Your heart is pounding, there are screams in the distance, darkness has set in, and fog is creeping in to swallow you. You have to decide, do you run? Or do you take your chances in the fog?
This year Knott’s Berry farm promises hundreds of ghouls to fit anyone’s nightmares and tastes at their annual Knott’s Scary Farm Halloween event. Knott’s is celebrating 45 years of scaring visitors since 1973.
With nine mazes, four scare zones and three different live shows offering multiple nightly performances during the event Scary Farm has plenty to keep any ghoul entertained.
As an avid “haunter” myself I jumped at the chance to attend the opening weekend of Scary Farm, eager to meet the creatures stalking the park. Along the way, I met three brave individuals anxious to start the night they are, Chris Carillo, Brian Allen, and Quan Tran.
I was able to ask all three a few questions on how they felt the night would go and each had their unique take. For many, it was not their first time attending or even their second but rather an annual trip.
When asked what brings him back each year Carillo said, “It’s tradition! I love Halloween and spooky things. I have been coming since 2002, and it keeps getting better.”
As for Allen, his reasons were, “There was a really creepy maze with colonial zombies and pumpkins called ‘Pumpkin Eater.’ I saw they were having it again and I’m excited to see if it has gotten scarier.”
Another thing besides the creep factor that keeps many people coming back to Scary Farm is the price point in comparison to similar Halloween events. General admission ticket prices start at just $42 for October dates, whereas Universal Horror Nights starts at a much higher cost of $75. More information about ticket prices and options can be found Here.
Scary Farm also stands in a league apart from other events because its mazes and shows are original and exclusive to the park. One of those exclusive mazes is “Special Ops: Infected” an interactive laser tag style zombie adventure. Guests wander through a special mission armed with just a laser gun and instructions of “Headshots only!”
When you get tired of running from zombie cowboys, and colonial ghouls you can sit down at one of Scary Farms nightly shows such as “Conjurers” a nightly magic act headlined by some of Fox’s “Masters of Illusion” regulars.
As well as shows and mazes this year Scary Farm also has an art exhibit “Into the Fog” that is a tribute to Knotts Scary Farm. The exhibit features 40 pieces of art from 35 different artists.
After you seen all the shows, ran through all the mazes, and checked out the art exhibit the only thing left is to try your luck in the fog. Knotts goes over and above with the atmosphere completely clouding its ghost town streets with thick almost impenetrable fog. I ran into Quan Tran lost in the fog and asked him why this was his favorite part, “When you’re walking through you can’t see anything! It is disorienting, but in a good way, I think. Your walking and then Bam! There is a giant monster inches from your face! It’s a rush.”
Whether you’re looking to scare yourself or people watch and see others get scared Scary farm has it all! The event lasts from September 20 until October 31 and is open Thursday through Sunday nights. If you would like to see, this year’s maze line-up click here.
All photos taken by Mercedes Cannon. Video credit Knotts.
The Traveling Ghost 