Story by Rick West

As crazy as it seems, another Halloween season is already rockin' and rolling. It gets faster and faster each year - that's kind of unsettling. Yet, here it is! The old joke goes, "Same crap, different year..." While in some cases, that may be true, when I sit back and reflect on all the years I have worked with Knott's Berry Farm covering Halloween Haunt, I can honestly say, that's really not the case.

On the afternoon of September 23, Johanna Atilano, Shea Foley and I made our way to Buena Park, California. With the temperature outside still around 90 degrees, it felt more like we were heading to a summer barbeque or beach bonfire rather than the first official Halloween event of the year. It was hotter than Hell, and if I was sweating my ass off just taking pictures and walking around Knott's Scary Farm, I know how miserable the monsters were - these men and women are troopers through and through.

We arrived at Knott's Berry Farm around 3:00 P.M. and proceeded toward Warehouse P. For those fans who are new to the inner workings of Halloween Haunt, Warehouse P is the nerve center of the Scary Farm; it is a huge industrial warehouse that is home to both the Wardrobe and Make-up areas for Haunt each year.

Outside of Warehouse P, the check-in table was already set up and a small army of "Yellow Shirts" were present. This is where Haunt monsters check in for the evening each night. Yellow Shirts are individuals at Knott's that play a leadership role during the Haunt season - from Talent Captains on up through Security and management. Standing next to the check-in table was Craig Harreld.

Craig and I go way back, to the first year I started covering Haunt with Theme Park Adventure in 1994. He's a Haunt legend himself, once a Ghost Town street monster who was one of the first - if not the first - people to ever start sliding at Haunt. The only difference is, back in Craig's day as a street monster, there were no knee pads or any other pads - they just threw themselves on the ground and slid at guests; hard core! So seeing Craig standing there next to the check-in table outside of Warehouse P is always the "official" kick-off of Halloween Haunt to me.

As more and more folks began arriving at the check-in table, the inside of Warehouse P was already beginning to buzz with activity. This was no dress rehearsal or Scare School night. This was it - the night of nights, for many monsters and fans alike. The sun was slowly setting and it was just hours away from show time!

Our shooting inside Warehouse P usually is done within a few rounds of both the Wardrobe area and the two main Make-up artist rooms. This year, there were a lot of familiar faces and many new faces backstage, which is excellent; new talent is flocking to Knott's Scary Farm each season - and so that is really exciting to witness new generations of Haunt monsters in the making! It's always really cool taking the Make-up shots; seeing folks getting their alter-ego monster faces applied by the talented artists at Knott's is very cool - Haunt magic in the making, you know?

Before we knew it, it was coming up on 6:00 P.M., which meant it was time to head on out through Ghost Town toward the "rope drop" (even though they're plastic chains - details, details) area. Walking through Ghost Town on opening night before Halloween Haunt begins is always exciting and surreal. Besides a handful of Knott's employees wandering here and there, it's just us walking through the streets of Calico alone as the fog machines start to come to life. On our heels came the parade of monsters, either heading to their mazes throughout Knott's Scary Farm, or Ghost Town monsters, ready to make the first screams of the season a reality!

Before too much of a crowd had formed in Ghost Town, we snuck over to the Wagon Camp, where our dear friend, Marty Putz, was setting up his absolutely insane show, Putz Prank Party. This is the first time in years that Marty has returned to Knott's Halloween Haunt as a performer, and we are so excited about that; so are many fans that in some cases, have only read about his rampant insanity such as "Chubby Bunny" here on Theme Park Adventure and other fan sites. Hell, this is the first year Johanna has seen Marty's show - it's awesome to have him back!

After hanging with Marty for a bit, we made our way back to the rope drop area and found that many hard core Haunt fans were already lined up. There are actually two separate rope drops - the first is for the Pre-Scare Dinner guests. Pre-Scare guests are usually the huge fans on opening night - not only are they treated to a big ol' food spread, they get let in to the park approximately 20 minutes or so before the rest of the guests attending that evening. The second rope drop crowd are the general admission guests; the first ones in get to make their way into Ghost Town, where they are held just past the entrance to Wagon Camp. Both sides are always very enthusiastic, and when the bulk of the Ghost Town street monsters begin piling into the area, the electricity in the air is palpable. Soon, the inevitable sound of someone sliding fills the air, and the fans go wild with cheering. It's great - both fans and monsters have been waiting patiently (or even impatiently) for this moment for a year, and it's finally come.

"The Veil" as it's referred to in Haunt fan circles, is rapidly lifting, and the world of the living and dead are about to collide once again. Those lined up along the chains are amongst the most dedicated Halloween Haunt fans in the world. Monsters pace back and forth, sizing up their victims, and fans snap photos, tweet images and keep the rest of the Haunt fans stuck at home well-appraised of the situation at hand. Sooner than later, a monster slips under the chain and plows into the crowd of waiting fans. This happens every year, and signals the blurring of the lines - the waiting is over, and the game is on!

This year, the corporate icon "The Overlord" has physically been removed from the Halloween Haunt scheme, although his voice remains, continuing to begin the event with the same recorded spiel as last year's Haunt. Personally, I am more than fine with The Overlord being removed from the Scary Farm. He was a character cooked up by Cedar Fair to intellectually lock each of their properties hosting "Haunt" together with one central icon. For a lot of people, that was simply much too corporate, and while Knott's Berry Farm certainly is part of the Cedar Fair corporation, let's call it like it is - there is only one Knott's Scary Farm, folks. The know-how of its team, and fan appreciation for Halloween Haunt cannot be bought, cannot be duplicated simply by calling other events "Haunt", and it certainly can't be slapped on a bottle and sold through corporate marketing as all parks' events being equal. Because they're not; far from it - Knott's Scary Farm is a very special, very deeply loved Southern California tradition. Every other Cedar Fair park that hosts Halloween Haunt is merely a copy of the real deal. That's not a swipe at the men and women who work at other Haunts under the Cedar Fair umbrella; it's just telling it like it is - there is only one true Halloween Haunt, and it's in Buena Park, California.

In no time, it was the big moment - the chains came down for the Pre-Scare Dinner crowd. Mortals and monsters clashed head-on as screams filled the evening air. After what must feel like an eternity for the general public, they too were finally let in to the fog-filled streets of Ghost Town; Halloween Haunt 2011 was under way!

I learned a long time ago to stay the hell out of the path of hundreds of freaked out, enthusiastic guests once the rope drop takes place! The immediate rush of guests can be overwhelming - and frightening - if you are "vertically challenged" such as I am. One minute, you're shooting pictures of monsters interacting with guests over a chain; the next, you're trying to get to high ground before you're trampled to death by excited guests! It's a wonderful, crazy moment each season. I love it.

Once the "flood gates" open and the big rush of guests takes place, there's always a lull in action, when just a few guests then trickle in to Ghost Town. It always happens, and some monster always throws their arms up and screams, "Well, that's it! Thank you, and good night! See you next year!"

After shooting a bit in Ghost Town, we made our way through some of the mazes and then headed to the Boardwalk Ballroom, where the VIP Reception was being held. Knott's always puts on a very nice spread for its guests in the ballroom (I always refer to it as "Cloud 9" - some habits are hard to break). Not only does Knott's serve up a wonderful buffet at this particular event, they serve an open bar - and that is always nice! The VIP party isn't really about the food, but rather, networking - seeing who's there each year and making new acquaintances. We sat a table away from some friends from Walt Disney Imagineering, including Disney icon Tony Baxter, who is a "regular" each year at Halloween Haunt on opening night. The biggest thrill for me personally was seeing Raffi Kaprelyan making the rounds as the brand-new Vice President and General Manager of Knott's Berry Farm! Raffi replaced Marty Keithley just days before Haunt began this year, likely the beginning of a major management shake-up at Knott's as Matt Ouimet takes the Cedar Fair reigns. Theme Park Adventure has known Raffi for years, so seeing him return to Knott's as the man in charge really excites us, and we're very pleased to announce that he's agreed to sit down with TPA in the coming weeks for a detailed interview regarding his vision of Knott's Berry Farm's future under Ouimet.

Once we were done at the VIP party, we made our way into the Scary Farm to experience all of the mazes and to see a late-night viewing of The Hanging in Calico Square. Our detailed individual reviews of the mazes will be coming soon, but I'll just say right now there are some very strong elements to this year's Halloween Haunt, and there are some serious problems this time around.

One of the biggest issues that's been heavy on my mind this season is how Knott's Scary Farm is aging, now that it's approaching its 40th Anniversary. That is going to be the subject of a special feature for this year's coverage, but I will say that I have some very deep and substantial concerns about Haunt; that feature will come a bit down the road as we begin to wrap up the Halloween 2011 season in general.

Opening night always goes much too quickly, and we found ourselves really scrambling to get everything in that we wanted to see. Not only is the first night of Haunt a working media night for us, we are also there as fans, so we do try to take everything in on that level as well - which honestly, is a challenge these days, between a great many people recognizing us, and the fact that we have a very rigid shooting schedule at Knott's these days; there is very little time to simply stop and take it all in anymore, which part of me misses very much.

We covered all of the mazes and scare zones, as well as The Hanging and our ol' pal Marty Putz, who had a small, weird crowd at the end of the night but still managed to get them all wound up before waging war on them with marshmallows and water cannons! LOVE that!

As the 2:00 A.M. hour came, we headed back to Warehouse P in the footsteps of many a worn-out monster. However, the enthusiasm carried throughout the backstage area and everyone seemed very satisfied with the first night of Haunt.

Everyone was exhausted, as were we - but for different reasons, and on different levels. Nothing compares to the pain and utter self-devastation that Haunt talent put themselves through night after night; nothing. However, we were exhausted (in the mere mortal sense) too, and were happy to see the night come to a close after shooting a ton of images and video. We covered a lot of ground opening night, and got a great jump on how we feel in general about Halloween Haunt 2011. We still have a couple more nights of shooting, so our complete opinions are not yet formed completely; Haunt changes and evolves throughout the run, so I try to keep a fairly open mind until we've completed our still and video shoots before weighing in with my annual reviews.

Our heartfelt thanks to the men and women of Knott's Halloween Haunt and the members of Knott's management that make the Scary Farm a truly wonderful, fun experience for all to enjoy. Theme Park Adventure is thankful to work so closely with Knott's and so many members of the Haunt family - we appreciate the partnership completely.

Now, enjoy the images we captured of the first night of Halloween Haunt 2011 and accompanying video, as shot and edited by our very own Shea Foley! Happy Haunting, everyone!

DISCUSS FIRST NIGHT 2011 ON THE TPA FORUM

Return to Haunt 2011 Contents Page

All images on this page are the copyrighted material of Theme Park Adventure and Knott's Berry Farm.  Unauthorized use for personal or professional gain without the written consent of Rick West is strictly prohibited.  Images may not be linked to from other sites online.