September 26-29, October 3-6, 10-13, 17-20,
24-27, 30-31, November 1-2, 2013
7pm to 1am (2am Fridays and Saturdays)
Be careful taking the I5 back into LA, night construction has you taking a debilitating detour and with everyone leaving Knott's at the same time at 1am or 2am, you might want to plan on taking the streets. Check Google maps prior.
Knott's Scary Farm once again rang in the season of the witch with Elvira and the screams of a reporter taken away and disemboweled starting the festivities at this years 41st Knott's Scary Farm.
We soon entered the park and went through mazes, scare zones and rides under moon light to our delight.Twelves mazes to go through this year. Six new, though technically Trapped: The New Experiment cost extra at $60, but you can have up to six people in your group without being charged more than the starting price. At $10 dollars a head it may be worth it.
Six live shows to relax at until another monster comes after you.
It's hard to say, but the top maze for me this year was Forevermore based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. The worst maze is still the post apocalyptic Endgames which still doesn't seem to understand it's own point.
Forevermore
This top maze takes you through the demented murders of a psycho obsessed Edgar Allen Poe fan. You'll forevermore be taken back by the creative maze that springs to life from Poe's stories and centers on bizarre murders. It was such a good idea, I would like to see it as a theatrical release. Ravens have a very big influence in a library filled with them to the plague doctor psychos that fill the mazes corridors. From the tree of hanging dead cats to a real pit and pendulum you'll love the maze more if you've read the literature or at least seen a movie stealing from Poe's work. Be ready for a random event at the end.
One room brings new meaning to tarred and feathered, that meaning is gross crime scene!
Mirror Mirror
Sadly, my press tour group never made it to this maze. The concept of a maze is steam punk Wonderland, which motivated enough people that night to have the longest line. From the wait time, it seems like a hit.Gunslinger's Grave
An obvious maze choice for Knott's, ghosts and ghouls based on cowboys. Walk through a terrifying rendition of the old west haunted by ghoulish cowboys out for vengeance. You'll take your time being spooked by cowboy spooks going through a haunted town through its bar, jailhouse, convenience store, mines and brothel. Gotta love brothels.
A ghostly visage awaits you at the end, it doesn't have two legs.
Black Magic
Another maze based on a famous figure, this time Houdini himself. Knott's is at it's most playful with magic acts gone wrong flowing through this maze. The assistants don't survive. There are many nods to Houdini's act and what might have happened if he didn't make it out of them.
When you start walking into the maze you'll fill like you're going to
see a magic show in the 1920's soon you'll be apart of the show. A
twisted showed with very vicious bunny rabbits coming out over very
over-sized top hats.Houdini shows up to greet you to the afterlife. Say hello to him, but look up if you want to, it's a bit staged. (Oh, jokes you'll only get by going there.)
The most colorful maze I saw that night and a bit silly.
Dominion of the Damned
Classical haunted maze with vampires a mausoleum and some coffins that have living or undead things trying to escape from. Knott's updated last year's classy vampire haunt and manage to make it fun again. It ranked very low on the list last time. This year they took time to revatilize and update it and throw in some great new effects.Out of the old mazes Trick or Treat still delights with it's colorful Halloween part night vibe. Delirium still manages to be the grossest. Uncle Willy's Slaughterhouse reminds us why cannibalism can be so tempting. The reminder could be updated.
There's still four scar zones in the park. You're not of easy and many of the clowns and slider monster will sneak up on you. The park boasts a thousand monsters running trying to get you. Twists and turns around the park with fog machines give you a high rate of encounters.The only show I mangaed to get into that night was Elvira's Sinema Seance five more can stop and grab your attention. Elvira's show will have the best production value and you can't put a price on Elvira being there herself. Not a double, it's the real Elvira and a dance troupe entertaining you for thirty.
Elvira entertains with feats of astounding magic, telekinesis and jokes at the audience expense and hers. We get a montage of horror movie parodies and a live dance show with comedy bits. Elvira's show has some remixes of the newest songs to Halloween lyrics.
Elvira isn't shy, if your in the audience she can pick you out and someone will be going on stage.
My only regret was the log ride being out when I went, there's no special Halloween connection this year as far as I know, but it's one of the best rides Knott's has. If you want to ride roller coasters at night, Knotts Scary Farm has you covered and they'll scare you more then some of the mazes.
Knott's Scary Farm pulls off and always entertaining Halloween event. Between it and Universal it's a hard choice. If you want mazes based on TV and film you've already made your choice. Knott's is easily on par with Universal with rides, mazes and scares. It's hard to choose between the two, if possible try both.
Deals wise you might want go for Knott's.
Check out the Skeleton Key, their version of the fast pass for Halloween and if coming hungry there's a deal on Boo-Fest, a pre=park dinner that get's you inside the park a few minutes early.
