Ah, Malice, sweet Malice.  How we do love you...

Once in a while a maze is born that becomes a cornerstone of Halloween Haunt.  We've seen it through the years with classics such as Dominion of the Dead, The Underground and Nightmares.  Following in the footsteps of the latter, literally, is Malice in Wunderland.

One of the first 3-D mazes ever introduced to Knott's Scary Farm several years ago, Malice has taken its place as one of the must-see attractions for any guest attending Haunt, no matter how many times he or she may have seen this particular maze already.

Like a fine wine, Malice continues to age nicely - never becoming stale or boring.  Granted, the layout has remained pretty much the same over the years - the unique theme and the absolutely stunning artwork make Wunderland a glorious place to visit year after year.

This year's version of Malice features some incredible new artwork that should not go without mention here.  Major props to the designers and in particular the talent behind the crazy, very cool look of this maze.  Never before have Haunt fans been treated to such detail in the paint - and likely, we'll never see this beauty again in such a way.

The talent within Malice in Wunderland seems at home - and was for the most part, very polished most evenings.  One problem we did encounter was a lack of talent on more than one occasion - whether everyone was at lunch or in a group huddle around the toilet, it did slow the pace and pulse of the walk-through not to have something creepy lurking around every corner.  And in a maze the size of Malice, you must have monsters at every turn - or you run the risk of Joe Guest from Laguna Beach becoming bored with the maze.

The last thing you want is a guest thinking that the maze seems a bit empty - and this is the only negative thought we have about Malice this year.

That said, the talent that was manning the maze did a tremendous job at keeping it alive.  We noted the same characters in different rooms, which means there's a whole lot of running around happening.  There's no problem with that at all; it's much better to have talent that at least follows guests through the maze than having talent that just stays put and makes a minimal effort to scare people as they happen to walk through their specified room or area.  Kudos to the Malice team for keeping it fired up and working it - your effort was more than evident and your enthusiasm pays off in the end.

Only the most hard core fans will notice the new artwork in the maze this season.  That's not a bad thing - but it is something that needs to be watched by designers.  With an incredible property such as this, mixing it up a bit for the 2005 Haunt next year could easily extend this maze's life span another three years or so.

Yeah, three more years is a very tall order for Malice - but with the constant upping of the art direction and the continued enthusiasm of the talent, it's not too difficult to see this happening.

Imagine a massive, horrid White Rabbit figure bouncing up and down with his watch held high, hands spinning wildly out of control.  Or think about walking through rooms creaking and cracking under the weight and pressure of a growing Malice - her limbs breaking through windows and shattering door frames.

Or what about a whole new croquet game, twisting through giant hedges and under massive wickets as huge mallets swing all around you - suddenly, you are the ball in this ghastly game!

The ideas are endless and there's no doubt that Haunt designers could have a field day updating this Scary Farm favorite.

On a technical note - the vortex tunnel found within Malice is the best this year in any Haunt maze.  It's done very nicely and the use of strobes and black light in the spinning tunnel are brilliant - a perfect showpiece.

It should also be said that the blackouts in Malice stay in the background and don't rush guests through the maze at all - at least not any of the times we ventured through.  It's great to have blackouts who don't feel they need to be part of the show - props to those folks as well.

In an environment where change is crucial and fans either love or hate things, Malice in Wunderland is withstanding the test of time just perfectly at Halloween Haunt.

Fantastic artwork - wonderful soundtrack - enthusiastic talent and a nice, long walk-through make for a Haunt tradition.  No visit to the Scary Farm is complete without a trip down the dirty rabbit hole.

Congrats from TPA to the entire Malice crew.  2004 is a fantastic year for your maze!

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