Tonight, Knott’s Berry Farm hosted their special announcement event that unveils their full maze, Scare Zone and show lineup for Knott’s Scary Farm. The live show was hosted in the Charles M. Schulz Theater and was open to annual passholders and other special guests and was also streamed live on Facebook.
During this year’s event, Knott’s announced two new mazes, the retirement of two mazes, and an all-new stage show coming to the Charles M. Schulz Theater. In all, Knott’s Scary Farm 2019 will have four shows, four scare zones, and a total of nine mazes. 2019 will also feature the return of the “Into the Fog: A Scary Farm Tribute,” which made its debut in 2018.
New Mazes
Knotts’ Jeff Tucker announced two new mazes for 2019, Wax Works and Origins: The Curse of Calico.
Wax Works
The first maze announced this evening, Wax Works a maze where guests will enter an eerie abandoned wax museum where once prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Agustus Scratch is turning his victims into his latest works of art.
Origins: The Curse of Calico
The second new maze announced for 2019 was the big reveal of the evening as Knott’s announced Origins: The Curse of Calico, an all-new maze inspired by the beginnings of Knott’s Scary Farm. “Origins truly is our love letter to the history of this event,” shared maze designer Jon Cooke in a pre-recorded message introducing the maze. The backstory of the maze is built upon Knott’s Scary Farm’s origins in Ghost Town and the witch hangings performed in the 1980s.
“The witch was paraded up to the gallows and as they were placing the noose around her neck she was proclaiming her innocence to everybody,” explains Cooke. “But right before they pulled that lever, she spit out this vile curse over the townsfolk of Calico and poof she was gone. And that is where our maze is going to begin.”
Guests will enter the maze and see the curse taking over the Calico townsfolk and then experience the mystery of the Calico witch as it unravels. The maze sounds ambitious and during the announcement, Knott’s Special Effects designer Eric Rodriguez shared that the maze would feature a number of different effects ranging from water to electrics, to fog, and even a video element that will help move the story along.
With the addition of Origins: The Curse of Calico, Knott’s is for the first time ever taking the mythology of a maze beyond its walls and extending it to the surrounding scare zone and to The Hanging. The maze will tell the origins of the witch’s curse and Ghost Town Streets will be the aftermath of that curse. This maze definitely sounds like a must-see for 2019.
The Returning Mazes
In addition to the new two new mazes, Knott’s Scary Farm 2019 will feature seven returning mazes. Two of which, will appear at Knott’s Scary Farm for the final time.
The Depths
The first returning maze announced for 2019 was The Depths, which made its Knott’s Scary Farm debut in 2018 and sends guests into the underground caves of a seaside town where terrifying horrors are said to lurk and where the Nightwatch Mining Crew vanished. This year Knott’s is adding an all-new freight elevator show scene to the maze.
Shadow Lands
Fan-favorite Shadow Lands will return for its fourth and final year. The popular Scary Farm maze was the first of two mazes that Tucker announced would not be returning for Scary Farm 2020.
Shadow Lands puts guests up against demon samurais whose souls are cursed to rot within the depths of purgatory. You’ll embark on a quest through a sacred shrine, an ancient Japanese temple and into the midst of the shadowlands.
Dark Entities
Returning for its second year, Dark Entities will again take guests into the depths of space to face the extraterrestrial mutation that is invading a lone space station. This year the maze will feature all-new enhanced lighting effects as well as a number of new scares.
Dark Ride
Now in its third year, Dark Ride returns for 2019 with all-new maze elements, including an interactive control room where you can push buttons and pull levers and the room will react. The maze will also feature an all-new gift shop exit scene.
Pumpkin Eater
Inspired by the murderous nursery rhyme, Pumpkin Eater, now in its third year, will again take guests back to colonial times where they’ll face the terrifying world of a serial killer and must escape the wrath of a murderous seven-foot-tall creature that haunts the woods surrounding The Hollow.
Paranormal Inc.
Guests will again be able to visit Hayden Hill Sanitarium and pierce the veil between the living and the dead in Paranormal Inc., the maze based on all those ghost hunting shows you see on cable.
Special Ops Infected
Returning for its final year, Special Ops Infected will let friends grab a gun and shoot their way through the zombie apocalypse one last time. But just because it’s in its final year doesn’t mean there’s nothing new. Two new scenes are being added to the maze including a new split path that will take you through a convenient store scene and a meatpacking warehouse.
Shows
In addition to new mazes, Knott’s Scary Farm will also debut a new show in the Charles M. Schulz Theater. New for 2019, Brian Henson will be bringing the improv puppet show “Puppet Up Uncensored” to Knott’s Scary Farm where guests will be able to suggest topics and misfit muppets will then act them out. The audience got a taste of the show during the announcement event and this one looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. The show will take place nightly during Knott’s Scary Farm.
In addition to “Puppet Up Uncensored,” guests will be able to experience returning shows “Awaken the Dead,” The Conjurors,” and The Hanging.
Tickets for Knott’s Scary Farm are on sale now and are available for as low as $43. For more information and for tickets visit Knotts.com. If you want to see the entire Scary Farm Announcement event as it appeared on Facebook Live, you can check it out here.
