Knott's Scary Farm 2016: Scare Zones

Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA

We're back to the spooky stuff after a one-day detour a few cities over. Today, we take a look at the scare zones of this year's Knott's Scary Farm event. There are four scare zones at Knott's this year, and as far as I know, none have yet gotten shut down by someone living across the country who was offended by a misinterpretation of their content.

Start of the Night

Anyway, we'll start at the beginning of the evening. This year, Knott's is not having any sort of opening ceremony as they have the past years. Instead, guests mingle before the 7:00pm rope drop. On Thursday, monsters were on the prowl, scaring up unsuspecting guests and providing entertaining frights. For whatever reason, this was absent at the start of Friday evening, with what few monsters around instead generally posing for photos. I assume this was temporary, though.

It's still light when Knott's Scary Farm kicks off. That will change soon enough.

The cauldron photo op that floated around Midsummer Scream and Scare L.A. is placed in front for guests to utilize.

Monsters are around to stir up energy and get people excited for what's to come.

They're also around for photo ops.

Smile!

Eh, good enough.

Some stand, lurking, watching.

Others are more than happy to take a bit of the limelight.

Working her (I think) 35th year at Haunt, Charlene Parker, the original Green Witch (well, original in that it's different from the talking Scary Farm icon Green Witch).

Seeing her work is witnessing Haunt history.

And before the event begins, the Headless Horseman takes a trot over the Stagecoach bridge to observe the evening's victims--er, guests.

The Hollow

The new scare zone this year features the return of Camp Snoopy. The Hollow takes on the loose theme of the Headless Horseman mythology and features witches, scarecrows, gnones, and creatures brought back to life by The Green Witch (the current Scary Farm icon one) and set to wreck havoc on unsuspecting guests.

As I mentioned in Friday's quick thoughts post, The Hollow's talent has great enthusiasm, and the monsters there were working their butts off going after guests and working up whatever scares they could during my two evenings at the park. Unfortunately, the land itself seems to be an afterthought--almost as though someone thought that the return of Camp Snoopy Streets by itself would be sufficient to make for a quality scare zone. Atmospherically, aside from a few dimunitive strings of hanging glowing pumpkin lanterns and the old Grizzly Creek Lodge play area being colorfully lit, there is really no theming present. Fog is minimal, and the walkways are very dimly lit. Though this may make it easier for the monsters to pounce upon inattentive pedestrians, it really drags down any sense of scene and show. Even some family-friendly spooky theming in the form of glowing pumpkin patches, scarecrows, or shadowy silhouettes backlit in the trees would improve the atmosphere. In lieu of that, dramatic lighting filtering through the trees or strategically cast in certain areas to create contrast could also work. Think of Ghost Town's Fog Alley and that blinding blue light cast into the eyes of guests that enter. Something like that in The Hollow would very easily create scare opportunities without visually impacting daytime operations.

Entering The Hollow. I was a bit disappointed not to see the big hanging jack-o-lantern display from past year's Camp Snoopy scare zones here. Though the original might be at some other park or very well destroyed, I had secretly hoped they'd recreate it.

At first glance, you'd think that this was some of the limited theming in the scare zone.

It's actually a monster.

In the changing light, this scarecrow played the old "fake statue scare" perfectly.

My successful roving monsters photos were minimal. The area is very dark, so it's quite challenging to get crisp photos of monsters while they're on the move.

In the shadows, a couple members of the Deadly Seven harrass a poor guest mercilessly.

Wrath demands worship from a monster in The Hollow.

The only prominent area of theming comes in the form of the lighting of the old play area by Grizzly Creek Lodge.

It's nice and photogenic.

I only wish more of The Hollow could have looked like this.

Fiesta de los Muertos

Fiesta Village picked back up from where it left of last year--making the best out of very little given.

Like The Hollow, there isn't really much in the way of theming here. A few props here and there and the dance floor are all that qualify. Fortunately, the talent has taken to basically being crass and sarcastic and absurd to make up for this lack of ambiance, sometimes even tightrope-walking the politically correct line with self-mocking jokes. I didn't get to spend as much time here as I would have liked, so by that default, Fiesta Streets didn't strike me quite as strongly as Ghost Town or Carnevil, but as I've mentioned before, this area has come a long way from the completely disregarded scare zone it first appeared as.

Photog tip: the easiest area to get photos of monsters is in the arcade.

Here, a stilt walking Fiesta monster gives birth to another.

Or something like that.

There are characters based on all sorts of Mexican and Hispanic spooky lore here.

Olé!

If you're not paying attention, he'll slide right in front of you, "cape" and all.

Fiesta monsters are not afraid to goof around. This one dances to the beat of the music before suddenly turning and scaring a neighboring guest.

A bit of the theming.

On peak nights, this dance floor is pretty popular.

What can I say? The kids like dancing.

It sort of negates any eerie vibes that a scare zone might traditionally have, but it's a regular fixture here, so what are you going to do?

Carnevil

Brightly lit, without any fog, Carnevil might seem like a lackluster area. And indeed, in its first few years, it was generally not that lively. But as with every scare zone Knott's introduces but doesn't theme immersively, the talent took their disadvantages and turned them upside down. Today, Carnevil is probably the scare zone that provides the greatest chance of overt entertainment--be it from terrified guests sprinting away from fearsome clowns, to belligerent clowns being mouthy toward guests in hilarious fashion, to the unique and sometimes absurd characters-for-the-night the clowns themselves adopt either out of boredom or to just entertain themselves.

It helps that many people have an unnatural fear of clowns, period. So the very sight is enough to send some people 180'ing the other direction. But even for those who are not terrified of those circus performers, Carnevil offers entertainment from silliness and c'est la vie type behavior.

R.I.P. Riptide. You will not be missed.

The jack-o-lantern display they have here is actually pretty cute.

Above the main boardwalk area, string lights and bits of theming string out.

Clown monkeys... I hope that doesn't offend anyone.

The Carnevil talent is always entertaining to witness.

They even have a dwarf clown! And she is utterly fantastic at her job, unnerving scores of people with her creepy child-like laughter and speedy pursuit of those who choose to flee.

After a year away, our friend, Boomer is back on Boardwalk Streets.

Boomer often runs with also-friend-of-Westcoaster, Doink.

Doink is pretty much an old fogey in Haunt years at this point, but this year, he's busted out a new arsenal: sliding!

Threade will cut a b!tch if you're not careful...

Yes, there even clowns on unicyles.

Ghastly glamorous gals roam Carnevil too.

No matter what they look like the clowns are game to terrorize anybody.

That makes them exceptionally fun.

Ghost Town Streets

The scare zone that started them all, Ghost Town has always benefited from a naturally creepy atmosphere, with creeping fog, mysterious shadows, and the weight of actual history. The monsters in this area play to its strengths, and the diversity of characters and scares is pretty impressive. Walking through Fog Alley is always a joy just from overhearing screams and slides and thunder jugs without any clear idea from where they're coming. And though the fog was light on opening night, it was definitely back up to regular thickness the following night--enough to even cause me to trip over a planter box by the blacksmith while briskly walking in the direction of the Birdcage Theater!

It in this ambiance that the GTS monsters thrive and deliver all sorts of scares, from pop-out startles to distraction scares to blinded-pedestrian scares to those ever-so-popular sliding scares out of nowhere.

When the Veil creeps in every autumn for Knott's Scary Farm, you get this.

Eerie blue light and plenty of fog.

And monsters of all assortments lurking in the streets of Ghost Town.

Don't be fooled by any pretense of friendliness...

These monsters are looking for prey.

They come in many shapes and sizes.

And they often gang up to increase terror effectiveness.

I'm not kidding when I gawk at the diversity of monsters at Scary Farm.

The make-up and wardrobe departments do a fantastic job.

Ghost Town seems to really benefit from a legion of unique aesthetics.

Lovely Lucy will tear your heart out... literally.

Spaz will strike without warning and slink back into the shadows. He is always on the move and on the prowl.

Creepy, yeah?

What's great is that each monster has developed his or her own monster and persona and infused that into the scares.

They're all a big happy family--intent on spreading as much fright as possible.

Of course, we can't forget about the sliders.

Sliders originated from Knott's Scary Farm decades ago, when the first street monsters would sometimes throw themselves at guests to get an even more dramatic scare.

Today, you can see sliders at haunted attractions all over, but they all owe their lineage to Ghost Town.

When not sliding, monsters also do their best to pester guests who want nothing to do with them.

Here piggy piggy piggy...

Ghost Town is the one place where Halloween theming is most overtly displayed.

Fork is one of my favorite monsters. She is always fully focused in character, and her screeching shriek reverberates all around.

Every time I watch her work, she is freaking multiple people out with her very physical creeping, stalking, and sliding.

End of the Night

Knott's has a no-photo policy for the monsters during most of the night. They are not supposed to pause and pose for pictures with guests, since this interrupts their activity and make take away scares that they would otherwise be obtaining on others. I understand the point of the rule, but I don't agree with its blanket application, since there are instances where a monster could very quickly pose for a quick photo, then seamlessly sneak up on another unsuspecting guest. It's only a problem when monsters take a significant time stopping for photos or generally acting like a TMZ celebrity. Alas, it seems that minority instances of this are what have inspired the photography rule, which is a bummer (yes, I am definitely biased, since I enjoy taking photos at haunts).

Fortunately, for guests who stick around, during the last half hour of each evening, select monsters from each scare zone are on hand in the front of the park to mingle and take pictures with guests who desire them. This is the park's halfway meeting point to still allow guests the opportunity of a photographic souvenir, and while it doesn't benefit much people who have already left for the evening, it is better than nothing at all.

Here's a gist of what that end-of-night photo meet-and-greet is like.

Scarecrow #178 of The Hollow.

Dolly, Double Dee, and Scarecrow.

Dolly inhabits Ghost Town... and I spot her every damn time I visit the park. Not that I'm complaining, but still, the consistency is uncanny!

Decayed Brigade Fans may also recognize Double Dee as the record holder for distance jump sliding, with 11 monsters jumped at this year's Scare L.A. convention.