By Charly SHELTON

Knott’s Scary Farm has once again turned Buena Park into the Halloween capital of Southern California. Returning classics like Origins: The Curse of Calico, Room 13, Cinema Slasher, Widows and Eight Fingers Nine prove that last year’s lineup still packs a punch – arguably some of the best mazes Knott’s has ever created. But this year, the buzz – and the crowds – gravitated to the two brand-new nightmares: Mary: The Haunting of Worth Home and The Zoo.

The difference was obvious on opening weekend. Lines for Widows and Eight Fingers Nine – which dominated attention last year – were shockingly short, giving fans more time to revisit them without the long waits. That breathing room was thanks to the gravitational pull of the new arrivals, which swallowed up the masses eager to see what Knott’s had cooked up.

Mary: The Haunting of Worth Home dives into the Bloody Mary myth transforming mirrors and reflections into weapons of terror. Guests step into the Worth family’s haunted estate where Mary’s presence can be seen in every sheet, every pane of glass and, of course, every mirror. But honestly, this maze’s story was a little hard to follow. It’s more a tour of a creepy house than a real flow or story, like Eight Fingers Nine, and less of a woven-together tour than Room 13, which goes all over the hotel and down to the basement. Mary isn’t a bad maze – it just isn’t quite as good as some of the other recent offerings from KSF.

The real star of 2025 is The Zoo. Early in the night, it’s a grotesque body-horror gauntlet of failed experiments, snarling animal-human hybrid creatures and cages rattling with rage. It’s unnerving, yes – but after 11 p.m., it transforms into something else entirely. The lights go out and the cages open. Guests are handed flashlights and sent back into the maze in total darkness. For those who had gone through the maze with the lights on earlier in the night, knowing the monsters that are waiting only makes it worse. Every sound echoes louder, every growl feels closer every splash in the dark triggers something primal. This isn’t just “haunt scary,” it’s scary scary – the kind of fear that taps into instincts buried deep in human DNA from a time when we weren’t at the top of the food chain. This is easily the better of the two new mazes this year and a worthy addition to one of the best haunt lineups KSF has ever had.

In a year when Knott’s didn’t need to reinvent the wheel, it still managed to do it. The classics held strong but The Zoo raised the bar. 

Knott’s Scary Farm (knotts.com) runs select nights through Nov. 1 and, if you’re brave enough, make sure you hit The Zoo after dark. Just don’t trust the silence – it won’t last long.