For years, fans of Halloween Haunt (as well as folks that work it as monsters) had been complaining about Lore of the Vampire - saying that it was old, that its time had come to change, that the vamps there year in and year out had become too comfortable with their surroundings - even bored.

And so Knott's Haunt maze designers gave the vampire maze a huge change and made it a "modern" club-like/Lost Boys-like experience... and the fans and monsters alike all complained again that they hated it.

The strange thing about it is that Club Blood had been part of the vampire maze at Knott's for years and years - the whole club aspect was not new, so it's not like suddenly, the maze designers sat around and said, "You know... let's REALLY go a direction no one has ever seen before, and if it works, great!  If not, oh well."

That wasn't the case.  And we can remember plenty of times when the whole Lore maze seemed fairly light on talent only to find a lot of talent had wandered and ended up in Club Blood at the end of that maze, dancing and interacting with guests that way.

For those not familiar and now completely lost by the way we've jumped in to this review - for the last many years, vampire maze at Knott's Halloween Haunt has ended with a club, which was dubbed "Club Blood" years ago.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it - and now that it's come full-circle and IS the new vampire maze, everyone seems to be bellyaching about it...

Theme Park Adventure isn't.  In fact, we really like Club Blood and think that it is a great, refreshing departure from the gothic, dark vampire theme for a while. 

Unfortunately, there is a large population of general Halloween Haunt guests that will go in to Club Blood and enjoy it a little too much because of the sensuality/sexuality involved, especially in the club scene itself with the scantily-clad dancers.  When we saw that element, we cringed - because there is no way guys attending Haunt (especially those losers that become uber-losers thanks to Cedar Fair allowing them to fill their empty heads with booze now) won't behave poorly and immaturely going through that part of the maze.  The women that are the dancing vampires have to already endure a lot of disrespect and taunting from thousands of guests each night - add booze to that and you can imagine the crap they have to put up with.  At least in Lore, the main dancing stage was far enough away from the path guests took through the maze and in the old Club Blood portion of Lore, the dancing was not as sexually-provocative.

Not the case in Club Blood now, and our hearts and admiration go out to the ladies that put up with that night after night.  You have to have skin of steel to endure that, no matter how good you may look in a dancer outfit, wrapped around a stripper pole.

The one aspect of Club Blood that we liked and took notice of very quickly was the first portion of the maze.  Entering Club Blood, guests find their way through dark alleys below old apartment buildings.  A good part of this set was left over from the old Kingdom of the Dinosaurs attraction.  Other parts of it had to be designed and built by the Haunt crew; major props to you all there.  It looks GREAT, professional and really brought the aesthetics of the vampire maze a huge step forward.  The beginning of Club Blood sets the tone very nicely for what is to come and we think it is a very dramatic way to introduce this new era of vamps at the Scary Farm.

Once inside the actual "club" portion of Club Blood, guests encounter what they'd expect - loud music, flashing lights, a "blood bar", dancing vamps, big bouncers and wandering vamp patrons.  It's very industrial-looking and nicely done.  The only setback however, is the "guest element" that monsters inevitably encounter here.  Just like the famous tag line goes, "Instant Asshole - Just Add Alcohol".  Guests as a rule, are pretty well-behaved at Haunt, even though the younger guests are hyper and loud and the casual visitors are a bit apprehensive about being scared at every twist and turn.  There are, however, certain individuals that attend Haunt and make an evening of harassing monsters - even to the point of being abusive, whether verbally or physically, or both.  It happens.  It happens all the time.  It is a prime example of why Theme Park Adventure has never supported Cedar Fair's decision to bring booze to Halloween Haunt.  Regardless of business "sense" or anything else, it first and foremost brings out the worst in many people - and that is NOT in any way, shape or form, good for Haunt or its crew, let alone other guests that don't want to put up with it, either.

The ladies that are positioned in the club scene are tough cookies - TPA knows them and we even had one as a voice in the 2008 Whispers in the Fog feature here on the site.  This still doesn't give guests an open invite to be jerks toward them; they are not pole dancers or strippers in the real world, and it sucks that some people don't realize this and treat them with the same respect that they'd treat a street monster or a monster in any other maze.

From the club scene, there is a lounge that includes vampires on couches, etc.  Again, a very highly-available opportunity for the worst to come out in people.  And it happens - although not necessarily as often or as seriously as it does with the dancers in the previous scene. 

An element that was brought into Club Blood from the old Dominion of the Dead days was the large scrim that looks like artwork or a wall, and when the light is turned on behind it, it reveals a whole new scene and more vampires.  Though we didn't feel the effect worked as well as it did in Dominion, it was nice to see that the Haunt designers hadn't forgotten this little trick.  It works better at a distance - and in the case of Club Blood, the guests are right next to it - perhaps in the 2009 incarnation, it will be set further back so that the effect is more effective and can be appreciated more.

From the club and lounge, the maze takes a serious turn toward the sinister.  Guests encounter a medical facility where humans are being bled and bred - a very dark theme that we love Knott's designers for exploring.  In fact, we would love to see this theme even more in the coming years, because it is gritty and nasty.  Lure guests into a club, seduce them - and then either kill them off or use them for breeding.  It's a genius theme.  And the accompanying soundtrack of, "Stop!  What are you doing?  Get off of me!" is nothing short of chilling, if almost too much.  But it works in this case, and while most casual guests were oblivious to this, we didn't miss it - and we thought it was brilliant.  The soundtracks incorporated in Club Blood are the reason Theme Park Adventure gave this maze a Screamy Awards nod in that category in 2008.  Props for that.

One of the most memorable gags in Club Blood is the "birthing" scene.  A pregnant woman lies on a bed and a demonic vampire baby suddenly explodes from between her legs and "flies" out at the passing guests from under the sheets!  Amazing!  Gross!  A true Halloween Haunt moment, for sure!  The reaction of the guests was positive and as ghastly as this gag may be, it was a success and we hope to see it return for Haunt '09.  A note to upcoming talent - the effect works better the more you make us believe you're in pain, about to give birth; just lying there watching people pass by with the interest of watching an infomercial in bed at night just doesn't cut it or work.  Get into it!  You're about to have a jacked-up baby, for the love of God!  If we were to make any change to this gag - we'd maybe take it one step further into Tackyland... incorporate a water splatter effect into this, so that when the baby comes springing out, so does some birthing liquid - that would be the ultimate in nasty, kids!  TPA as a rule, doesn't like water or squirting effects in haunt mazes anywhere - but in this case, it could work if done well.

Through the nursery and out the exit guests go - but not before a run-in with a Haunt cornerstone and classic vamp maze trademark... the giant creature that comes out of the darkness toward you, towering many feet over you.  We love, love, love this - and could watch it all night, because guests really flip out.  It's hilarious and absolutely one of our favorite things of all time to watch at Knott's Scary Farm.  In vamp mazes past, it was a giant wraith - now, in Club Blood, it is a giant bat.  And the effect is brilliant.  People hate having something huge suddenly rush forward at them!  It's awesome.

The cast and crew of Club Blood were a good bunch; some could have been better, some were amazing as-is.  That can be said of mostly every Haunt maze, however.  One missing piece of this ensemble however, was very apparent to seasoned Haunt fans and monsters alike - the absence of the "Queen", Sandy Graham, who has been a fixture of every Halloween Haunt vampire maze for the past almost 20 years or so.  Those with a keen eye may have noticed that Sandy was moved to the Labyrinth maze in 2008, where she was a Nymph Queen.

Why this was done - is somewhat of a mystery to everyone involved, fans and monsters alike.  There is no way she couldn't have fit in Club Blood... we envisioned a black leather-clad Queen in a gothic/industrial throne hoisted by chains above the club scene, watching over her sexy minion, smiling and waving at passers-by from behind her sunglasses, a glass of fresh blood in one hand as she presides over the goings-on below.  It would make for a brilliant visual, it would have included Sandy and the tradition of the Queen would have been maintained and continued in true Haunt fashion.  Perhaps in 2009.  And this is not a dig toward the Labyrinth maze or crew - this is just Theme Park Adventure's opinion as an entity that has followed and covered Haunt for almost 15 years.  There are certain things that work... and Sandy as Vampire Queen was one of them.  She should have been invited to be on the Club Blood crew, in our opinion.

There was high energy, great design and a strong soundtrack in place for this first-year maze.  We applaud the entire Club Blood team for their efforts and look forward to this maze's future at Knott's Halloween Haunt.

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