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Welcome to the Grand Daddy of all Halloween Events! Knott’s Scary Farm! Here you will have the chance to experience 11 haunted attractions, 2 live shows, and 3 scare zones where endless amounts of monsters rise through the fog to haunt your dreams! Here you will find reviews for all mazes, shows and scare zones to hopefully help guide you into what to experience first and maybe leave behind if you don’t have the time!
The Mazes:
Trick or Treat
This maze feels to be the shortest at Knott’s Scary Farm, but delivers a great punch with its theming and scares. The Green Witch takes residence in this spooky house and her tricksters are there to terrorize you through out her home. This maze has been around for a while, but it’s still consistent in delivering scares and pulling you into the story. The maze has been tweaked a little bit with two/three new rooms and they definitely add more depth and scares to this maze. What would I like to see changed or different? Keep it the Witch’s house and have her tricksters run around inside, but give the deadly seven a home in this maze and give each of them their own rooms. It would have given a brand new twist for the maze and it would be enjoyable for years to come!
Voodoo
Last year this maze was the most talked about maze with its “choose your path” layout. Now this year it has changed to one big long path where you get to experience all rooms and all scares without having to go through multiple times to get the path you want! Because even though they told you you got to choose your own path… You really didn’t. This was a much better and much improved maze from last year! The scares were on point and the theming is absolutely in incredible from experiencing hillbillies, zombies, and viewing sacrifices and voodoo rituals to raise the dead. I loved the maze this year and I definitely cannot wait to enter it again. It has improved greatly from last year and the ending wasn’t as abrupt and awkward! Kudos!
Paranormal Inc. NEW FOR 2015
If every maze at Knott’s Scary Farm can be this immersive and themed this incredibly well with stunning scares… It would blow Halloween Horror Nights out of the water. This maze has to be the most amazing maze I have ever been in and I don’t even know where to start! The beginning of the maze to the very end left me speechless! The whole haunted sanitarium works perfectly and I believe we are entering the world of the spirits. Whatever it is… AMAZING! My one gripe? Entering a maze in groups doesn’t work at Halloween Events in a theme park. It caused problems and back ups in Quarantine in 2008 and 2009. The back ups are caused with Trick or Treat and their small groups and it’s going to be a nightmare at this maze. Hopefully a more efficient system will be found with getting more groups into the maze quickly. Paranormal Inc. cast! Don’t lose your enthusiasm. You are easily the best maze of the year! I am still trying to keep my jaw up!
The Toothfairy
This is the second year The Toothfairy has visited the Scary Farm and it is, once again, not a maze to be missed! The only change that I noticed in the maze was the ending, which I prefer last years way more! The scenes are dark and twisted and seeing the children that the Toothfairy has kidnapped is definitely not easy to get through for most. I personally love this maze and it is easily a top 3 favorite for me. The lair you try to get through is no easy task with solid scares through out. Good work again to everyone in this maze, don’t lose your enthusiasm!
Pinocchio Unstrung
Any maze that has ever graced the Wilderness Dance Hall has always held one of my favorite themes and Pinocchio Unstrung is no different. The only unfortunate thing is that this maze has ran its course. The sets throughout the maze are still holding up strong! The props though have definitely seen better days and are falling apart. The scares were very minimal, but the ones we did experience were VERY good! I still enjoy this maze, but we hope to see a new theme in this maze next year.
Forevermore
Not only does the Wilderness Dance Hall hold mazes that are fan favorites, but the Mystery Lodge does as well! Forevermore is an amazing maze that has us following the route of the Forevermore Killer influenced by the writing legend, Edgar Allen Poe. This maze has been around for quite some time now and still is one of my favorites! I don’t like saying this, but even with the subtle layout changes that I enjoy, I’m ready for a new maze to take over. The scares in this maze were great here and there and hoping that the opening night jitters will soon fall through. This isn’t just in Forevermore, but the walk towards us and slam your hand on the wall or foot on the ground is not scary. It’s awkward and it makes us feel awkward. Be creative with your scares! Hide and pop out at us! That is what truly scares the guests more than anything!
My Bloody Clementine
Boy, is it great to see the monsters return to the mine ride! With a solid mining theme fit for the old west and amazing digital mapping, the mine ride brings a whole new life back to the Scary Farm. We understand that it is opening weekend and tweaks are being made to the attraction as well as the monsters finding their groove. We are sure that this will be a staple to Halloween Haunt.
Gunslinger’s Grave
Okay, Knott’s. I’m always down for a good Western themed maze to compliment Ghost Town, but this maze has never been a fan for me since the beginning. The addition of werewolves was okay and added a nice boost to the storyline, but it stills falls flat. The monsters in the beginning were absolutely great and without the Gunslinger’s in the beginning telling you what is going on, you would be completely lost with the story. When entering the saloon, there was only one older monster who does an amazing job with their scare, but everyone else in the saloon/bedroom just stood and sat there and stared at you while you walked by. This is where Universal comes in and does a better job with their scares. As much as I don’t like comparing the two, if this was a first maze for a first timer at Haunt. I would have left the house incredibly disappointed and would leave a bad taste in my mouth until I experienced other mazes. It’s time to put the ol’ Gunslinger in the Grave and start with a fresh new theme.
Dead of Winter NEW FOR 2015
Dead of Winter is a new maze housed inside the boardwalk ballroom. This maze wasn’t as scary as most, but the theming was great and the scare actors did their best with what they had to work with and that is always a plus in all haunted attractions. It’s definitely a beautiful maze! Keeping it cool and entering through ice caves that hold terrifying Viking warriors to the Snow Queen’s palace was quite a sight to behold. A lot of things, I felt, were found in Knott’s neighbor theme park (obviously) and some things didn’t make sense to help the story. A lot of these mazes (even with skeleton key) feels like you are missing the first chapter of their story. I wish there were tv’s or audio to help build the story line before entering the maze. Forevermore and Black Magic are the only ones I can honestly think of that help you understand the story.
Black Magic
Black Magic has always been one of my favorite mazes at the Halloween Haunt, but this year lacked with a small change to the maze layout this year. It took me away from the story a little bit, but it’s still a great maze to experience. With a little bit of time the monsters will find their groove and be top notch, but right now it seemed to fall a little flat with one or two scares actually making me jump. The new beginning seance room which used to be the old skeleton key room helps bring the story fully together and help us understand what we are experiencing without having to just throw us into the story. It’s a good start for this maze, but there is much need for improvement.
Scare Zones:
Ghost Town
The best scare some you will ever experience in any Halloween Event. The stage is already set for these terrifying creatures as Ghost Town takes on a new for after dark. The original sliders were found in this very scare zone and they are better than ever slipping and sliding all around you. What’s great about this scare zone are the different townspeople that inhabit this town and what creature they have transformed into by the Green Witch. I can sit in this scare zone for hours and just watch how amazing these monsters can scare!
Fiesta Village
This was a scare zone we didn’t really get a chance to spend much time in, but from what we did experience. The monsters were absolutely fantastic! They timed their scares perfectly and worked with their surrounding areas with ease! What an awesome scare zone added to Haunt!
CarnEvil
The monsters in this scare zone are always fun to watch and is the hardest scare zone to scare in because of how well lit it is in there. The monsters, just like Ghost Town, has a wide band of characters from circus performers, freak show creatures and animals! What is the most disappointing thing about this scare zone is is that the theming is very slim to none. More circus theming in this scare zone would definitely be a great sight to see!
Shows:
Elvira’s Asylum
It’s always fantastic to have one of the greatest Halloween icons grace her presence for us at Knott’s Scary Farm and Elvira is new different. From her scandalous jokes and the dancers fun and modern dances to more scandalous jokes and awesome acrobatics scattered throughout. This show is definitely not to be missed if you’re a fan of Elvira or you just want some time to rest your feet for a show. This show wasn’t as strong as last year in my opinion, but you can never not see Elvira! It’s still a fun show!
The Hanging
The staple show of Halloween Haunt has returned with its countless amounts of screwed humor and blood splatter! Make fun of today’s media and celebrities, the hanging leaves no stone unturned in offending the audience with its hilarious sexual jokes, violent deaths and fight scenes! If you’re not easily offended by these types of jokes, the hanging is a great way to have a laugh in between all the scares you will experience through out the park. Was I happy with who they hung this year? Yes, I was! Should multiple terrible human beings have been hung?! Oh yes! But one is better than none!
Haunt has definitely improved their Haunting game and hopefully with time, they will be back on top of the game! Paranormal Inc. Should be the prime example of what all mazes should be and I know Knott’s Scary Farm can make all mazes as detailed and terrifying as this maze! It was another amazing year and I cannot wait to be back!!!
