Knott's Scary Farm 2015 Recap: Scare Zones
Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA
It's a long weekend, the weather is gorgeous, and the beach is calling, but you know what? You'd rather be here looking forward to the cool blissfully thick pall of autumn fog rolling in, right? Well, I've got a thing for you. It's called #ShriekySunday, and it's not at all completely made up and force for the sake of an alliterative theme day. It is a look back at more Halloween stuff from last year.
Today will be heavily photo-centric. I mean, most of these updates are, but I took a LOT of photos of monsters and theming in the scare zones last year, and they're nice and moody. So I'll say a few things about each scare zone and then let the photos do the rest of the talking. Sit back and enjoy!! ...a LOT of photos!
Carnevil
The Boardwalk area has really come into its own the past few years. The clowns and creatures that lurk in a pretty much wide open and relatively bright area should be working at a disadvantage, since they lack natural hiding spots or a moody ambiance, but they more than make up for with with gags, hilarious antagonization, and psychotic sprees and chases. It helps that a lot of people are just naturally terrified of clowns. I'm not sure why... they just want to be friends!
Fiesta de los Muertos
This very new scare zone is the smallest and least hyped of the lands, and I'll admit, the first time I went through in 2014, the whole place seemed like a joke. But similar to the Boardwalk street monsters, the Fiesta ghouls have taken their Mexican themed land and made it their own with sarcasm, goofiness, and yes, scares too. There are some hardworking and very talented monsters here, and they've made Fiesta de los Muertos a fun area to traverse--even if the park could staff this scare zone with a few more talent.
Ghost Town
The granddaddy of them all, Ghost Town has been a Halloween Haunt staple since the very beginning, and it is the most atmospheric of all the scare zones. Home of Fog Alley, Calico, the Bird Cage Theater, and dark shadows and nooks and crannies where monsters of all sorts could wait and strike, Ghost Town proved to be full of frights and screams all season long. I really enjoyed just strolling through and taking in the ambiance. After all, you can't think of Knott's Scary Farm without Ghost Town!
The Deadly Seven
Last year's new roving horde of monsters serving the Green Witch was the Deadly Seven, replacing the Tricksters from previous years. Patterned after the Seven Deadly Sins, these monsters were not bound to any one scare zone but could instead roam around and pounce upon guests and fellow monsters. They made for an intimidating presence, and there were also little mini-shows around the park on various nights, such as a clown sacrifice at the Boardwalk and the opening unveiling each evening. With the Deadly Seven, no one in the park was safe.
The Headless Horseman
Though not as hyped as in the previous year, the legendary Headless Horseman made random appearances over by the railroad and stage coach crossing between The Boardwalk and Fiesta Village. This afforded an interesting photo op for those lucky enough to be there.
That wraps up a long (photo-wise) look at the atmosphere and characters of Knott's Scary Farm's scare zones and the event. They are the heart and soul of the park and the original spark for Halloween Haunt--the thing that made the even a hit all those years ago. These are people who often take time off or rearrange their schedules to work Haunt and scare the funnelcake out of guests, all for love of the tradition and the time of year. They put in a tremendous amount of work, and they're what make Knott's Scary Farm great. Kudos to all the Haunt monsters, and all the people who put together this wonderful yearly event!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
