop. This maze was definitely more on the “dark” side of things, but there were a number of jump scares, fantastic setting, and a great story.

• Shadow Lands – Unfortunately on its way out…Shadowlands was another maze where I found myself looking at the set design and details vs the monsters. Lacking in scares, it was beautifully designed and took you on a journey through Japanese lore. But I still enjoyed this maze immensely.

Additional Mazes I didn’t get to experience:

• Dark Entities – Lots of Aliens as you go on an interstellar journey.

• Paranormal Inc. – Are you afraid of things that go bump in the night? You should be after experiencing this maze

• Pumpkin Eater – Follows the story of Peter Peter The Pumpkin Eater but with a supernatural demon theme. Looked like fun from some of the pictures, but wasn’t able to experience.

• Special Ops: Infected – Zombie Laser Tag.

• The Depths – One of the backstage mazes that allows you to experience the “back of house” area of Knott’s Berry Farm, this maze takes you on a journey at sea where you fight off a Kraken and notice hints of Pirates of the Caribbean given the pirate ships and uniquely crafted creatures.

Scare Zones

All beautifully designed and sequenced. Each scare zone is strategically incorporated into the park. Frequent fog machines enhance the experience and helps disorient you which is fantastic as you never know when one of the 2,000+ monsters will sneak upon you. More often than not, I thought my buddy was beside me to only turn and be talking to a gruesome monster or creepy clown. These folks definitely have a passion for what they do.

• CarnEVIL – Watch out for Creepy Clowns whom have escaped from the freak show at the circus.

• Forsaken Lake – Whoa!! That is all I can say. Better keep both eyes open.

• Ghost Town Streets – Beautifully designed with an overabundance of monsters.

• The Hollow – Situated in Camp Snoopy, this area is a bit more tame building on the Pumpkin Eater theme.

Shows

• Awaken The Dead – Your typical high-energy dance party with a live DJ.

• Conjures – Magic and Mirth at the Birdcage Theatre – A more tame experience with award-winning magicians and comedians entertaining crowds.

• Puppet Up! – Uncensored: I just loved this and couldn’t stop crying (in a good way) from laughter. This show – the mastermind of Brian Hanson – Jim Hanson’s son of Muppets fame, combined the crude nature of the puppet musical Avenue Q with the improve brilliance of Second City. The cast took recommendations from the audience to help formulate their sketches and they definitely were a bit more on “mature” side of things. But it was so fun and brilliantly executed.

• The Hanging: Witches’ Revenge - Executed on the main stage, this is more of a variety show that mixes fun and witty dialogue with today’s pop culture. I actually really enjoyed this show.

Now I was on a tight agenda making my way through the park, so wasn’t able to take in every maze, show and scare zone, but what I saw definitely fit the bill that Knott’s Scary Farm promotes in that this is a place where Nightmares Never End…although this isn’t a dream I can’t wake up fromJ

If you didn’t know, Knott’s Berry Farm is located on a former boysenberry farm in the suburb of Buena Park just outside Los Angeles. Knott’s Scary Farm typically runs from around Sept 19 to Nov 2, but also has a number of other themed events strategically placed throughout the year including their signature Boysenberry Fest. Some other key items to note as a first-time visitor that are sure to enhance your experience.

• Save on ticket prices by purchasing online prior to arrival.

• Buy the Fright Lane Pass so you can skip the lines for mazes and rides.

• Visit on a Thursday night when the crowds aren’t as heavy.

• This would have scared my kids to death, so leave kids under age 13 at home.

• You can enter the park before everyone else if you purchase the Boo-fet which actually looked fantastic. Besides a great meal to fuel your night, you also get to mingle with monsters and get early access to a few of the mazes.

• Don’t rush, spend time exploring and enjoying all the detail that went into the set design.

• Don’t forget you can also experience all the rides while at Knott’s Scary Farms.

Learn More at: https://www.knotts.com/play/scary-farm