When we saw the work that had actually gone into bringing this particular maze to life however, we were beyond impressed; we were stoked and very, very surprised.  Knott's managed to turn The Slaughterhouse into a twisted, demented and very spooky (and yeah - gory) tale that had a Texas Chainsaw feel to it.  While the elements of the maze in some cases seemed a bit cartoonish (the gigantic meat grinder comes to mind), the overall feeling of The Slaughterhouse was very dark, very scary and it immediately was evident to us that it was a tremendous addition to the Haunt 2008 lineup of attractions.

Maybe the best.

One of the nice things about Slaughterhouse is that it has a very large footprint at Knott's.  Taking up the space where the ill-fated Red Beard's Revenge once stood, Slaughterhouse is long.  And it is used well from start to finish, with the theme beginning in the queue and lasting strong until the very last shocking room.

So the first thing to talk about is the design aspect of The Slaughterhouse.  Sinister, unnerving, gross, sometimes humorous - the look and feel of this maze is fantastic and serves as an unsettling atmosphere where guests are not quite sure what to think or expect around each turn.  It would have been absolutely easy for Knott's designers to simply expand the back end idea of 13 Axe Murder Manor and turn that into a full maze with BBQ vats and lots of smoke.  But they didn't; they took the idea and ran with it - and delivered a maze that seemed fresh, horrifying and exciting.  Slaughterhouse was not at all what we expected; it was a very impressive maze with kick-ass talent and amazing sets.  Ironic, considering the name couldn't be more generic!

The talent in this maze was superb.  From the screaming, pleading victims in cages (VERY cool - props to designers and talent here) to the maniacs and cannibals throughout the maze.  Everyone was always on their game and the whole team seemed to work together - roaming here and there throughout the maze... no one standing out and no one being left behind; the talent of The Slaughterhouse was a well-oiled machine that they should all be really, really proud of and pleased about.  There were no weak links in the chain - and it was evident.

One element that found its way into this maze that caught us off-guard was the use of water spraying.  Usually, Knott's mazes are dry for the most part - very, very rarely is water a factor in a Haunt maze.  Yet, we found ourselves sprayed in The Slaughterhouse.  It was surprising, shocking and it worked well.  Make no mistake - we are NOT fans of water squirting in mazes such as Universal is infamous for.  Keep that crap to a minimum and NEVER spray guests in the eyes.  That is something that we have hated about Universal's mazes over the years and they still seem to be hell-bent on doing it year after year; it gets old and very annoying very quickly.

However, as unexpected as it was in Slaughterhouse, it was a welcome "scare", if you will.  A funny side note - as Rick West and Kevin Horton took some of these images for the review inside Slaughterhouse, Rick parked himself right in front of one of the squirting props; the look on his face as a jet of water made a direct hit on his digital SLR... priceless at the time...

The soundtrack in Slaughterhouse is not terribly memorable, although the use of sound effects and screams is very nicely done.  It creates the perfect atmosphere of complete mayhem and chaos as people are being taken and butchered for BBQ, etc.  Good stuff!  Props to the Sound team in that regard.

The design and talent of The Slaughterhouse are the reasons for its success.  It is a gorgeous maze and the crew is fired up and happy to be part of the legacy that we are sure this maze will leave on Halloween Haunt for years and years to come.  This could easily be a four or five year maze, in our opinion.  A whole lot of love went into its creation - and it will continue to get a whole lot of love from fans and Theme Park Adventure alike.

It's funny - in the case of a damn-near perfect maze, there is usually a much shorter review than with problem mazes!  And that is what's happening here with The Slaughterhouse!  We've got nothing more to say - the maze is genius, we felt it was honestly, the best maze of 2008 and we can't wait to see it return in 2009 for a fantastic second-year run!  Major kudos and props to everyone involved with The Slaughterhouse!

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