Knotts Berry Farm
takes you to the western town of Calico in 1885. Sarah Morgan has been accused of witchcraft. You see her dragged up to the gallows and the sheriff asks you to decide her fate! Despite her pleas of innocence, the outraged townsfolk (you!) all shout for her to be hanged. And so, Sarah Morgan falls to her death. (Shown during “The Witching Hour” at midnight in Calico Square, giving you the backstory of their “Green Witch” Halloween theme.)
With an outraged scream and flash of green smoke Sarah Morgan returns….as the Green Witch. She turns the 
townsfolk into a type of zombie, who return every October to seek out blood of all those who enter the town of Calico (which is now Knotts!)
Intense backstory right? Knotts Scary Farm’s 40th Halloween Haunt has a strong running theme, a detail that Knotts is very proud of. The Green Witch and her tricksters are everywhere freaking people out, pranking guests, and leaving a green “acidic” hand print on walls throughout Knotts showing everyone that the Green Witch has been there.
Before Knotts fans entered the park, they were treated to the Green Witch actually rising from the ticket booths. She cursed Knotts Berry Farm and all who would enter. Despite her warnings guests rushed into the park, are were immediately confronted by the Green Witch’s “tricksters”. They ran around setting fires, teasing guests, and creating all kinds of havoc.
Maze #1- “Trick or Treat”. You actually get to visit the “Green Witch’s” house! I’m not kidding, To enter the maze you even need to ring her doorbell. (Well, you don’t want to catch her in the shower of anything). While exploring the house the witch appears to curse you, scare you, and creep you out. As an additional bonus, for $10 you can actually “Trick or Treat” inside her house. And only the Green Witch will decide if you get a trick, or a treat.
Maze#2- “Endgame”. Survivors of a post-apocalyptic world are made to battle it out for the entertainment of others in a “Hunger Games” meets “Road Warrior” style. The maze is a made to look like a desolate, nearly abandoned world where rubble and tent cities have replaced towns. Witness hand to hand combat as these “survivors” battle it out for their survival. This maze has been expanded to include more scenes, more fighting, and a lot more blood!
Maze #3-“Dominion of the Dead”. Imagine if the undead had their own art gallery and you’ll have some idea of what this maze looks like. Beautiful, haunting, yet very creepy. Not a scary maze in comparison to the others, but very intriguing and amazingly done.
Maze #4-“Delirium”-To get to Delirium you have to go through “Dominion of the Dead”. In Delirium you are a part of a little girls’ slow descent into madness, where fear and paranoia rule. Demons haunt every corner of her mind in a place where you can’t even trust the walls to stay in place. I love the idea of trying to find some sense of reality, in a completely deranged world that only you can see. This maze is very high on the “fear factor” meter, and one of my favorites.
Maze #5-“Terror of London”. “Terror of London” takes you through the seedy streets of Londons “red light district”. I wandered through the streets, the bars, and even the strip clubs facing scantily clad women, demons, corpses, and of course Jack the Ripper! The props and costuming were extremly elaborate for this one! The maze had sections that were upbeat with beautiful vibrant costumes and up-tempo music, yet others were dark and terrifying. A great tribute to a horror icon.
Maze #6-”Pinocchio Unstrung”-A brand new maze that gives you an imaginative “What-if” to ponder. What if the Blue Fairy had never granted Pinocchio’s wish to become a real boy. Would he become insane? Knotts believes so, leading you from room to room of corpses strung up like marionettes with different areas of flesh torn from their bodies. What happens to all the skin? Oh believe me, you’ll find out at the end! One of the more gory mazes, but has terrific special effects. A creative and welcome addition to Knotts that shouldn’t be missed. “Pinocchio Unstrung” replaced “The Doll Factory”.
Maze #7-“Dia de los Muertos”. An extremely trippy 3D maze, with a muddled story line and very few actual scares. You’re lost in the jungles of El Chupacabra where a sobbing La Llorona is seen wandering around with other colorful rainforest-type creatures. The makeup was beautiful, but not particularly scary. The lines for this remained short all night long.
Maze #8- “Uncle Bob’s Bigtop of the Bizarre”-Located in the Carnevil area, this bizarre circus features crazy demon clowns jumping out at you in 3D! If you have a fear of clowns (a surprisingly common fear) you may want to avoid this one- or run to it. You’re there to be scared after all! The maze makes you feel disoriented by the 3D, tunnels, and even people coming out of the walls! Ok, so it’s cool, but is it scary? If you have a fear of clowns or freak out from the 3D effect, then yes it’s very scary. If you don’t, then it’s still bright, fun, colorful, trippy maze worth seeing.
Maze #9-“The Evil Dead” (The Log Ride). Based on the 2013 upcoming remake “The Evil Dead”. Climb into your boat and visit the infamous cabin in the woods. The point is to be discovering the secrets of the “Book of the Dead”, but most people were too busy trying to avoid the monsters (which come at you in ALL directions!) to pay attention to the plot.It’s a very dark and creepy maze that also has the distinction of being a ride! If this sounds like something you want to do, try to head over early because the line forms fast and only gets longer as the night progresses.
Maze#10-“Virus Z”-an old zombie inspired maze with a new “Carrie” ending. Zombies have taken over the nice town of Pleasanton, and a bloody Carrie is the center of it all! Hold onto your brains because there are a lot of hungry zombies…everywhere! Great sets, fun props, and just a lot of zombie-fun!
Maze #11-“Slaughterhouse”. Another older maze that has been expanded, most likely due to its popularity! Our old friend Uncle Willy has found the perfect cuts of meat for his BBQ, and those cuts are coming from you! If you’ve been waiting for mega-gore, this maze is calling your name! Bloody, gory, fleshy fun. Each room is more grisly then the last, don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Maze #12-“Fallout Shelter”. Another maze that uses the 3D effect, Fallout Shelter takes place underground in a world that has suffered nuclear fallout. People are now mutants, animal hybrids, and many other unidentifiable beings. The use of 3D highlighting the gruesomeness of the hybrids really heightens the creepy factor. A fun maze and a solid 7 on the fear factor.
I’ve saved the best for last- yes it’s the very much speculated about, private, “reservation-only”, completely interactive maze “Trapped”. “Trapped” is the only maze you have to pay for, but it’s 100% worth it! For $60 a group of up to 6 can enter…if you can handle it. Pre-reserve your space online,and you will receive a time when you and your party can enter. Before you can do anything though, you have to sign a waiver (intrigued?)! Once you walk through the doors, just you and your party, you’re suddenly trapped! You actually have to find your own way out of this hands-on, very intense, and completely original maze. Revealing anything about “Trapped” would be a crime, so grab 5 of your friends (Just $10 each! How can you resist?) and see for yourself!
With 4 different “scare zones”, 9 live shows, and 13 mazes, not to mention 100′s of actors trying to scare you my suggestion would be to read the map online, maze and show descriptions, check the times and try to plan your night from there. Don’t get me wrong, wandering around aimlessly is always fun too. There are just so many things to do it’s easy to forget a maze, or miss a show you’ve been wanting to see. Even if you’ve been to Knotts before, you are still dealing with a lot of fog, crowds, and certain areas that are normally part of the backlot, and not usually open to guests. So if you have a “Must see list”, a little advanced planning will help a lot! “Front of the Line” maze wristbands are available for $55-60. Only a limited number are available, so buy them online beforehand because they may be sold out the night of the event. If you can afford it, it’s worth it so you can have plenty of time to enjoy every maze.
Extra Info: For an extra $21.55 ($24.99 + tax at the door, or an special admission + buffet cost of $50.99) you can get the “Pre-scare Boo-fet”, a large and diverse buffet that’s not only well worth it just for the food alone, but can actually get you into the park 5-20 minutes early! You can check out the pre-show with the “tricksters”, and then make your way to the #1 maze or attraction on your list. None of the attraction lines were very long so my suggestion would be to go to “Trick or Treat”, “Delirium”, “Evil Dead”, or “Pinocchio Unstrung” as these lines only got longer throughout the night. This year there is only 1 place in the park to buy beer (Spurs Chophouse, near the entrance. You can find mixed drinks at the TGI Fridays before you enter the park). Knotts states that they want to provide a fun, safe experience for the whole family, so drink responsibly everyone!
Haunt dates for 2012: Sept. 21-22 and 27-30 and Oct. 4-7, 11-14, 18-21, 25-28 and 30-31. Hours: 7PM- 1AM Sunday, Thursday, Tuesday, and Halloween. 7PM-2AM Friday and Saturday. No costumes! Tickets are $36-52, depending on date. The one and only Elvira will be making a special appearance on October 4th, so keep that in mind!
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