Knott’s Scary Farm is one of my favorite theme park events every single year. The thing I have admired the most over the years is the way Knott’s can take an original story or concept and make it entirely compelling to guests. In a short amount of time they are able to set a story up, immerse you in it, and scare the daylights out of you! In honor of the Halloween season, I wanted to share my current top five ranking for Scary Farm mazes and see how it compares to your list!
5- Bloodline 1842
Bloodline 1842 is a returning maze with new elements. For its debut, guests were armed with weapons of their choosing and sent off to battle vampires in a steampunk Victorian city. This year, there is no interactive element and I think that improved the maze greatly. There are so many incredible sets, moments, and actors to see, that I felt the guns took something away from the storytelling.
While zombies are my absolute favorite horror genre, I still enjoy a good tale of the undead. My biggest tip for this maze is to do it at night. Bloodline 1842 is partially outdoors so if the sun is out, elements of the maze can be lost.
4- The Grimoire
Another returning maze, The Grimoire follows a terrifying book that releases evil onto the world. While it sounds abstract, this maze captivated me from the first moment I stepped into it. The Grimoire is full of incredible sets that transport you into a forest for spooky campfire stories, war, and a murderous housewife’s dinner party.
I personally love it when horror plays into vintage aesthetics, music, and costumes and this maze does that for me! It’s so terrifyingly spooky in black and white and makes you feel like you’ve stepped into an old TV series.
This maze is one that I have not stopped thinking about since last year and I hope it comes back for years to come!
3- The Chilling Chambers
The Chilling Chambers is a maze that is completely self-referential to the Knott’s Scary Farm/ Halloween Haunt events. Throwing it back to the original maze from 1977, this will take you through numerous horror themes like dolls, clowns, and crypts. One of my absolute favorite details in the maze is the tombstones for mazes in years past, including the years the mazes ran.
While this maze is made for Halloween Haunt fans to walk down memory lane, it is accessible to first-time guests as well! Be warned, this maze does have a room that is a little on the gross side with smells to accompany it. It definitely caught me off guard when I went through it!
2- Origins: The Curse of Calico
Yet another returning maze on the list! Origins was an instant Scary Farm classic for me the first year I went through it. It is based entirely on the legend of Calico and the witch who supposedly cursed the town and unleashed her fury. I was amazed how the maze built upon the legend of Knott’s Berry Farm and gave it a creepy twist.
There are original stories and then there are original stories that play into what the land has done so well for over 100 years. Everything from the courthouse to the end scenes feel so true to what Knott’s does as a theme park and I hope this maze is a permanent staple that is always remembered!
1- Cinema Slasher
When I went into the opening night of Knott’s Scary Farm, I did not think an all-new maze would be on the top of my list. This maze blew all of my expectations out of the water. Cinema Slasher takes guests directly into a movie theater to watch some slasher films, including sleepaway camps, sorority houses, and just plain creepy killers.
This maze is full of incredible effects that bring you right into the action. During one section of the house, it truly felt like we were outside by a lake when we were still indoors. While I typically avoid gore (fun fact: Slaughterhouse made me queasy in 2012 and was the closest I ever came to tapping out of a maze), Cinema Slasher did not feel like it was gratuitous or gross. This maze is the one I recommend over and over when friends tell me they are coming out to Knott’s Scary Farm this year.
How does my list stack up to yours? What are your favorite mazes this year and why? Leave a comment because I want to see how our favorite mazes stack up!
