Knott's Scary Farm Halloween Haunt 2010
Oct. 17th, 2010
So here, in no particular order, are my thoughts on the 13 mazes/rides:
Under any circumstances – driving wind, pounding rain - the Timber Mountain Log Flume is a Must-Do attraction, even when the Haunt version kind of blows (skipping it last year was a mistake). Thankfully, this year’s haunted flume is a BIG improvement over the previous “Pyromaniax” incarnation. Sure, this isn’t a scholarly presentation of the Ichabod Crane story, but who gives a flip? A well-known Haunt animatronic has been rejiggered to play the Headless Horseman, which rocks; there are plenty of skeletons and skulls and stuff; and our crowd really dug the final pre-lift “pumpkin scene” – not scary, just a very neat visual treat. Could have been another Scareactor or two in there, but that’s a minor quibble. Here’s an enthusiastic vote for keeping Sleepy Hollow Mountain around for awhile.
A train ride through dark, foreboding tunnels filled with nasty arachnids is a ride I really can’t pass up, ever. And this year’s BWC was a solid spook- and spider-fest, with what appeared to be some new creepy-crawler props here and there (a freshening-up is always appreciated). Yup, it was all good… until the totally unacceptable finale. We get to the main cavern which is supposed to be filled with mist and the big-ass boss spider wiggling around like he’s comin’ to get ya. No mist at all, and the star of the show was just hanging like a limp noodle, scary as a pile of laundry. For shame! Seriously, Knott’s, what is up with that? I can only imagine that this was a fluke and by evening’s end, all was right again.
The Quarantine movie maze went bye-bye and has been replaced by this “small town overrun by zombie plague”-themed maze. Which is a fair trade, considering Quarantine was essentially about a zombie plague in an urban apartment setting. And Virus Z is almost as good as Quarantine was (during its stellar first year). Along with lotsa gory mayhem, it boasts some of the Haunt’s most impressive set designs and the movie theater sequence is exceptionally disorienting. Granted, I’m a sucker for all things zombie related, but this one was a favorite for sure.
This maze was the second of the two Haunt 2010 debutantes (or should I say “DeadMutantes” Mwahahahah!!) and it completely stomps all over “Alien Annihilation,” the maze it replaced. Yes, it borrows some of A.A.’s sci-fi monster vibe (and one of the Haunt’s biggest moving props), but throws the outer space silliness away. A great entrance, tons of aggressive ghouls, all kinds of sicko monster action, and RADIOACTIVE BUBBLES! Honestly, I’m not sure what I liked more: the spider-pig or the radioactive bubbles. Easily one of our favorite mazes and definitely a contender for “Best of ’10” status, far as I’m concerned.
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