Every Halloween for over 50 years this unassuming quaint little theme park in the heart of Los Angeles has held one of the best scare events in the country, and subsequently the world. (as no one does Halloween like the USA) For such a small park, it seems odd that it has such a high-quality event, but this more personal feel and intimate setting are all part of what makes the event so good.
For anyone on the west coast Knotts Scary Farm is completely unbeatable and its only rival comes from over in Florida in the much more commercial Universal Halloween Horror Night. We think that Knotts Scary has it beat though, despite often only coming second in the Golden Ticket Awards, and in our Knott’s Scary Farm Guide, we show you why and what you can expect if you dare to take on this horror night of horror nights!
- Location – Knotts Berry Farm – Los Angeles
- Cost – 59 – $99
- Dates – Sept. 21 – Oct. 31, 2023
- Haunted Houses/Mazes: 9
- Scare Zones – 1
What is Knotts Scary Farm
Knotts Scary Farm is the Halloween Takeover of Knotts Berry Farm in Anaheim California. The Park opens during the day as usual with a few Halloween touches, but closes early and is transformed into a nightmarish horror scene for the evening’s frivolities.
The Separately Ticketed Event, opens its doors at 6 pm, just as the sun sets and darkness descends. As the Gates Open the monsters run amok, and the park is filled with the highest density of monsters of any Halloween event. These monsters are actors dressed in intricate and terrifying costumes sent out to stalk and scare the guests at every opportunity. Expect Sudden lungers, shrieks, bangs, howls, cackles, snaps, and stamps, anything to put the victims on edge and provide jump scares. Some just get in your face to creep you out, others career towards you on metal knee pads!
The whole Themepark uses extensive lights, fogging, sounds, and set dressing to transform the old gold mining town of Calico into a living breathing horror set. Unlike most Horror Nights the entire park is one giant scare zone, where monsters will jump out and frighten you at every opportunity.
At the heart of the experience are Haunted Hoses, or Scare Mazes, depending on what you want to call them. These are separate Walk-through attractions where the theming and jump scare really ratchet up. This is how these Horror nights got started with guests loving the experience and queuing up to come back for more. These are living, breathing horror movies with scenes is gore, horror, and nightmarish terror around every corner, with a ghoulish monster ready to lung out of every dark nook and crevice.
There are also several special shows, entertainers, Halloween-themed food and drink, and a special Buffet Option to Start your night off called the “Boo-Fet” which honestly we think is hilarious! And finally, if that is not enough all the thrills and spills of the theme park are open to guests with some really solid rollercoasters and rides operating throughout the night.
It is frankly one f the best nights out you will have all year, assuming you enjoy being terrorized and frightened half to death, over and over again.
What is SO Special About Knotts Scary Farm
Knotts Scary was the original Halloween Scare Event, starting way back in 1973, and was the forerunner of all Themepark-based Halloween Events in the country. Back then It was merely a Man in a Gorilla suit jumping out at Guests, but quickly evolved into something more complex.
The Event is now a Multi-night Horror fest with 8+ terrifying Haunted Houses and a no-escape Scare Zone that covers the whole park. We think the event is special for a number of reasons that come together to just make this the perfect Scarenight.
First is the setting. The Wild-West Ghost town of Calico that the theme park is based around adds the perfect level of eerie, and just walking down the Main Street of the town has a spooky feel even without the added effects and creepy monsters. There are Cemetarys, creepy old buildings, abandoned carriages, and rusty railway cars. It all has a sinister vibe about it during the day, and at night it goes u a good couple of levels. Then Knotts Scary Farm fills it with Chilling Fog, Spine-chilling noise, Eariy Lighting, and of course, terrifying monsters train in the art of scaring the absolute, you know what, out of you!
Second, the Haunted Houses are easily the best we have witnessed at any scare event. They are more thoughtful, detailed, and downright horrifying than just about any other event in the country. At Universal, the Houses are really cool as they can pull on the incredible IP the Picture company owns, but at Knotts, they have to be a bit more creative, but they pull it off brilliantly. Some of the houses are downright horrifying just being in them before you add the monsters.
And that is the final factor. The monsters are a really fantastic bunch. They have been doing this for so long and know exactly how to creep you out or scare the living daylights out of you.
All these combine mean Knotts Scary just gets it right. It’s a heart-racing experience from the second you step into the moment you escape out of the gates at the end. Each year they get more creative and immersive and the event just gets worse and worse…in the best way!
Is It REALLY the best Horror Night in the World
Yes and no. It regularly features in the Golden Tickets Award for Best Halloween Event but is usually pipped into second place by Universals Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando. So to claim it’s the best is possibly a stretch. However, we think it maybe loses out due to popularity rather than actually being worse.
So many people know about and Visit the Universal Nights and there is no denying they are great events. But for us, they are not at the same level as Knotts Scary. They feel very corporate and clinical, and the events are seriously overcrowded, to the point you need multiple nights to experience them all, or an expensive Fast Pass, whereas you can easily do Knotts in one night as the queues are much smaller. The Monsters at Universal are epic, and the use of well-known IPs really adds to the night, along with great set design, but it just lacks the quaint, personal, and overall immersion of the Knotts Berry nights.
Other than that, it’s no contest. Between the two it’s a little subjective, but Knotts Scary and Universals Halloween Horror nights knock the pants off the rest of the competition.
Our Guide to the Best Halloween Horror Nights in the USA.
Cost
Knott’s Scary Farm is a Seperatly Ticketed event, meaning you only get access to the park on the evening of the date you visit. You cannot go to the main park without buying a separate ticket. (consider a Go City LA Pass or Go San Diego Pass, which has Knotts Berry Farm included for a great way to save)
$59 – $99 Standard Entry
The entry price varies depending on the day of the week and the anticipated crowd levels. Friday and Saturdays nearer Halloween are the most expensive, along with opening night, with earlier midweek dates the cheapest. The cost of your ticket is also a good way to gauge how busy the park will be.
Tickets for the event are Dated and not open tickets to be used anytime.
$45 for Boo-Fet and Early Entry
One of our favorite Add-Ons in the Boo-Fet. This is a great all-you-can-eat Buffet, that also allows early park entry, allowing you into the park before the masses so you can enjoy some really short queues…often basically walk-on. Read more below
$135 to $199 per person for Fright Lane Fast Passes
If for some reason you don’t want to attend the Boofet or just want to be guaranteed zero queueing all night, then the Fright Lane Fast Pass is the way to go. If you are wanting to ride every ride, every Show, and every Maze, then you are probably going to want to get the Fright Lane Pass. It’s an expensive option, and again variably depending on the evening, but there are very few sold and it gets you basically walk-on’s all night. With queues up to 60+ Minutes..it can really help your night go smoothly.
Tickets do not include Re-Entry so once you leave your night is over.
Dates
The Event takes place on select nights from Sept. 21 – Oct. 31, 2023, with the actual dates yet to be announced. – Knott’s Scary Farm Announcements This is the 50th Year Anniversary so expect it to be BIG!
The park opens at 7 pm with Boo-Fet early entry at 6:30 p.m.
Age Limit
There is no official age limit, but really this is a pretty intense experience and some of the themes are pretty dark. It is strongly recommended for 13+ but even that is pretty young when the Mazes are filled with swinging corpses and dissected bodies! This is very adult stuff and we would expect parents to think seriously about how much horror and gore they want their kids exposed to. Would you let them watch an R-Rated Horror Film? That’s probably about the level they are likely to experience here.
There are certainly kids present, and for some brave souls the event is probably fine, after all, it’s all make-believe and fun, but it’s definitely the parent’s discretion. We think most kids under 15 are probably best waiting til they are older, Some of the other Halloween Events are less gory and horror-filed and may be more suited to the
For younger kids, the Daytime Event is Knott’s Spooky Farm which has a lot of the fun without the fear. Thee are Trick Or Treat Trails you can ride the Halloween Hootenany, and kids are free to wear costumes, there is even a parade.
BOO-Fet – $45
The Knotts Scary Farm Boo-Fet is one of the best ways to get the most out of the Event. Start your night off with a fantastic All-you-can-eat Buffet AND get early access to the park including select rides, Scare Zones, and the Monster Release.
The Buffet itself is probably worth the $45 cost on its own. The Home-Style Buffet is a really decent spread with comfort food classics such as Fried Chicken, Mac and Cheese, Chilli, Chesey Mash, and Chicken Tenders. There are a few more refined options too, such as Chilled Shrimp, Deviled Eggs, Roast Sirloin, and Pork Tenderloin. And then there are the desserts!
Huge portions of home-style desserts such as Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Boysenberry Pie, Various Haloween Cakes, Cheesecakes, Red Conchos, and Cookies. It’s an awesome spread, and almost worth it for the desserts alone! You also get a free soft drink, which is doubly useful as it comes in a Refillable cup, which can be used anywhere in the park for the rest of the evening.
For $45 it’s a good meal, but possibly a bit overpriced. However, the added perks really mean it’s a must-do. In fact, we would probably pay for the Boo-fet even if there was no food on offer. Why? Early Park entry.
This is an absolute godsend. Not only does this get you front and center when the gates open, but you also get access to Ghost-Rider before the Gates open (but do this BEFORE the Boo-Fet). Then when the Gates finally open you are first into the Scare Zone, get the first look at the Monsters before they scatter into the four corners of the park, and get early access to all the Mazes.
We hit 4 scare zones in 30 minutes, with basically no queues, and almost nobody inside. It was hellishly fun and left us nervous wrecks but by the time the main gates opened and the queues began to form. We then queued between 20-40 mins for the other Mazes and if we had needed to queue for the first four as well we probably would not have got all the Mazes in. We had already visited the park during the day, but if you want to do some rides as well, it would be very difficult to get everything done, without the early entry.
Of course, you could buy the Fright Lane Fast Pass, but that is significantly more and does not come with a fantastic Buffet included in the price! For us, the Boo-fet was one of the best $45 we have ever spent!
Monster Release
One of the best parts of the evening is the Monster Release. All the various characters gather in an entrance area of the park and at 6:30 pm when the early entry opens, the monsters are released out into the park.
This is quite the spectacle, especially if you have early entry as they are released directly into the path of the incoming guests. It’s your first look at the horrors that await and really is a terrifying experience, stilted clowns, knee-scaping beasts, and howling witches, all looming towards you on the narrow pathway.
If you do not have early entry then you need to line up behind the rope at the entrance, you still get to see the release but not interact and have another half hour to wait until your turn to enter the park, at which point the monsters will be spread out in their shadowy corners.
Monsters
Talking of Monsters, the Knott’s Scary Team are some of the best around. The costumes are incredibly detailed and quite terrifying, but on top of this their demeanor, attitudes, and “personalities” are all excellent. Every Monster has a separate personality and they act in a way you might expect from the style of each monster.
Some are creepy, some aggressive, some almost comical, and others seem malign and peaceful until they aren’t. It’s a great mix and we feel the Park really gives the actors free rein to craft their own characters. They also seem to know when enough is enough, they don’t pester you or haunt you, just cm in, make you jump, scream, or shudder and then disappear into the night. They seem to know how to judge the perfect level of interaction and are led by the guest.
They also seem to know who to leave alone, they can be quite aggressive to some people, but they are always those that want that kind of fear, younger kids, or those looking very timid only get mild scares, or creeped out rather than full-on in-your-face attacks!
Scare Zones
One of the Selling Points of the Event is the Lack of Scare Zones. This sounds a little odd as most Events have special Scare Zones, which are sections of the park that are filled with monsters and these jump out on you as you pass through. They are really fun, but Knotts Scary Farm does not have these…or more accurately, it just has one…which covers the ENTIRE PARK.
So while at most events you can get away from the fear, at Knotts monsters are anywhere and everywhere. This adds to the whole fear factor, knowing that wherever you go there could be a monster lurking and nowhere is safe from the impending terror.
While there is only one scare zone, there are actually several really, it’s just there are no gaps between them so they link u t one large zone covering the whole park, but the themes change as you move around. The center of the park is covered by the Ghost Town Scare Zone. This abandoned wild west-themed zone is what made the event famous and adds a real air of the occult to proceedings. The streets are doused in fog, with eerie lighting effects and roaming monsters scaring the daylights out of people.
The Goreing 20’s is a fun musical-themed zone around the Boardwalk Area and has a Victorian-era feel about it which links in nicely to the CarnEvil Scarezone, where clowns and circus performers come out to haunt.
The area’s down near the entrances are the Forbidden Lake and The Hollow Scare Zone. These are traditional-style spooky woods and lakes with ghouls and monsters roaming in large numbers.
The simple fact is where ever you go there is always something lurking in the shadows, blending into the crowds, waiting to pounce and make you soil your trousers.
Haunted Houses / Mazes
Haunted Houses or Scare Mazes, whatever you call them are the mainstays of these events, and the line-up for this year is one of the best yet. With 9 Mazes there is a lot to get through and each maze is a hellish nightmare, but they all have their own personalities…and no, none of them are cuddly.
- Wax Works
- Origins: The Curse Of Calico
- Dark Entities
- The Depths
- Mesmer: Sideshow Of The Mind
- Bloodline: 1842
- The Grimoire
- Castle Of Chaos – Dark Ride
- Pumpkin King
Wax Works – YouTube
Wax Works is a real horror show of a Maze. As you enter the house there are rows of lifeless manikins strung up and you are not sure if these are models or corpses. It’s very eerie. The whole maze is strewn with these and you are never sure if a lifeless body is a fake or a real actor until they lurch towards you causing you to make another mess in your pants.
As the maze goes on there are hideous demonic creations and people billing in vats of acid. This is one of the creepiest and most jumpy mazes at the Event.
The Depths – YouTube
The Depths is an underwater themed House that uses lots of nautical themes to terrorize you on your path through the Maze. It starts off eerie with great use of sound and lighting to ramp up the tension. There were lots of excellent monsters in the maze and plenty of really hidden jump scares, especially from under the artificial water effects that allow the monsters to move around unseen!
Bloodline: 1842 – YouTube
This is new in 2022 and offers a totally new experience in that you actually can fight back. Each guest is armed with a Machine gun and the vampiric monsters that jump put on you are put back in their place with some swift rons from your weapon.
We found it a lot of fun and really appreciated the chance to fight back!
Origins: The Curse Of Calico – YouTube
The Origin’s Maze is themed around a cursed Witch called Sarah Marshal who was executed by the townsfolk, quite rightly, for being a witch and who has now returned to unleash hell on Calico. The theming here is really strong with the awesome town-cryer setting the scene and then the use of digital effects and some great set management to really ramp up the tension before the inevitable pant-wetting.
Dark Entities – YouTube
Horror in space. Step aboard a spaceship that is undergoing somewhat of a disaster. Alien Invasion, rogue robots, and everything you don’t want to happen in space. This is a really good maze with some great effects and really good use of lighting to completely obscure monsters until they are right on top of you.
Mesmer: Sideshow Of The Mind – YouTube
This one starts off with a carnival theme and ends up as you the victim of a psychotic hypnotist. It all gets a bit weird at the end but has some great scares and lots of tension borne from the fact you have no idea what is really going on. We had a lot of very creepy up-close interaction here that really made us happy to escape…
The Grimoire – YouTube
New for 2022, but we are pretty sure this will be back for 2023. A lot of work’s gone into this one. It starts off with a hapless group of campers who have stumbled upon an ancient book. You get to witness them unleash all of hell’s wrath from reading from the book before being transported to some of history’s darkest moments. The Trenches, Creepy serial killer cannibals, and terrible 70’s wallpaper.
There is a lot going on with some really good effects. We think it needs a tweak or two as the message got a bit lost, but it’s a great maze.
Castle Of Chaos – Dark Ride – YouTube
The Castle of Chaos is based around a theme park ride. You enter the ride building and things go a little awry. As you explore the backstages of the ride there are ghouls, monsters rats, bugs, and clowns all seeking to terrorize unsuspecting riders. This one takes a while to get going with a lack of monsters, but all hell breaks loose by the end.
Pumpkin Eater – YouTube
We saved this til last and overall found it a little underwhelming. Lots of creepy atmosphere and horrifying sets but there seemed a lack of monsters and in the end was a little short without much happening.
Shame as we really like the theme, although there is actually nothing overly scary about a Pumpkin Eater…we have eaten plenty of pumpkins ourselves in our time.
Haunted House Tip – When in the Haunted Houses / Scare Maze there are only so many Montsers and only certain places they can hide. This means as people pass through the Zone the monsters reveal themselves. This can be used to your advantage or disadvantage depending on the experience you want.
If you follow a group of people then the monsters will largely jump out at the lead member. This gives you all the fun of the Maze and getting to see the lead group member repeatedly scared, while not actually having the monsters jump out on you. But try not to be at the back as we all know what happens to the guy at the back!
However, if you are looking for the Maximum Fear Factor. Lead the Group! When entering the Maze go REAL slow, allow time for anyone in front of you to pass through, giving you a large gap, allowing time for monsters to RESET. Then, as you pass through, expect all hell to break loose. You are here to be scared, so make the most of it!
Shows
The shows are not really what we come to Scare Events for but the line-up is still pretty good. It’s gone downhill a little after the “Hanging” live show was retired for being a little too un-pc.
Brian Hesnons Puppet-Up
Puppet-Up is a very Adult themed improv Show with Puppets. Honestly, that does not sound that great but the show is very funny, poking fun at modern life, and is anything but your usual puppet show. Adult themes and language abound. Brought to you by Brian Henson, Jim Henson’s sun!
Le Magnifique Carnaval du Grotesque
Part Dance, Part Cirque Show, the Carnaval du Grotesque is an awesome variety performance with a strong horror theme. This is 30+ mins of seriously spectacular stunts and performances. If you are just going to see one show, this is it.
Conjurers – Dark Magic
A Halloween-themed Magic Show. It is not huge and spectacular but an intimate display of suggestion and sleight of hand from a really talented conjurer
Rides
Most Rides are open for the evening and Knotts Berry has some really excellent Coasters and Rides available. We did find availability pretty poor on some nights with a few breakdowns and not really any seeming desire to get them fixed.
Ghost Rider
A world-class Wooden Coaster from Custom Coasters International. The Ghost Rider is a regular in the Golden Tickets’ top 10 Wooden Coasters and is one of our top woodies. Woodies are really fun but they can be a bit too harsh for us. We love intense rides, well I do, But some woodies are just too crashy. While Ghost Rider is pretty rough, the plush armchair-like seat soaks up most of the bang giving a full-on hands-in-the-air ride! Lots of Airtime and tight turns await. The ride is really fun once the lights go out with a really creepy feel as you look out over Knotts Scary.
Silver Bullet
A fantastic coaster that is a little overlooked at Knott’s Berry. It is tucked away in the bottom corner and does not seem to get the hype the other rides draw. But it’s a great Coaster. Buttery smooth, as you expect from a B&M, and lots of plush fluid movement as you float around the track feet dangling in the breeze.
Hang Time
A perfect Ride for a Halloween event, well not quite, Hang Time is a Surf-Themed Coaster, right at home on the boardwalk rather than the gallows. But still, it’s a damn fine coaster. This is a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster and while it’s a touch rough, it has some really fantastic Elements. From the Vertical climb, which is scarier than the ride, to the far too long hold over a 96° 150ft vertical drop, and through 5 inversions including a Neg-G Stall Loop which is pretty Intense.
Timber Mountain Log Ride – Halloween Hootenanny
Timber Mountain is a pretty decent Log Flume with some great dark ride elements, however, the ride gets a real Halloween Makeover to become the Halloween Hootenanny. This Halloween overlay makes this a MUST-RIDE at the Knotts Scary Farm Haunt.
Xcelerator
The Precursor to some of the tallest and fastest coasters in the world. Xcelerator is technically quite small in comparison to its younger siblings, (Kingda-Ka, Top Thrill Dragster, and Formula Rossa), but at 208ft and 0 − 82 mph (132 km/h) in 2.3 seconds it’s far from tame.
Extreme Scream
Honestly one f the few rides that scare me. This 312ft drop tower plunges riders towards the ground at 50mph (faster than freefall) in the vague hope you will stop before getting splatted.
Full Guide to the Best Rides at Knott’s Berry Farm
Food And Drink
For those not partaking in the Boo-Fet, there are still loads of cool food and drink options available with lots of items having gory Halloween Themes.
Best Food Options
There are certainly some really interesting food options available, including Frogs-Leg Gumbo, Spooky Crabby Sushi Roll, and Chilling Chicken Tamales.
Gold Mine Trail Booths
Head over to the Area Below the GhostRiser where 4 of the main Scare Mazes are and you find a county-fair-style array of Stall and Booths. These offer some of the best dining options in the park.
here you can grab a Fearsome Foot Long HotDog, Spooky Crabby Sushi Roll, and Chilling Chicken Tamales, along with Mac And Cheese, pretzels, churros, and an M&M’s Dirt Trifle!
Board Walk BBQ
The Boardwalk BBQ offers up some excellent options such as the Cauldren BBQ Beef Barbacoa Sandwich and the Ghouls Beer Mac and Cheese with Steak Bites.
Wagon Wheel Pizza
Chicken and Spicy Sausage Gumbo with a Frog Leg is the star of the show here. And we have to admit it’s pretty creepy having a Frog’s leg in your Gumbo. It’s pretty good gumbo too, and the Frogs Leg is a bit like a slightly fishy Chicken Wing. The Chicken and Chilli Pizza is also a really good option.
Ghost Town Bakery
Like at the Boo-Fet, there is a host of amazing Sweet options available. Most can be found at the Ghost Town Bakery but some are specials at the various Stands that need to be hunted out. There are some really great options with the Canine Candy Corn Macaron, Chai Pumpkin Latte Whoopie Pie, and the Zombie Brain Mint Brownie Stuffed Churro our top picks
Red Velvet Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
- Red Velvet Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
- Themed Cookies and Cupcakes
- Jack-O-Lantern Cheesecakes
- Skeleton Bones
- Canine Candy Corn Macaron
- Bonkers Bananas Foster Funnel Cake
- “Murder Us” S’more Funnel Cake
- Zombie Brain Mint Brownie Stuffed Churro
- Halloween M&M’s® Cookiewich
- Pecan Pie Brownie Bombs
- Perilous Pumpkin Cheesecake Funnel Cake
- Chai Pumpkin Latte Whoopie Pie
- Derby Chocolate Pie
Best Drink Options
Knott’s Berry Farm is not a Dry Park and there is plenty on offer to help lubricate the fears and help the evening really go off with a bump! The “I Vant Your Blood” is served in Souviner Syringe, with the Zombie Juice and the A-Positive served in Blood Bags. Also, don’t miss the Apple Sour Marg Served up at the Spurs Patio
- “I Vant Your Blood” Syringe Drink – Vodka and Strawberry Lemonade
- Zombie Juice Blood Bag – Alcoholic
- A-Positive Blood Bag – Alcoholic
- Redrum – Alcoholic
- Origins Sour Apple Margarita
- The Depths Citrus Margarita
- Black Widow Lemonade – Desert Pear and Pomegranate
- Burgeoning Bourbon Smash
There are regular non-alcoholic drinks available such as Coffee and Fountain Drinks as well.
Most Food items are also available all day as well.
Tips and Tricks to Have the Best Night!
Save Money by Booking Ahead
It’s almost always cheaper to buy a ticket online beforehand, and it’s usually cheaper to buy well in advance. As we say cheap tickets are for quiet nights and when these fill up, lured by the cheaper price, the price will rise. So buying as early as possible will save the most money.
Get Early Entry
We seriously recommend the Boo-Fet. Even if the food is not your thing, it’s still worth it for the early entry, and free refillable drink. We loved the Buffet and the desserts were incredible, but it was the additional perks that just made it fantastic value. We did 4 mazes in 30 mins, and this left so much time to properly explore the rest of the park.
If Not, Consider the Fast Pass
The Fast Pass is a really good idea if you want to experience everything. The Queues can be really long, we have seen 75+ mins at the worst times, so if you want to get in all 9 Mazes, a few Rides, and a Show, you really need to Grab the Pass. The Park stays open really late, and queues die down as the time draws on, but still, without the Pass, you will spend a lot of time in queues.
Make a Plan
If you are not doing the Boo-Fet or Fast Pass, you can still get a lot done, just maybe not everything. When the gates officially open, all the Boo-Fet Guests will be in the Ghostrider area as this is all that is open early. There are 4 Mazes here, and the queues will have already built. So head in the opposite direction! We advise hitting Grimoire and Origins first then loop round to the Mesmer, Dark Ride, and Pumpkin Eater, along with any rides in those areas. Hopefully, by the time you head over to the Ghostrider area, the queues will have calmed down, if not you got some big Mazes in with some of the shortest queues of the night.
Take Your Time
The Event is not ALL about the Mazes. There is so much to see and do, take some time out of the FEAR and just relax. Hard to do with monsters roaming, but some of the scenes are just brilliant. Walking down Main Street of a Haunted Ghost Town is seriously eerie, and the effects here are fantastic, The Goreing 20’s and Carnival Area are really fun, and the Calico River Rapids are dark creepy, and spooky.
Maze Hacking
We mentioned this above in the Maze Section. But don’t rush through the maze. Create Gaps from the people in front to make sure the monsters can reset. This ensures maximum Scares.
Quiet Spots
There are in theory no Safe Zones in the park. Monsters are free to roam, but in practice, you can find quiet spots to sit down, take a breather and grab a drink or bite to eat. Take time to sit on the sidelines and just take it all in. People-Watching Here is Something Else!
Be Careful in the restrooms…
That said, one of the scariest places in the Park for use was the restrooms, there is something very creepy going on in there! We will let you find out what!
Obey the Rules
And leading on to the next section, the Park can be a bit stuffy with the rules. Break the Parks Code of Conduct will see you thrown out. It seems all the fun has gone to people’s heads in the past and now we all have to be told how to behave, and the park security is quick to act to protect everyone’s safety and good times.
Rules – Boring Stuff!
Time for the KillJoys to Shine. While these are no fun, there are some important rules to be aware of. We got caught out with a few issues.
Respect the Monsters
Interacting with the Monsters is all part of the Experience. But you need to give them the due respect. They are not actual monsters, they are hard-working actors here to give you a great time. Touching of any kind is strictly forbidden as is abusing them, We may have accidentally sworn at them a few times, but only as a reaction to a bad scare. Bear this in mind and you will have a much better time, as you don’t want the monsters to actually turn on you as they definitely have the upper hand!
No Bags
The No Bag Rule was vigorously enforced and we were turned away for having a bag that was too large. The Size Requirements are Less Than 6.5 inches by 4.5 inches by 2 inches. We sort of remember reading about no large bahs but assumed Kate’s small “Mini” Loungefly would be fine. It wasn’t the minimum size is really small and is little more than a clutch, so we were refused entry. Luckily our hotel was really close and we were warned before the Boo-Fet so could run back and drop it off. But it’s definitely something to bear in mind.
Chaperones
If anyone in your party is under 15 (this was 17 in 2022 and my rise back up for the Scare Event) must be accompanied by a person over the age 0f 21. Government ID will be required to prove age. This applies to the Park as a whole for any time after 4:00 pm
No Costumes
Finally, so that all guests, the monsters, and park staff can tell everyone apart, no costumes are allowed. Not Face Mask, or anything that may make you seem like a Monster is allowed in the Park. We just dress in regular casual gear and let the monsters do the dressing up.
Have Your Say
Have you been to Knott’s Scary Farm? How did you find the event? How many times did you change your underwear? What did you think of the monsters the Mazes and the Queues? Did you buy the Fast Pas or Boo-Fet? Whatever you have to say we would love to hear your comments, and if you have any questions just fire away.