Just past the second star on the right and straight on 'til morning is a place every child knows as Neverland.  What's that got to do with Halloween Haunt at Knott's Berry Farm, you ask?  Everything.

To me, Neverland is a place that is different for everyone; it's a timeless moment, a precious memory, a special place where childhood fantasy and fun collide to create a totally magical event.  For me, that happens every October in Buena Park, California.  The fog machines are switched on, the monsters creep forth from Warehouse P and once again, it's Haunt.  I can honestly say that nothing makes me more excited all year long.  I wait for opening night of Haunt like a little child waits for Christmas Morning to arrive.

My personal journey to the Scary Farm began in the very early '80s, thanks to a church group outing from Irvine, California.  In 1994, my love of the Haunt turned more professional and as Theme Park Adventure, we began covering the annual event in 1994.  Since then, we have continued to be the event's single largest supporter in the media with coverage that gets bigger and better each year.

Covering Halloween Haunt is no small effort.  It takes a massive amount of time and finances to review the Scary Farm for our readers in the detail we do each year.  Living in San Francisco makes it even more challenging now, as I need to take a week off from work, buy an airline ticket to fly down on the morning of Opening Night, reserve a room at the Radisson Knott's Berry Farm for the nights I will be at Haunt, buy tickets for the event (contrary to popular belief, TPA buys tickets just like everyone else) and then take hundreds of pictures and hours of video that we have to quickly sort, digest and then use for our coverage once I fly back to the Bay Area.

The result is online coverage that we were first to bring Knott's - and in my opinion, it's the most comprehensive coverage of this event anywhere.  We are very proud of that, and it's our sincere hope that we'll top last year's coverage and continue to thrill our readers with images, video and honest opinions of everything Haunt.

The 2004 coverage started much sooner than I was ready for.  One day, I started getting email about other sites suddenly having Haunt construction images.  That was it; the landslide had begun!  I placed a call to Knott's and asked for permission to begin this year's coverage and they gave us the green light; the rest is on its way.

I've had the pleasure of working Halloween Haunt as a Line Control employee, a Ghost Town Streets monster for a night and for many, many years as a fan.  I've seen tremendous talent come and go and I am honored to call many of the people behind Haunt my friends.  They are a unique, incredible family of people from all walks of life who come together each year to create what is my own Neverland.

And there have been friends that have either retired or who have passed away.  Those peoples' footsteps won't be heard in the fog of the Scary Farm this year, but you can bet that their spirits will hang heavy in the air.  The person I was most familiar with who is no longer with us was Mel Smith, the head of the Make-Up department at Haunt.  Mel was intense, funny, painfully honest and an incredible artist.  God knows, I will miss seeing her during our stay at Knott's this year.  Like so many people, I miss her - and honor her in my thoughts as I work on Haunt coverage this year.  I miss ya, darlin'.

Then there are familiar faces I cannot wait to see once again - either in make-up or out, before, during and after Haunt each night.  I love this group of people and have become pals with many of them - despite their horrible appearances and crazed behavior, you will have to take my word for it that they are the nicest, most loving and professionally dedicated people in the world.

We look forward to the mazes new and old this year.  It's incredible and so ironic that last year, the running joke was that there was a secret pirate-themed maze at the exit of GhostRider.  Now, in 2004, we get Red Beard's Revenge - and a maze (Asylum) at the exit of GhostRider!  Who'd have thunk it?  Ah, the fun surprises never cease at the Scary Farm!

As I look forward to Haunt 2004, I am very bummed that Marty Putz - a fantastic comic and a hell of a nice guy - is not going to be returning to Knott's this year.  Hopefully, 2005 will see the return of the mighty chubby bunny in all its glory.  I was really looking forward to seeing Marty do his thing again this year; it simply wasn't meant to be this time around.  If any fans out there wish to send Marty a note saying how bummed they are that he won't be around this year, email me here and I will pass the notes along to him.

Over the next few weeks and throughout Haunt, you will find more items added to our Decade of Devotion contents page.  Please check back often as more features and hints of things to come make their way online here.

Ready or not, here it comes - and I can honestly say that I am pumped.  I am so ready to do this - as Theme Park Adventure enters its 10th Anniversary in September and 10th year at Haunt this October, I am inspired to do better than ever before.

There is work to be done - a lot of work.  Rest assured that it is happening here now - the big wheels have been set in motion and the Haunt 2004 machine is now in full swing!  Here come the monsters, the mazes, the whispers and the videos...

That's it, just ahead.  Just past that second star on your right and straight on 'til morning... my Neverland is shrouded in fog, with the sound of wind tearing through the eaves and shaker cans shattering the night's silence.  My Neverland is filled with screams of countless guests as they file through the Farm's mazes and walkways.

Twisted?  Maybe.  Strange?  Most definitely.  Obsessed?  To a degree; this is a business, but it's 100% personal pleasure and interest that drive our coverage of Halloween Haunt.

So call me odd, call me nuts, call me whatever you'd like.  I love Halloween Haunt, the people responsible for it and the absolute rush I get when the sound of kneepad hitting the ground rings out in the night and I hear the first group of victims cry out on Opening Night.  That is what it's all about, friends.  And that is what Neverland is to me.

See you in the fog...

Rick West

Founder/Editor-in-Chief

Theme Park Adventure

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