The Lariat

Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: Halloween

Knott's Scary Farm's Halloween Haunt is one of the better Halloween related venues in the Southern California area if one plans accordingly.

The theme park has been transforming at night starting Sept. 27, running through All Hallow's Eve for 35 years. If a person goes to the park on a less crowded day, they will find one of the best Halloween events in the state.

Featuring 13 walk-through mazes, rides transformed into fiery infernos, seven live shows, and five scare zones, the park transforms after 7 p.m. into an all out freak fest featuring 1,000 live actors portraying the dead and undead alike.

The best time to go is on a Wednesday or Thursday night early in Oct, as these days result in a less crowded park. At times only atendees and the monsters may be walking down some of Knott's dark alleys, blinded by a thick smoke that covers most the park's scare zones.

A couple of the park's staple rides, The Log Ride and Mine Ride, are transformed into mazes within the rides, providing a duel sensation riders are swooping the track, oblivious to the monster waiting to attack around the next corner.

Most of the mazes from previous years are still around, like "Feary Tales in 3-D," "The Asylum," and "Lore of the Vampire."
Five new mazes made their debut this year, most notably "The Doll Factory" and "Beowulf." -The mazes are quite scary for those brave enough to pass through their narrow halls, full of goblins and monsters that are poised to spring out and startle the unsuspecting attendees.

The Haunt stays open until 1 a.m. except for Friday and Saturday, when it remains open until 2 a.m. The park does not run Halloween Haunt on Monday or Tuesday.

Knott's Halloween event is recognized as the first theme park Halloween venue as well as the largest. In 2007, they received a Golden Ticket Award for "Best Halloween Event in the Wo---rld" by Amusement Today.

Tickets for the event can be purchased online, over the phone, or in person. All the contact information is on Knott's official website.

The tickets are $46 presale and $51 the day of the event. But, Burger King offers some great coupons, including some dates where the ticket only cost $29.

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