Knott’s Scary Farm has begun! The largest and most haunting Halloween event in Southern California runs on select dates through October 31. Visitors can experience haunted houses, scare zones, and frightening shows in addition the park’s selection of premier rides. We had the opportunity to visit the park on opening night and here are some of the things you NEED to experience when visiting Knott’s Scary Farm. We highly recommend checking out this event if you are into scary Halloween events; the quality of the mazes and scare zones is top-notch.
All-New Maze: The Grimoire
The Grimoire is set in the old Mystery Lodge area of the park. In the queue, we learn that the time period of the maze is set in the 1980s. Campers have seemingly stumbled upon a book in the wilderness. When they decide to read a few lines from the book, demonic creatures are unleashed and begin to cause worldwide havoc.
In addition to the brilliant set design, the maze has a great length — you think that it’s over, but as soon as you enter the next room, there’s another scare waiting for you. The maze’s ominous soundtrack makes the maze even more impactful because you never know when a scare actor is going to jump out and scare you. And while we don’t want to spoil too much about the maze itself, the final room made us run out of the maze in fear! This is definitely one of the best mazes at the event.
All-New Maze: Bloodline 1842
Bloodline 1842 is a very fun maze that combines a traditional scare house with a shooting game. This maze seems more fun than scary because you’re quickly moving through the rooms, trying to shoot any vampires that lurch in your direction. However, the uniqueness of the shooting game makes this maze a must-visit.
Scare Zones
There are a total of five scare zones around the park — CarnEVIL (near Hangtime), Forsaken Lake (underneath Silver Bullet), Ghost Town Streets (Ghost Town), Gore-ing ’20s (near the Walter Knott Theater), and The Hollow (Camp Snoopy).
The best scare zone in our opinion is Ghost Town Streets. The atmosphere naturally lends itself to a scare zone, and the amount of fog makes it impossible to tell whether the person in front of you is another visitor, or if it’s a ghoul preparing to scare you. Some of the scare actors have unique tricks to scare people, such as props and shoes that spark when they sweep their feet.
Other Mazes
In addition to the two new mazes, there are a total of nine haunted houses — Bloodline 1842, Dark Entities, Dark Ride: Castle of Chaos, Mesmer: Slideshow of the Mind, Origins: The Curse of Calico, Pumpkin Eater, The Depths, The Grimoire, and Wax Works. Out of the seven legacy mazes, our favorite was Origins: The Curse of Calico. This maze is located in the Dinner Hall of Ghost Town, right next to The Grimoire. It tells the story of how Ghost Town was cursed by the witch Sarah Marshall. The maze features larger-than-life sets, amazing theming throughout the maze, and a great cast of scare actors. In fact, the best scare for us was in the first room — a scare actor was able to pose like a mannequin and we had no idea until he started moving.
PUPPET UP! UNCENSORED
PUPPET UP! UNCENSORED is by far the best show at Knott’s Scary Farm. While it may seem weird to have an adult-oriented puppet show, it was the hit of the night. The show involves a group of master puppeteers who have to make up scenes that the audience creates. It is a must-see show and is about 45 minutes long.
In conclusion, we highly recommend checking out Knott’s Scary Farm this year. It is an amazing event, and while we can’t speak for every night, the lines were very reasonable on opening night. If you want to bypass the longer lines, you can purchase FastLane which gives you priority access to the mazes.
Congrats to the Knott’s Berry Farm team for putting on a spectacular event! For more information about the event, or to purchase tickets, visit this website.
