And then, I almost died from afraid: Knott's Scary Farm

As you might recall, last Halloween I attended Knott's Berry Farm's Snoopy's Camp Spooky event, with the whole family - it was tons of fun, I am a total sucker for fall and holiday themed things.

This year, I was invited to check out Knott's SCARY FARM. Knott's Scary Farm is the original Halloween theme park event - it was the first of its kind, and is still the world's largest Halloween theme park event. This year is the 40th anniversary of the event, and advertised 13 themed mazes and ride through attractions, 9 live shows, and 4 scare zones featuring hundreds of free roaming monsters.

So, listen. Back years and years ago, before I had kids, before The H was The H, we went to Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando. And I was TERRIFIED the entire time. All I remember of the night was going through some maze and being 100% positive I was going to die.

I thought, for SURE now that I was a grown up and knew monsters weren't real (unless they're zombies, then all bets are off), it would be an awesome date night for The H and me. And I don't remember the last time we had a date night.

We met up in the Knott's Hotel for a pre-scare Boo-fet. Hilarious.

If you're coming to the area, and unsure about lodging for OC, Knott's Hotel is a great choice - you can walk to Knott's, it's a pretty centralized location, and tons of restaurants and other stuff to do close by. It's also just a few minutes down the street from Dland, if you're into that sort of thing (like me).

This was a chocolate thing, with licorice legs and a custard inside. Yum.

When in doubt, eat all the dessert?

creepy!
 

I swear there was actual (delicious) food there too.

At dinner, I found out I was one of a few lucky participants selected to tour Trapped, Knott's Scary Farm's first reservation-only interactive maze. Great!

After we ate, we ran over to the park to make the most of our kid-free time (PS, no kids allowed - 13 and up suggested!).

These creepers meet you right inside the gates....
Awesome. Creepy, sure, but not so much with the terrifying, right?

We headed towards Ghost Town....
And this is when I almost lost my mind. Dude. There are people there, everywhere, all dressed up all freakish, and jumping out at you, and being scary.

The H thought it was hysterical. It was not, it was terrifying. Obviously, he's broken.

Since this is an event that is intended to be terrifying... I shouldn't have been surprised. But Knott's did an amazing job with everything - the themeing, the lighting - lights, right at your face all over the place, but still keeping the place all dark and shadowy, so when isht jumps out at you, you're all discombobulated and terrified - it works.

zombies? people? can't tell!

We made our way over to...
And while I wish I could tell you how terrifying it was, I completely chickened out. It's true. The H wasn't on the list, only me, and there was no way, no WAY, I was going in there alone. I HEARD THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE EMERGENCY FREAK OUT EXITS. #teamchicken

From what I've heard, it was a deliciously terrifying experience, and highly recommended. I know, I'm super lame.

In soft, cuddly news, the Halloween themed merchandise that was out for sale was adorable!


We tried the Virus Z maze, with a Carrie based finale - and I LOST MY MIND, and took off running through one of the rooms. I KNOW. My Zombie Survival outlook is pretty grim.

We walked through Camp Spooky on the way out of the park, awhile later, and it was possibly just as terrifying as walking through Ghost Town. And then I admitted defeat.

************************************************************************************** The details: Knott's Scary Farm runs select nights through Halloween, Sept. 27-30, Oct. 4-7, 11-14, 18-21, 25-28, 30-31, 2012, from 7pm through 1am (2am Friday and Saturday). Separate ticket is required, and can be purchased online or at the gate.