On Thursday, Knott’s Berry Farm hosted “Scary Farm 50: Nightmares Revealed,” a special immersive event to share details around the new mazes, shows, and nightmares planned for its 50th anniversary of Knott’s Scary Farm. The event was available to select guests who were lucky enough to score passes before they sold out and was streamed live via the theme park’s YouTube channel. The event, the first of its kind in four years, was MC’d by Knott’s Berry Farm show writer Jeff Tucker, with co-host Halloween and horror personality Leeana Vamp.
Returning Attractions
Timber Mountain Log Ride Halloween Hootenanny
The Timber Mountain Log Ride will again receive a Halloween overlay with Halloween Hootenanny, where the citizens of Timber Mountain invite the mysterious creatures that live in the woods and caverns in the area to join them for a seasonal celebration known as the Halloween Hootenanny. The attraction returns with an original soundtrack performed by Crazy Kirk and the Hillbillies.
Calico Candy Mine Ride
The Calico Mine Ride will again undergo a fantastical transformation into a candy wonderland for the Halloween season with Calico Candy Mine Ride.
2023 Knott’s Scary Farm Scare Zones
During the event, five scare zones were announced, including the return of The Gauntlet, a scare zone that was last seen in 2009. Rounding out the 2023 lineup of Knott’s Scary Farm Scare Zones is:
- Ghost Town Streets
- Foresaken lake
- The Gore-ing 20s
- CarnEvil
2023 Knott’s Scary Farm Mazes
During the event, nine mazes were announced, three of which are all new for 2023. The returning mazes for the 50th-anniversary lineup include:
- The Depths
- Waxworks
- Dark Entities (Final Year)
- Origins: The Curse of Calico
- Mesmer
- Bloodline: 1842
- The Grimoire
During the presentation, Vamp announced that this season would be the final season for Dark Entities, the Alien-esque maze themed around a space station where the crew has mutated due to an alien substance and is overrun by alien lifeforms.
Cinema Slasher
The first of the three new mazes for 2023 is Cinema Slasher. Here, you’ll take in a fright-filled flick at the Midnight Theater, where you’ll find yourself in a starring role. In this maze, you’ll enter a condemned theater where you’ll walk through the screen and find yourself inside the worlds of three fictitious films created for the maze.
Designers Daniel Miller and Jon Cooke shared more about the maze in a pre-recorded video, noting that this maze will pay homage to several Knott’s Scary Farm mazes from the past, including Slaughterhouse, Trick or Treat, and Camp Gonnagetcha. Even the Cinema Slasher killer at the heart of the new maze was lifted from a past Scary Farm experience, Slasher of the Dark — a throwback to an old dark ride overlay.
Room 13
The second new maze announced for 2023 is Room 13, a maze that deepens the lore of fan-favorite Scare Zone, Gore-ing 20s, by exploring the origins of The Devil’s Elixer, a dangerous concoction that’s at the heart of the blind tiger murders. Guests will be transported to an extravagant art deco hotel that is just as sinister as it is beautiful.
The Chilling Chambers
Finally, paying homage to the 10 Chilling Chambers, which debuted at Knott’s Scary Farm in 1977, Knott’s Scary Farm is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a modern take called The Chilling Chambers. The maze will be home to The Keeper, a character that was announced at this year’s Midsummer Scream as a tribute to late-night horror host Larry Vincent, who used the moniker Sinister Seymour and was an integral part of the start of what was then known as Knott’s Halloween Haunt.
Guests will enter a towering Gothic cathedral that will house various chambers, each a tribute to Knott’s Scary Farm’s past.
“This maze is so chock full of Easter eggs. Every tombstone, every engraving, it all means something. It’s all part of our history,” said designer Gus Krueger in a pre-recorded video played during the event to share more about the maze. “This maze is a love letter to us all. We who create it. You, the fans. Everyone who has experienced Knott’s over the last 50 years, this maze is for you.”
Returning and new entertainment:
Before giving a rundown of some previously announced merchandise for Knott’s Scary Farm’s 50th, Tucker and Vamp gave a rundown of the new and returning entertainment for 2023. Among the returning shows for 2023 are Le Magnifique Carnaval Du Grotesque and the Dr. Cleaver show, which returns to the Bird Cage Theater after a several-year hiatus. But more notable was the announcement that the theme park’s infamous stage show, The Hanging, would return for Knott’s Scary Farm’s 50th.
Canceled in 2019, the famous stage show returns with “The Hanging: Uncancelled.” After a four-year absence, The Hanging will find a new home at The Wagon Camp. Despite its new home, Tucker promised “a return of the irreverent send-up of the year’s events, with no holds barred and nothing spared.” Tucker proudly added, “The Hanging: Uncancelled is offensive, violent, and back to piss off anyone without a sense of humor.”
Rounding out the 2023 entertainment is an all-new show called Music, Monsters, and Mayhem. Created, directed, and choreographed by K.C. Gussler, the new musical stage show will be performed three times a night at the Walter Knott Theater. It will take you on a “sexy, scintillating, provocative, musical journey” celebrating the last 50 years of Knott’s Scary Farm. The performance will incorporate elements from past mazes and entertainment ranging from the streets of Calico to the doll factory and even to hell itself.
The full Knott’s Scary Farm Nightmares Revealed live stream is available to view now on the Knott’s Berry Farm YouTube Channel. Knott’s Scary Farm returns September 21 and runs on select nights through Halloween. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit Knotts.com.
