Hollywood Gothique

Halloween Haunt

KNOTT’S BERRY FARM
8039 Beach Boulevard
Buena Park, CA 90620
Haunt line: 714-220-5000
Websites: Knott’s Berry Farm - Halloween Haunt

Ghouls lurk in one of the scare zones. (Click for more photos.)

Is Knott’s Scary Farm your favorite Halloween Haunt? Vote for it in our online poll. Or scroll down toward the bottom of this page for our video tour of the park.

Read Reviews & Updates on Knott’s Scary Farm here.

2008 DATES: September 25-28, October 1-6, 8-12, 15-19, 22-26, 29-31, November 1.

HOURS: 7:00pm to 1:00am on weeknights, until 2:00am on Fridays and Saturdays (Knott’s Berry Farm closes its regular theme park at 5:30pm each evening and re-opens for the Halloween Haunt at 7:00.)

PARKING: $15.00 for “Preferred Parking.”

TICKETS: Admission requires a special ticket; your regular Knott’s Berry Farm admission will not get you into the Halloween Haunt). Tickets are available at Knott’s Guest Relations box office (most days do not sell out, so you can purchase them on the night of the event).

Tickets may be purchased online (you can save shipping costs on pre-sales by using the Print@Home function on the Knott’s website) or by phone (call the Ticketmaster Haunt LInes at 213-365-3535 or 714- 703-2555). Service charges apply to all phone orders.

Prices are:

• $52.99 on the night of the event.
• $47.99 pre-sale for these dates: September 25-28, Octber -6, 8-9, 12, 15-16, 19, 22-23, 26, 29-30.
• $49.99 pre-sale for these dates: October 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, 31 and November 1

BARGAINS: In past years, coupons available at Burger King could save you up to $21 (depending on how early in the season you went), but no such offer is mentioned on the official website this year - these tickets should be available after Labor Day. Group discounts for 24 or more are available at 714-220-5163.

ADD-ON PACKAGES: Knott’s also offers several “Add-On” packages that can expand your stay.

• V.I.M. (Very Important Monster) Tours: You can get haunt admission, preferred seating at select shows, a our escort for the entire evening, and back door access to the attractions, but the price is not cheap: $1,500 for up to six guests. Reserve one week in advance by calling 714-220-5298.
• V.I.P AND PRE-SCARE DINNER SPECIALS: These give you a chance to eat before the park opens for the nightly haunt. $12.95 gets you a pre-scare buffet in the Ghost Camp or Black Lagoon picnic areas; plus, you are allowed into the park through a separate entrance a few minutes before it opens for other guests. $15.95 gets you a more elaborate V.I.P. Monster Buffet, with prime rib, shrimp and salads in addition to the other items; you also get a souvenir beverage cup. Due to seating limitaions, this offer is available only to ticket holders with advance dinner reservations. NOTE: Once you’re inside the park, your dining selections are mostly limited to fast food and snacks.
• POST-SCARE BREAKEFAST SPECIALS: A midnight breakfast buffet at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant - from Midnight to 3:00am - for $9.995 plux tax and gratuity. This is a walk-in offer; no reservations required.
• THREE COMPLETE HOTEL PACKAGES: Gruesome Getawa6, Haunted Dreams, or Bare Bones - ranging from $429 to $159. Call 714-995-1111 or 866-752-2444 for details.

FEATURES: All the usual Knotts rides and attractions are open for business, but the park is redecorated for the Halloween season in grand ghoulish style: 160 acres with 12 mazes, 6 shows, and 4 scare zones. The scares start the minute you walk in the gate, with 1,000 wandering ghouls lunging at you out of the fog.

DRAWBACKS: The crowds. Inevitably, you have to wait in long lines for each attraction, unless you arrive as soon as the gates open or attend on an off-night. For some reason, the park’s appeal skews young, so expect to find yourself surrounded by teeny-boppers. Also, the level of performance among the monsters sometimes seems to drop off near the end of the season, as if the actors are growing weary of their roles.

HISTORY: It all started back on October 31, 1973. Since Knotts is more or less modeled on a real ghost town (Calico in California), it made sense to decorate the ghost town section of the park up for Halloween, along with a few dozen monster lurking in the fog. The first walk-through maze was added the next year. Since then, the Halloween Haunt has grown into a huge annual event, with hundreds of actors in makeup and numerous mazes featuring everything from 3D lighting and to elaborate mechanical effects.

MAZES: Six new mazes are on display for 2008, plus seven holdovers from previous years. Personally, we wish that Knotts has preserved Lore of the Vampire and Beowulf rather than Killer Klown Kollege and Lost Vegas in 3-D, but there is too much good stuff to complain.

• NEW FOR 2008: QUARANTINE (Set in the Fiesta plaza that previously house The Grudge 2). Based on the new movie about an apartment complex quarantined by the U.S. government - because it is loaded with zombies!
• NEW FOR 2008: THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE(Set in Main Gate Area that previously housed Red Beard’s Revenge). A variation on the crazed redneck cannibal theme with “Farmr Willy” aucitoning you off to the highest bidder after a little tenderizing with a chainsaw.
• NEW FOR 2008: ALIEN ANNIHILATION(3d Laser Tag). The set-up is that the space mining vessel Korova Matushka has crash-landed. You follow the homing signal and lock-and-load to shoot it out with the aliens on the planet.
• NEW FOR 2008: THE LABYRINTH (Set in the Balloon Race that previously housed Lore of the Vampire) This maze takes you on a journey through a forgotten forest into the catacombs beneath a ruined castle housing a mysterious curse.
• NEW FOR 2008: CORNSTALKERS (Set in the Stage Coach Trail that previously housed Dark Realm). A riff on WIZARD OF OZ, this outdoor trail takes your through a haunted cornfield, peopled by the minions of the Wicked Witch.
• NEW FOR 2008: CLUB BLOOD(Set in GhostRider 2). As the name suggests, this maze represents a night club of the living dead, where vampires drink cocktails of human blood. We’ll see if this lives up to the old and excellent Lore of the Vampire, which has been retired this year.
• THE ASYLUM(set in GhostRider). Torture and pain in an abandoned sanitorium, where the patients pale in comparison to the doctors.
• PYROMANIAX(set in the Timbermountain Log Ride). The premise is that a fire breaks out on the mountain due to an accident at the local moonshine factory. Toxic fumes turn the locals, including the fire-fighters, into mutants.
• THE DOLL FACTORY (set in Wilderness Dance Hall). The Marionette Murderer, a psycho-serial killer, turns his victims into life-sized porcelain dolls. You take a tour through his museum of death and hope to escape his mechanical lair. Sounds vaguely inspired by DEAD SILENCE and/or SAW.
• KILLER CLOWN KOLLEGE(set in Xcelerator). A terrifying initiation into Clown University and its fearsom fraternity.
• BLACK WIDOW’S CAVERN (set in the Mine Ride). The old abandoned mine ride is overrun by lethal arachnids.
• 13 AXE MURDER MANOR(set in the Mystery Lodge). A condmened Victorian mansion is haunted by the ghost of an ax murderer and his victims.
• LOST VEGAS IN 3-D (set in the Bumper Cars). A 3D casino of horror.

SHOWS: There is more to this haunt than just scares. There is also a variety of humorous entertainment on various stages, which is especially helpful if you want to take the weight off your feet in between talking through all those mazes.

• NEW FOR 2008: FANGS - A VAMPIRE SHOW. Comedic vampire shenanigans in the Ghoul Time Theatre.
• NEW FOR 2008: THE HYPNOCHICK: Hypnotist De’Anna seduces volunteers into making fools of themselves whilie in a trance, in the Wagon Camp area.
• THE HANGING: celebrities are skewered in an outdoor stunt show in Calico Square.
• HACKS “Trick-or-Treat”: Crazy comedy in the “Ghoul Time Theatre.”
• DR CLEVER;’S BIG ELECTION: The manaical doctor is back for another year, this time treating the topical theme of this year’s election.
• THE CHIPPER LOWELL EXPERIENCE: The crowd-pleasing performer combines magic with comedy in the Boardwalk Ballroom.
• FESTIVAL OF FREAKS: This show in the Gauntlet Theatre features Zamora the “Torture King” and Miss Electra, eating light bulbs, swallowing needles, etc.
• INFERNO: Fire, dancing, and pulsating music combine with martial arts.

SCARE ZONES: Only three Scare Zones are listed for this year, all of them well-loved holdovers from previous season. Only the Silver Bullet Mine Town is not listed as making a return.

• Ghost Town: The original Knott’s scare zone, the appropriate setting, an old, abandoned Western street populated by the dead
• The Gauntlet: The tranquil Camp Spooky is possessed by evil after dark.
• CarnEVIL: The living dead roam, even in the brightly lit Boardwalk area.

CAMP SNOOPY:For children too young and timid to enjoy the night-time haunt, here is a kid-friendly day-time alternative that runs on the weekends of October 4-26, from 10:00a.m. to 5:30p.m. The event offers a pirate treasure hunt with trick-or-treating, “Captain Jakc’s Haunted Hideaway,” and other themed entertainment for the 3 to 11-year old set.

ALSO OF NOTE: Not recommended for children under 13. No re-entries allowed. No costumes.

VIDEOS: Check out our multi-part video tour of the 2007 Halloween Haunt. (Click on menu to access more videos.)