Lore of the Vampire is one of the favorite mazes at Halloween Haunt, hands-down.  Each October, thousands and thousands flood through the main gate at the Scary Farm and make a beeline for the vamps.  And considering how great the maze has been in the past and how stunning the talent has proven they can be, it's also usually Theme Park Adventure's first stop to kick off each year at Haunt.

When we kicked off our Haunt coverage for 2004, the mazes were in the build stage.  Immediately, we were told that the layout for the vampire maze was different.  Once the dress rehearsal nights rolled around, we received email after email informing us that for whatever reason, Knott's had shortened the maze - and no one could understand why this had happened.

Before we go on, it should be said how excited we were to learn early on that the maze's signature musical piece, "Host of Seraphim" by Dead Can Dance was back in the soundtrack - it was not part of the vamp maze last year and it was sorely missed by fans.  Bringing it back was a no-brainer and a very definite plus to the maze.  Unfortunately, it was evident at the beginning of our coverage that no one cared about Host being brought back; the attention was - and has remained focused on the fact that someone shortened the maze so much; the layout issue has completely ruined the news of the soundtrack.  And that is a damn shame.  Major props to the powers-that-be for bringing the vamp's musical theme back into the loop; good decision.

Now, back to the bad decision.  The maze has been shortened this year - enough to be distracting in a way.  We'll try to explain.  The build-up to the vampires has been perfect in the past few seasons - a stroll through the graveyard along a twisting path.  Creepy figures lurk in the shadows - are they human or something more?  And there sits an old hearse, its driver sitting high atop with a permanent skeletal grin.

Then, as the music begins to build, we realize that as the fog billows and swirls, we have entered the dominion of the dead - the realm of the vampire.  There's no turning back now; like a frog in hot water, we've been lulled and romanced into the nightmare that is Lore of the Vampire.

And with that, the tempo has been set and guests' hearts are already pounding - the perfect flow and the perfect set-up for what's to come.

In the 2004 version, we're ushered in past a tiny graveyard and thrust immediately into the vampires.  No foreplay, if you will.  Just boom - here ya go!  The anticipation and romance of the maze is completely thrown off and for many, ruined.  Did those extra few minutes of quiet wandering through a gothic graveyard truly make a difference in years past?  Absolutely.

In the film JAWS, we're made to wait good and long before we come face-to-face with the massive great white shark.  What's happened here is that we've been shown the shark in the opening scene.  In our opinion, that is a gross miscalculation and a detrimental mistake that has cost the maze its magical, surreal appeal this year.

In all fairness, we had the opportunity to discuss this with some of the behind-the-scenes folks at the Scary Farm during our stay this year - and it seems that everyone is pretty much scratching their heads about this one.  It's common knowledge that the maze has been shortened - but no one we spoke with could come up with a valid reason for it.

The bottom line, folks - someone blew it.  And its cost the maze, the monsters and the fans this year.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it applies here - the maze had finally hit a fantastic stride in the past couple of years - and someone came along and royally screwed with it.  People notice.

The talent found within Lore of the Vampire is some of the best at Haunt - Theme Park Adventure certainly has acknowledged that over the years.

This year, we were disappointed to find a mixed bag of enthusiasm within the halls of Lore.  Some of the talent was over-the-top fantastic, as always.  On the other hand, we encountered more lackluster monsters in the maze during opening week than we have in years.  That was quite a shocker, frankly.

In some cases, it seemed that the talent seemed more interested in themselves than the guests walking through their rooms.  On other occasions, we'd walk through and encounter monsters simply clumping together, chatting quietly as we passed on by.  There is no excuse for this; being in the vampire maze doesn't automatically place you in the "cool club."  You're no different than any other Haunt monster at the Farm; just being a vamp doesn't mean you don't have to maintain a certain level of enthusiasm and character to remain on top.

It always bothers us as well when we come through any maze when shooting images or video for the site and there are some monsters who choose to sit right in front of the camera and do nothing.  Are they camera shy?  Are they new and not sure what to do?  Or do they feel they are above being on camera?  We're not sure, but it really ruins the flow of the video and at least to us, says that they couldn't care less what we or our readers think - they're too cool to acknowledge our cameras (which are pretty obvious when we're coming through - ignoring us is definitely no oversight).

We ran into this quite a bit in Lore this year, unfortunately.  That is one reason the video flow-through for this season is so short and so choppy.  If a talent isn't willing to act out in character (sitting there as we pass inches in front of their face, staring off into the distance like a statue is not acting in character unless you are a statue), we're sure as hell not willing to include them in our coverage.  As a result, the overall representation of the maze suffers incredibly.

It's horrifying and sad for us to say that the indifference of members of the Lore team will cost them the TPA Screamy nod this year.  In the end, there's nothing that makes our opinion any more important than anyone else's.  Just the fact that we were disappointed as long-time fans of Haunt sucks.  That's a shame.  Especially when some of the rookies this year did a great job - there's nothing worse than having that brought down by a handful of folks there for social hour or just going through the moves.  To those truly busting your asses, we're sorry.  You were seen and appreciated - keep up the awesome work!

With the exclusion of the chopped off beginning, the maze layout is basically the same this year, offering nothing terribly new to annual Haunt visitors.  During the first week, it seemed to us that there was a lot of tweaking going on still, especially with show lighting.  On the first night, much of the music conservatory portion of the maze was lit with white floods.  There is no reason for this - and it immediately added to the negative vibes we were having over the altered beginning of the maze.

Haunt comes roughly at about the same time each year.  There is no reason that something as simple as show lighting should be unfinished come Opening Night; no reason at all.  Picky?  You bet.  Especially since we pay for our tickets just like everyone else.  Didn't know that?  You do now.  Theme Park Adventure pays most of our way through Haunt just like Joe Blow from Montana.  When we come through a maze on opening night, if something isn't done, it bugs us and is very disappointing, as it should be.  The only difference between us and Joe Blow is that we mouth off about it and pass our opinions on to all of you in grand style here with the site.

While on the subject of the music conservatory, we felt that this year's soundtrack selection (could be from Interview with a Vampire - correct us if that is not the case, please) is all wrong for the area.  Last year, the single squeaky strains of a ghostly violin did the trick for us - this year, the up-tempo orchestral piece seems completely out of place and crushes the intended mood of the scene, in our opinion.  Watch the flow-through video for yourself and make your own decision.  There is one skeleton sitting in the conservatory, playing a harp.  The soundtrack sounds like a 150-piece orchestra playing at full-tilt.  A poor musical selection, in our book.  The 2003 soundtrack for this section was perfect; perhaps someone will re-consider that if the maze has the same scene in 2005.

Or better yet, how about actually using a harp soundtrack - since the instrument being plucked at is a harp?

Criticisms aside, we still love the vampire maze and feel it's still a must-see when visiting Halloween Haunt.  Most people will wander through the maze and not pick up on the things we're critical about and have a blast being scared senseless.

It's always a pleasure seeing the Queen in her chamber; she's become the single most endearing icon of the vampire maze - Halloween Haunt isn't complete without her writhing and hissing from her casket.

And in recent years, the Preacher has become a very strong character that we look forward to seeing now when we enter the halls of Lore.  He is fantastic as well - even though everyone passing by makes some sort of Rob Zombie reference!  Props to you as well, my friend - a stunning performance as usual each time we came through.

Club Blood has taken the place of Club Chupacabra - which was the dance section of The Underground from years ago.  This section of the maze is always pumped and vibrant with enthusiastic vampires shakin' it for the guests.  We'd have to say that Club Blood is the high point in the maze this year - so props to all who work the Club!

It was great meeting some new faces this year as we made our way through the maze and it was equally as special seeing many familiar faces as well.  We love you guys and hold the vampire maze with the highest of regard - which is why we are so critical when things aren't up to snuff.  Our best to all of you.

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