As September drew to a close, over one hundred and fifty MiceChatters met up at Knott’s Scary Farm to partake in another year of the haunt.
I’d like to apologize in advance, this re-cap took a while to put together because I took over 1,100 photos that night! I wanted to make sure you all got the best experience through stills, and I even rented a lens for the purpose of shooting this event (a Canon 24mm f/1.4 for those wondering). You could even say this is a mini review for that lens, let me know what you think!
Backstage Tours
The first thing on our list was a guided backstage tour of two of the mazes, Infected: Special Ops and Red Barn. Nothing like a little blood and guts to get you ready for a buffet! Speaking of, if you’re sensitive to those things, we’ve moved any bloody or gory photos to the bottom of this post where you’re welcome to skip them.
Infected: Special Ops is one that I can’t take pictures of normally because I have a rifle in hand shooting zombies, so I appreciated being able to walk around in the daylight. Feels strange walking through shooting with a camera and not the laser rifle!
One of the perks of going on a guided tour is that you get to meet up with some maze designers. Jon Cooke, in particular, is a long-time designer for Knott’s Scary Farm. He has a lot of great mazes under his belt, including one of our personal favorites this year, Dark Ride.
Red Barn
Ahh Red Barn, one of two mazes that makes me just a little less hungry when I leave. Forgive me for the lack of photos in the “clean” section, this maze is even more disgusting when you can take in the details in the light.
Once again we got to hear from more Knott’s Scary Farm maze designers.
Mrs. Knott’s BOOffet
For those who happened to retain their appetite after visiting the Red Barn, a delicious spread was available at Mrs. Knott’s and it was all-you-can-eat!
More backstage magic was made as Jeff Tucket and Daniel Miller came in with some creepy clowns to entertain as we all chowed down on fried chicken. Dusty mentioned that all the ghosts of the chickens we were eating were sure to haunt us throughout the park! Cockadoodle-BOO
As the special treatment continued, we were allowed into a Pre-Scare line where we began the haunt before the general public was allowed in! And with Freightlane and Fastlane, every wait for the mazes AND the rides were short.
Haunted Attractions
Everyone who joined us for the MiceChat event had the chance to see every haunted attraction that Knott’s Scary Farm had to offer . . . PLUS Elvira and the Hanging. So, how were they?!
Trick or Treat: Lights Out!
Unsurprisingly, a maze where you can only see where you point a flashlight makes it pretty hard to take a photo. But it sure was scary. If you remember from years past, Trick or Treat is a beautifully decorated maze, but not so scary. Well, I’m here to tell you, now that the lights are off . . . it’s downright terrifying.
This is still a must-see and super fans should note that many effects were working that weren’t on opening night (it was also better in pitch black when I returned on my own around 1am, light seeps in earlier in the night).
Voodoo
It’s even warm like the bayou in here…
Paranormal Inc.
Not afraid of spirits are you? The pre-show sets the stage here with a special effects opening act.
The Tooth Fairy
The doctor will see you now…
Well, I didn’t get sick to my stomach this time, so that’s a plus…right? And I had this great photo of the Tooth Fairy himself but he’s kinda gory so he’s in my “gross” section at the end.
The Hanging
Gratuitous offensiveness and violence? Count me in.
Shadowlands
Live by the sword, die by the sword! Surprisingly, this is another one I really can’t pull photos from, it’s quite dark throughout, which is a shame because this is one of the best mazes ever built.
Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater
This is one of the new mazes with a really sick backstory. You know the nursery rhyme: “Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater, had a wife and couldn’t keep her. Put her in a pumpkin shell. And there he kept her, very well.”
Did you know that was all about Peter murdering his wife and stuffing her body into a pumpkin shell?! Well, now you know. You’re welcome!
I was told to watch out for new effects that weren’t up for opening day at Pumpkin Eater and ‘lo and behold, there were. That includes some rather disturbing disembodied heads in the walls of the pumpkin.
Red Barn
I don’t know about you guys, but I’d rather avoid being sacrificed…
Log Ride: Halloween Hootenanny
Ready to meet the monsters?
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
Not to be missed is Elvira’s farewell show.
Dark Ride
This maze is so photogenic, I love it.
You guys aren’t afraid of clowns or carnies, are you?
And that’s all I got for you lovely folks today, thanks for following along on this re-cap of the MiceChat Scary Farm event. I hope you all have a spooky time this Halloween!
(Remember that if you scroll past the blue ghost conductor below you’ll be in my blood, guts, and gore photos. Don’t scroll down there if you don’t want to see any of that)
And here are the nitty gritty gory and gross photos for all you lovely folks.
Backstage Tours
Infected: Special Ops
Red Barn
This and That
If this is my “gross” section, it’s nothing without Red Barn…
Well folks, that’s a wrap. Did you make it out to Knott’s Scary Farm this year? What did YOU think?!
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