Feary Tales.  Where, oh where do we begin?

This maze is a conundrum.  It's neither scary or funny.  Feary Tales is however, a damn gorgeous maze; it's kind of a Haunt design exhibition of sorts.  The art direction is amazing and the overall design of this maze is truly one of the best that Knott's Halloween Haunt has ever been graced with.

For all of its beauty and all of its uniqueness, Feary Tales fails to become a public favorite, let alone a Scary Farm fan favorite.  The reasons for this are likely many.

As stated, Feary Tales is not a "scare" experience.  Put it head-to-head with mazes such as 13 Axe Murder Manor or quite literally, Asylum, and it is a completely different experience.  Put it toe-to-toe with mazes such as TerrorVision and in the past, Toon Terrortory, and it definitely out-shines the "funny" attractions.  Feary Tales kind of exists in a gray area - a Twilight Zone of sorts where visitors are left to determine what they feel about this maze.  Going in, going through and coming out of Feary Tales, many guests are confused - not knowing how to feel.  There are great dark moments of humor throughout the maze, and there are monsters.  But are they scary?  They certainly aren't trying to be "funny" when they jump out at people.

It's confusing as hell.  For the crew as well, likely.  If you work in Asylum, you know that you're supposed to be terrifying and unnerving.  When you're a Vampire in Lore, you're seductive and spooky.  What the hell are you supposed to do when you're one of the Three Little Pigs, or a fairy tale princess that is a brat?  Again, it's neither funny (because Feary Tales isn't a "Ha-Ha" maze) nor scary.  The monsters are at a loss and the guests are at a loss.  Ultimately, the maze is at a loss; Feary Tales suffers from a major identity crisis.

Another uphill challenge the Feary Tales 2006 crew had was to match or better the bar set by the first year's Fearies.  Fearies are winged pixies-gone-wild that roam a section of the maze (and sometimes the outside queue).  The Fearies are voice part actors that are funny, but also have the leeway to scare guests - which they do.  Unfortunately - and this is where some wings are going to get bent out of shape - the original Fearies were so amazing that the entire Halloween Haunt cast throughout the Scary Farm knew about them; the original group of women were instant Haunt Legends.

The Fearies had massive shoes to fill.  Could they do it?  The hard truth is, no.  However - the 2006 Fearies were different than the original girls from 2005.  I don't think that anyone in their right mind expected the Fearies of 2006 to be the same as the original team.  It would be the same thing has having two new people show up in Ghost Town dressed as Dusty Geezer or Monstar (non-Haunt fans, bear with us - we don't want to lose you here); there is no way the originals could be replicated.  It just couldn't be done - nor should anyone expect it.

That said, the Fearies were as good as possible.  They were quirky, silly and tormented guests each night; it's a tough role, but the girls worked it out.

Feary Tales features a soundtrack that is truly amazing.  There are a million things going on at once - music cues, fantastic voice tracks - all coming together in a chaotic mix that is truly appreciated.  Major, major props going out to the sound team on this one - Feary Tales has one of the best soundtracks that the Haunt has ever had and we do look forward to listening to it each season.

The rest of the talent throughout the maze is good; not great, not horrible - but good.  Is that good enough?  No, not when compared to other maze teams that go all-out each season and max themselves out night after night.  Feary Tales' crew seems very... new each year so far, with most of the monsters not knowing exactly how to fully get into character or use their surroundings to their total advantage.  Granted, their surroundings are not frightening - and that, we understand, is a major challenge.  The fact that the Feary Tales crew doesn't just blow it and fall flat each night is an honest testament to the crew's hard work and dedication to being part of the Halloween Haunt experience.  For that, we give everyone in Feary Tales big props.

Is Feary Tales a maze experience that we are excited about each year?  No.  Would we be crushed if 2007 is to be the maze's final year at the Scary Farm?  Not at all.  Feary Tales is gorgeous - and there are aspects such as the soundtrack of Feary Tales that we do love.  Feary Tales, in our opinion, can only retain fan interest for so long.  There is nothing that we want to come back and see over and over again, year after year.  It's been fun, but we do feel that Feary Tales' best days are behind it at this point.  Perhaps the 2007 crew will prove us wrong; we would love that and would admit to that immediately, should the team step up and really take Feary Tales over the top.

So, we congratulate the designers and everyone involved with Feary Tales; this maze however, just seems sleepy and ultimately, is not our favorite offering at Haunt.  It's a mixed bag of eye candy - and like everyone else, we continue to wonder whether this maze will be remembered as a trick... or treat.

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