By Charly SHELTON

As the veil of darkness descended upon Knott’s Berry Farm and the fog rose, monsters crept from their daytime hiding places to embrace the night. Knott’s Scary Farm has arrived. And the iconic haunt has pulled out all the stops to mark its 50^th anniversary.

This year features three new mazes, a new scare zone and three new shows alongside a returning slate of mazes and scare zones. New mazes “Room 13” and “Cinema Slasher” were a lot of fun and good additions to the lineup. And the new scare zone is actually a reimagining of a fan-favorite scare zone “The Gauntlet,” in which monster versions of Dungeons-and-Dragons-esque fantasy characters stalk the fog in Camp Snoopy.

But the highlight of the night, and indeed the star of the show, was the new/old maze, “The Chilling Chambers.” This new maze is a soft reboot of a past maze from 1973 “10 Chilling Chambers” – the very first maze in the haunt’s storied history. The Keeper welcomes all of us “Fringies” to his haunt that pays homage to some of the greatest mazes from the last 50 years. At one point, guests walk through a graveyard where each headstone marks a notable maze from the last few decades. Guests can be heard crying out, pointing at their favorite mazes as the memories were drawn from their minds like ghosts dragged from the grave. It was nice to relive some of those best-ofs, and the maze itself is fun even for those neophytes who don’t study the haunt’s history.

Knott’s Scary Farm is arguably the king of theme park haunts and this year’s 50^th anniversary celebration serves as a testament to that reputation. The event is a grand blowout, filled with terror, laughter and a sense of camaraderie among fellow haunt lovers. In a way it really felt like a homecoming with lots of knowing nods when two guests get excited over the same nostalgic touch in a maze or scare zone. It was nice to be among so many like-minded haunt enthusiasts, many of whom I didn’t know before the event.

Another wonderful homecoming is for The Hanging, which was originally canceled in 2019. “The Hanging: Uncancelled” was a triumphant return that was just as irreverent and hilarious as ever, and not afraid to call out those responsible for the problems of today. For a year full of classic haunt fans, this was the best crowd for The Hanging to be unleashed upon once more.

In addition to these highlights, the event is as fun as ever with a slew of returning mazes including “Bloodline 1842,” “Origins: The Curse of Calico,” “Wax Works” and “The Depths” among several others. Unlike other haunts that do a new slate of mazes every year, Knott’s keeps each maze for several years, allowing repeat guests to become attached to them and their characters. Hence the dose of nostalgia at seeing some old favorites return in “The Chilling Chambers.”

Overall, Knott’s Scary Farm’s 50^th anniversary celebration is a year to remember. With its perfect blend of new and nostalgic, Knott’s managed to capture the essence of what makes this haunt an industry legend. And it makes us all look forward to the next 50 years of fog.

For more information and for tickets, visit https://tinyurl.com.