As spooky season approaches, Knott’s Scary Farm continues to be one of the leading scare parks in Southern California. With multiple new mazes and restricting guidelines, they are continuing to set the standards on horror and safety.
Before going, make sure to remember the new chaperone and bag policy. After the recent fights among teenagers attending the park, both policies will be strictly enforced at Knott’s Berry Farm and Knott’s Scary Farm. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays all guests under the age of 18 need to have a chaperone 21 years or older accompanying them to be admitted into the park. All guests with a bag are allowed entry only if their bag meets the size of 6.5″ x 4.5″ x 2,” the size of a standard clutch bag. Anything over these measurements will not be allowed in. But even with harsh policy changes, park goers are finding that this year’s attractions are much greater than years past.
“Everything has gotten better this year from last year,” said Kyle Clark, a stand-up comedian from Simi Valley. “I have not been to a single thing in the park that has not been drastically redone. Whole chunks [of the park] feel brand new.”
Scary Farm offers nine mazes, five scare zones, and three horror shows giving all attendees from the easily scared to horror enthusiasts something scary enough to remember the park by.
If you’re a regular Scary Farm attendee, the new mazes such as interactive vampire-themed Bloodline 1842 and psychological horror-inducing Grimoire will make sure that your hunger for terror is satisfied before you say goodbye.
“The new mazes really changed the whole view of the park,” said Knotts Scary Farm employee Emily Boliver. “Last year, we had two different mazes that closed down, so with these new ones, it gives the park a new vibe. It’s a lot more intense.”
Although Bloodline 1842 is a fun, action-packed maze where you shoot and kill vampires in an all-out war against the bloodthirsty monsters, our favorite and scariest attraction of the night was The Grimoire.
“This one seems like ‘What if we mash Evil Dead and Stranger Things together and throw in some dungeons and dragons!” said Clark.
Grimoire is a maze where a group of campers finds an ancient relic in the woods that opens to a world where the souls of humans have been trapped in their own versions of hell. This includes walking into nightmares such as a mother killing her own child over and over again and soldiers fighting the same war for all eternity, never able to return home. If abstract horror movies scare you more than the quintessential jump-scare horror movies, this is the maze for you.
Since its opening in 2019, Origins: The Curse of Calico has been a crowd favorite, taking those who enter on a journey to escape and capture the harrowing Sarah Marshall, a witch wreaking havoc upon the town of Calico. For people new to Scary Farm and the horror genre in general, Origins gives its audience typical scares and a spooky atmosphere fitted to the fainter of heart. It’s a great starting maze to lead you into your haunting night.
Knotts makes sure that you will never have to worry about looking for scares with zones all across the park intended to frighten you as you walk from maze to maze. Are clowns your biggest fear? Then make sure to stay away from the CarnEVIL on the Boardwalk. Do silent films and flapper dresses creep you out? Then you should definitely watch out for the Gore-ing 20s in Charleston Circle.
If you’re looking for a place to rest on your night of trepidation, Fiesta Village is a “scare-free zone,” so you won’t find any monsters or scary attractions. This gives kids, or faint-hearted adults, time to recoup and prepare for more frights throughout the night.
All normal rides are open at night but beware: at Scary Farm, the rides are faster than your typical day at Knott’s. The coasters are sped up, giving even the rides you are familiar with a new level of fear.
With the month of October just beginning, Knott’s Scary Farm is a fantastic activity for a Saturday night with your friends, so make sure that you make the most out of this year’s Halloween with a trip to our local theme park if you dare.
