Thursday, October 16, 1997
Hauntings
AMUSEMENT: Everywhere you turn, there’s a new Halloween
amusement fest. Here’s a breakdown of the biggest and scariest:
Twenty-five years ago, some very smart folks at Knott’s Berry
Farm decided to create a Halloween version of the park called
Knott’s Scary Farm. The event consisted of a few haunted houses and
scary shows. The yearly event has been attracting hordes of guests
who love to be scared and entertained.
In the past few years, the other L.A. area theme parks have
tried to capitalize on Knott’s success with their own versions of
Halloween events. This year, Universal Studios is debuting its
Halloween Horror Nights with four mazes and several live shows.
Magic Mountain is coordinating a nightly Fright Fest which contains
several shows but only one haunted maze, albeit an excellent one.
Unlike the Knott’s and Universal events, the Magic Mountain one is
not a separately ticketed event, but a mere extension of one’s
normal day at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Knott’s Scary Farm’s Halloween Haunt XXV. This is the granddaddy
of the Halloween events. With eight walk-through mazes and three
ride-though Halloween-themed rides, one can spend an entire
seven-hour evening and not get through everything. The mazes are
long, averaging about five minutes each. Although most weekend
nights are extremely crowded, if one gets lucky enough to go on an
off-night, especially early in the season, the lines to get into
the mazes can be pleasantly short, about 10 minutes each.
Once inside the mazes, guests wander through dark corridors with
evil creatures lurking around every corner and things jumping out
from every nook and cranny. This is fear at its best, and the
number and variety of the mazes keep visitors entertained all night
long. Two of this year’s best walk-though mazes are the Ghost Town
Dead and Breakfast and the Underground. The ride-through Camp
Gonnagetcha, which takes place on the Knott’s Log Ride, is another
of the highlights. The only maze that could be skipped is Bigfoot’s
Revenge, a transformed version of Knott’s White Water Rafting
Adventure, unless of course, you enjoy getting soaking wet at 1
a.m.
Almost all of Knott’s regular rides and attractions are open
during the evening, including the relatively new roller coasters,
Windjammer and Jaguar.
Best of all are the two scare-zones, where the streets of the
park have been transformed into dark, mist-filled walkways where
creatures similar to those in the mazes pop out and scare anybody
and everybody walking by. You don’t have to wait in any lines to
get scared here, and the people love it.
Knott’s Scary Farm puts on a completely top-rate event. The
shows, including "The Hanging" and "Elvira’s Dead Legends of Rock"
entertain those who are weary of entering any more mazes or riding
any more roller coasters. Knott’s even thinks of selling hot dogs
for $1 a piece to the poor fools waiting in line to ride the
Underworld Unearthed, a redecorated mine ride. The other parks may
try to compete with Knott’s, and they will undoubtedly put on some
well-done and entertaining events. But just as Disneyland will
always be the ultimate theme park, Knott’s Scary Farm will continue
to be the ultimate Halloween event. Jeff Hilger
Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. Remember those old
Hollywood horror movies from many years back? Films like "Psycho,"
the "Halloween" series and "Frankenstein?" Ever imagine being on
the sets? Universal Studios gives you a chance to experience being
on the scene in its Halloween Horror Nights.
Although the concept behind Universal’s rendition is derivative
of Halloween pioneer Knott’s Scary Farm, Horror Nights attempts to
differentiate itself by adding a Hollywood twist. It succeeds in
the entertaining Crypt Keeper’s Film Vault Maze, where you can
revisit your favorite scenes from movies. In one room, you can
relive the scene in "Scream," where the girl gets stuck in the the
garage door. Also amusing is the Area 51 maze, where you walk
through the infamous facility and witness an alien autopsy.
Other attractions include the Classic Monster Maze, featuring
Frankenstein and Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon’s
Monsterquarium maze, and shows such as Bill and Ted’s Halloween
Adventure, Circus of Horrors, Beetlejuice’s Rockin’ Graveyard Revue
and Creepy Animal Show.
All the regular attractions are closed for Horror Nights except
Back to the Future, which operates as usual.
Halloween Horror Nights isn’t without minor flaws. Universal
could have really spiced up the park with a Halloween-flavored
Jurassic Park, but chose not to. In certain areas of the park, lots
of fog obstructs the view and makes visitors vulnerable to the
monsters lurking in the shadows. The fog blanketed the streets
nicely, but was not used enough in the entire park to really
capture the spooky ambience expected in a Halloween-themed
event.
Though somewhat entertaining, Horror Nights seems like a
half-assed attempt to replicate Knott’s invariably scary and fun
Halloween event. Maybe good for those looking for a new variation
on the Knott’s theme, but otherwise, save your $35 and head over to
Buena Park. Adam Yamaguchi
Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Fright Fest. Six Flags’ Fright Fest
contains a few elements of Knott’s Scary Farm, but absolutely
nothing new or different. Like Knott’s, the Fright Fest has two
"scare zones" where employees dressed as horrific creatures hide in
bushes and behind walls and jump out at people to scare them.
The main attraction of the event is Willougby’s Haunted Mansion,
which is an excellent maze that ranks among the best from Knott’s.
The event takes place in a fun house attraction that was a regular
part of Magic Mountain 15 years ago. When the Ninja ride was built,
the fun house was shut down, but the inner maze’s strangely
decorated, mirrored rooms are still there. The location makes a
perfect spot for the haunted maze in which visitors walk through a
number of rooms where things (mostly ghosts and ghouls) pop out
around every dark turn.
The Fright Fest contains a number of other Halloween-themed
shows, but most of them don’t really have much to do with
Halloween. The events include a chainsaw juggler, a mentalist and a
hypnotist. Since Disneyland has opted not to do a Halloween event
this year (they have done one in previous years), Six Flags is
attempting to capitalize on this market by having a daily costume
parade through the kiddie area of the park. Although the event is
definitely not a complete Halloween experience, the entire Six
Flags theme park is open, and there’s practically nobody there (at
least as of opening night). And hey, being able to ride Superman,
Batman, Viper and Psyclone without any lines whatsoever is more
than worth the price of admission.
Jeff Hilger
JANA BONDERMAN
The Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios.