Knott’s Scary Farm – From One Scaredy Cat to Another, You Got This!

This past weekend, my husband took me to Knott’s Scary Farm for the first time. (He had never gone either.) He thought it would be fun to go on a “teenager date” to something goofy like this since we didn’t start dating until we were in our 30’s.

Let me tell you, I gave him an extremely hard time about this! I begged him to take his brother or sister because scary stuff like this isn’t my cup of tea. Don’t get me wrong, I love scary movies, but that’s where it stops. When there’s a terrifying looking person running at me? Count me out!

The closest I’ve gone to something like this was when my friend and I went to the Walking Dead attraction at Universal a few years back. I didn’t realize there would be “zombies” in there reaching out to you and walking up behind you. When a zombie left his cage and started following us, I screamed and jumped on the back of the man in front of me. Thankfully his wife thought it was hilarious!

As we first entered Knott’s Scary Farm, I was terrified and kept my back to a wall for as long as I could. If you enter through the Main entrance, you’ll see Ghost Town towards the left and The Hallow to your right. Personally, Ghost Town was the scariest of the scare zones. Below is a list of the scare zones with my two cents thrown in.

*Beware* Spoilers Below

Overcoming Fear

These are a few things that helped me get through the night. If I had known everything was on YouTube before I went, I definitely would have watched to see what I was about to walk into. Then again, it would have taken some of the fun away from the night. Do what you need to feel comfortable. I hope some of these tricks can help!

1. Psych yourself out

Before going, start psyching yourself out by thinking of the most terrifying monsters you can and worse case scenarios. Don’t get me wrong, the actors in the park did an amazing job and I clung to my husband the whole time, but, I definitely built up the image in my mind to be so much worse than it actually was. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect since I’d never gone to one of these before. With their website saying there are 1,000 monsters lurking around every corner, I was surprised that I wasn’t holding onto my husband for protection the entire night!

2. Take it slow

After braving it through Ghost Town, find a place to eat or grab a drink. The monsters won’t bother you while you’re eating so you’ll be able to enjoy some food and watch everyone around you scream in fright.

Seeing what kind of monsters are out there and familiarizing yourself with their scare tactics will help you to know what to expect when you’re out there walking the foggy streets.

3. Find large groups

By putting yourself into the center of a large group, you’re less likely to be a monsters victim. I noticed they went more for those on the edges of groups or if they noticed a group of teenagers that seemed particularly easy to scare.

Some monsters will walk straight through the crowds though. So while this may not help you 100% of the time, it should at least help you through the entrance.

4. Monster free areas

When their website said that the monsters were “hiding in every corner of the park”, I literally thought there would be a monster around every single corner. Don’t worry, that’s not exactly the case!

There are some areas that the monsters will not enter. It’s good to find these areas so you can take a break from the terror and relax for a moment.

The places where you’ll be safe are eating areas, anywhere indoors (shops, bathrooms, eateries, etc), lines for rides and lines for food (for the most part). Most of the lines we stood in for food or drinks we were never bothered. The only exception was in the Gore-ing 20’s when I was in line at the Starbucks to get hot chocolate. While I watched Carnaval Du Grotesque, I didn’t notice any creatures coming near the crowd so this area might be safe as well unless I was just too distracted by the show to notice.

5. YouTube

This is a bit of a cheat in my opinion but if you really think you can’t handle the park and are about to miss out on a fun time with friends, check out Sharp Productions YouTube channel. They walk you through all of the mazes, scare zones and even give you a behind the scenes as the actors put on their makeup. Knowing every jump scare and monster placement may take some of the fun out of the night but at least you won’t be walking blindly into the unknown.

Scare Zones

While it may feel that there are monsters almost everywhere you look, there are designated areas that will be filled with them. Depending on your level of fright, get to know the areas a little before you go so you have an idea of what you can expect.

The scare zones listed below are what they had in 2022. Since this was my first time going I’m not sure how often they change these up. I know Ghost Town Streets is there oldest and most popular scare zone. Depending on the theme of the year, the others may change.

1. Ghost Town Streets

This was the worst/best (however you want to look at it) scare zone to me! What makes this area so terrifying is the heavy fog they pump into it. While you’re slowly and carefully walking the streets without being able to see more than an arms length ahead of you at times, you have ghoulish creatures popping up at you. The monsters in this area are half human/have creature. Some will scream in your face, shake rattle sticks near you, slide on their knees, click clackers near your ears and jump out from the fog.

2. Gore-ing 20’s

This was my favorite zone! The street is well lit, there’s minimal fog and I love the play on the era. There are undead flapper girls and gangsters walking the streets talking and laughing as they go. This area was least likely to have jump scares.

3. CarnEVIL

If you have a fear of clowns, avoid this area! Or jump right in, if you’re at Knott’s Scary Farm I assume getting scared is the reason you’re there. This area is by the roller coasters. I’m not a fan of roller coasters so my group just quickly walked through this part in order to get to the next haunted maze. I wasn’t in this area for long but the actors sure were creepy and I couldn’t wait to get out!

4. Forsaken Lake

This is another area that will pump in the fog. It’s not as constant as Ghost Town Streets but if you step into a stream of it, you’ll barely be able to see you’re hand in front of your face and it’s almost guaranteed a monster will pop out at you during this time.

5. The Hallow

I felt like we saw the least amount of monsters in this area. Perhaps there were more at the beginning of the night but by the time we got to this area around midnight, I felt safe enough to detach myself from my husband and walk around unafraid.

Haunted Mazes

I was too chicken to go into the first maze that my group went into. (I hid by a snack cart where I knew I’d be safe from monsters while they were in there.) My group reassured me it wasn’t that bad and that I’d survive going into one. I thought I had already overcome a pretty big fear just by stepping into the park! By the next maze I had succumbed to pear pressure and joined them. Honestly, I’m glad that I did. We ended up going through five more after that and while they were all creepy, I had a good time. It would have been a shame if I had sat with my fear outside while they all enjoyed the entertainment without me.

The Depths had the best effects in my opinion. In one part, there was a lot of fog towards the floor but also a beam of light that went above it giving it a “watery” look so you felt like you were walking through a swamp. With the fog being thick, you don’t realize at first that there are creatures running around underneath it. When they pop up, it looks like they’re coming out of the water at you!

Dark Ride: Castle of Chaos has a number of clowns in it so again, if clowns really aren’t your thing, prepare to be scared. Overall they did a good job with this one. There was a lot to see and a lot of characters waiting to scare you.

Wax Works and Dark Entities were the least scary of the haunted mazes I went through. If you need to start slow and work your way up, I recommend starting with these. If you have a sensitivity to flashing lights then you might want to avoid Dark Entities.

Mesmer was my favorite. They did a really good job on the props and different sections of the maze. Again, there are clowns so beware. As much as I don’t like being scared, I thought the jump scares here were the best. A lot you didn’t see coming where as in some of the other mazes you could.

I heard that this was the last year for Pumpkin Eater and the entire Hallow area so enjoy it while you can! They had some pretty creepy creatures in this maze. I had my hoodie over my face most of the time so I can’t tell you all that was in there!

The Grimoire was closed down when we went past it so we had to skip it and go to the next maze. We had wanted to see Bloodline 1842 but since we had to get home to relieve the babysitter, we didn’t have time to wait in line.

Tickets

Buy the fast Fright & Fast Lane tickets! These are pretty pricy so start saving up for next year now! If you’re able to get past the sticker shock, you’ll be glad you bought them. Instead of waiting an hour or more for every maze and ride, the most we waited was five minutes. Unless you plan on getting there when the haunting starts at 7pm and not leaving until closing at 2am, you’ll want to skip past the lines so you can see as many attractions as possible.

In the end, I was glad my husband brought me. We had a fun date, enjoyed time with friends and I felt like I overcame a fear. I’m even considering going again next year!