Knott's Scary Farm
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Knott's Scary Farm or Knott's Halloween Haunt is a seasonal
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
event at
Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a amusement park in Buena Park, California, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. In March 2015, it was ranked as the List of amusement park rankings#North America, twelfth-most-visited theme park in North Ameri ...
in
Buena Park, California Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, including Knott's Berry Farm. It i ...
. It is an event in which the theme park is transformed into "160 acres of horror", via a series of roaming monsters, terrifying haunted houses and 'scare zones'. As of 2010, it was said to be the first, largest and longest-running Halloween event to be held at a theme park.


Current attractions

*Origins: The Curse Of Calico *Mesmer: Sideshow Of The Mind *The Grimoire *Cinema Slasher *Room 13 *The Chilling Chambers *Eight Fingers Nine: The Boogeyman *Widows


Attraction history


History

The concept was introduced to the park's operations committee in a meeting in September 1973 by George Condos and Martha Boyd of the marketing department, and Bill Hollingshead and Gary Salisbury of the entertainment office.
Bud Hurlbut In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be speci ...
, who built and operated (as a concessionaire) the Calico Mine Ride, the
Timber Mountain Log Ride The Timber Mountain Log Ride is a themed log flume water dark ride at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, United States. The ride is themed after the Knott's Calico Ghost Town. It is one of the oldest log flumes in the United States a ...
and other rides, decided that having static props wasn't enough, so he put on a gorilla suit and scared guests as they rode on the Mine Ride. Originally a three-night affair, running October 26–28, 1973, Halloween Haunt was an instant hit, and by the next year, the event sold out nightly. Knott's Berry Farm was originally modeled after
Calico, California Calico is a ghost town and former mining town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert region of Southern California, it was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and was later c ...
, a
ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
that was a result of the California
silver rush A silver rush is the silver-mining equivalent of a gold rush, where the discovery of silver-bearing ore sparks a mass migration of individuals seeking wealth in the new mining region. Notable silver rushes have taken place in Mexico, Chile, the U ...
. Already having a dedicated ''Ghost Town'' section in the theme park, this area would become the designed area for the original Halloween Haunt, eventually expanding to the entire park. The 1980s would continue to be a success for the theme park, and
popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art
f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...
or mass art, sometimes contraste ...
icons were employed to represent the event. In 1981, actor and singer
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...
joined the cast, as did Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson in the following year. Elvira was prominently featured in many Halloween Haunt events until 2001. According to postings on her
Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
page, Cassandra was released from her contract by the park's new owners due to their wanting a more family friendly appeal. The 1990s would show a different approach to Halloween. Humor was added to many facets in the theme park and Knott's turned from the explicit horror to
black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
. This continuing balance of horror and humor has been a key to the continuing success of Knott's Halloween Haunt. On August 4, 2020, Knott's announced that the 48th Scary Farm season would be cancelled in response to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
which caused the closure of theme parks in California in March at the request of
California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, th ...
Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...
and was deferred to 2021. The theme park was not open at the time of the announcement. By the time the annual, six-week-long event celebrated its 50th year in 2023, it had become the largest event of any theme park. On November 2, 2023,
Cedar Fair Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, or simply Cedar Fair, was an American company headquartered at its flagship Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. The company was a publicly traded master limited partnership that origina ...
announced plans to merge with
Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It was formed on July 2, 2024, following a merger between longtime rivals Cedar Fair and the former Six Flags ...
, forming a new company and retaining the Six Flags name. Described as a "merger of equals", former Cedar Fair management will remain in control of the new company, which will be headquartered in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
. On July 1, 2024, the merger was successfully completed.


Park transformation

While Knott's Berry Farm is a year-round
theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
, the entire acreage is modified to fit the Halloween motif. Rides and other attractions are converted into
macabre In works of art, the adjective macabre ( or ; ) means "having the quality of having a grim or ghastly atmosphere". The macabre works to emphasize the details and symbols of death. The term also refers to works particularly gruesome in natu ...
themes. Seasonal workers are cast as a variety of monsters, roaming the park in terrifying scare zones, amidst haze produced by giant
fog machine A fog machine, fog generator, or smoke machine is a device that emits a dense vapor that appears similar to fog or smoke. This artificial fog is most commonly used in professional entertainment applications, but smaller, more affordable fog mac ...
s. The controversial "Hanging" live show was a staple of the Haunt that lampoons celebrities and people in the news through a series of staged
hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...
s. The Hanging had been an annual event since the 1979 Halloween Haunt, but went on a brief hiatus after the 2019 season until it returned in 2023 relocated from the Calico Mine Stage where it took place from 2016 to 2019 (previously performed in Calico Square next to the saloon until the Calico Mine Stage was built) to the Wagon Camp Theater located across from the park gates. As of 2023, the park has 10 mazes, 5 scare zones, and 4 live shows.


The Green Witch

Some characters have developed a special appeal, such as the legendary, iconic, and infamous villainess herself Sarah Rebecca Anne "The Green Witch Of Calico" Morgan-Marshall. Back in 1973, Diana Kirchen-Kelly was chosen to don the role of the first Green Witch under the name of Spooky Sarah when Haunt began. After Diana left the Haunt in 1976, the Green Witch role was passed to Barb Best Becka, then to Karen Aikman, and then to Charlene Parker in 1982. The Green Witch character became the most famous of the 1,000 "monsters" at Knott's Scary Farm, and Charlene Parker served in that role for over three decades (1983-2017). Tall and thin, she had a reputation for "gliding" rather than walking, and was continually able to catch guests by surprise. Some would fall over backwards onto the ground, and leave a wet spot on the pavement where they fell... This ability gave her "serious street cred" among her fellow "monsters." Sweepers at Knott's would just sit and wait near her, knowing that it would not be long before she would scare a group of guests so much that they would toss their food up into the air. In the age before cell phones, Knott's Guest Relations referred to her as "the Number 1 cause of separated parties." People would come to the Guest Relations office because their group had scattered after being "scared by a green witch." Parker was the subject of two feature articles about her in the ''Orange County Register,'' as well as the travel blog of the ''Los Angeles Times,'' and other publications, as well as appearing in Knott's commercials. In September 2021, Sarah was replaced by The Conductor as the new face of Knott's Scary Farm.


Awards

Knott's Scary Farm has won
Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...
's
Golden Ticket Award ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...
for Best Halloween Event twice, in 2005 and 2007.


See also

*
Halloween Haunt Halloween Haunt may refer to several Halloween events at Six Flags amusement parks: *HalloWeekends (Cedar Point) * Halloween Haunt (California's Great America) (Former) * Halloween Haunt (Canada's Wonderland) * Halloween Haunt (Dorney Park) * Hall ...
, Halloween events at
Cedar Fair Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, or simply Cedar Fair, was an American company headquartered at its flagship Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. The company was a publicly traded master limited partnership that origina ...
parks *
Six Flags Fright Fest Fright Fest (also known as Festival Del Terror at Six Flags México) is a Halloween-oriented haunt event held annually at Six Flags theme parks in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It mainly features haunted attractions, themed areas nam ...
, Halloween events at Six Flags parks *
Universal's Halloween Horror Nights Universal's Halloween Horror Nights is an annual Halloween-themed event at Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Hollywood, Japan and Singapore. The longest-running and most successful iteration of the event, in Orlando, Florida, began as U ...
, Halloween event at Universal parks *
Queen Mary's Dark Harbor Queen Mary's Dark Harbor is a yearly Halloween haunt at the in Long Beach, California. During the season, running from late September to the end of October, the Queen Mary itself, along with its parking lot, are converted to be part of the exper ...
, Halloween event at the
RMS Queen Mary RMS ''Queen Mary'' is a retired British ocean liner that operated primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line. It is currently a hotel, museum, and convention space in Long Beach, California, United States. It i ...
in
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
*
Howl-O-Scream Howl-O-Scream is an annual Halloween seasonal event owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts, that occurs during the month of October at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, SeaWorld San Antonio, and as of recently began at ...
, Halloween event by
United Parks & Resorts United Parks & Resorts Inc. (formerly SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. or SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment) is an American theme park and entertainment company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates twelve recreational destina ...
at various locations, including
Busch Gardens Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts. The original park is in Tampa, Florida, and the second park is in Williamsburg, Virginia. There were also previously Busch G ...
and
SeaWorld SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by United Parks & Resorts. The parks host shows st ...
*
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is a yearly Halloween haunted hayride in Los Angeles, California, located near the city's Old Zoo in Griffith Park. It was created by Ten Thirty One Productions, subsequently receiving a record ''Shark Tank'' inve ...
, Halloween event by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group


References


Knott's Scary Farm 2011: Here's A Cheer For 38 Years Of Fears, Leo Buck Buck-ing Trends November 30, 2011


External links

*
Comprehensive tribute site

Halloween Haunt reviews, photos, and video
{{Halloween events Six Flags Knott's Berry Farm Halloween events in the United States Haunted attractions (simulated) Recurring events established in 1973 1973 establishments in California