If it’s August, that means it’s time for the one-two punch of Knott’s Scary Farm announcements. The first is the teasing at Midsummer Scream, which is what we’re covering today. They announced which mazes will be celebrating their final season with us and provided an update to one of the scare zones.
The first of two new mazes retiring after this year is Origins.
Origins was one of the last mazes Jon Cooke worked on, and it debuted in 2019 to warm reception. It incorporated an endless number of references to the history of Ghost Town and served as an anchor point for the histories of Sarah Marshall, the Green Witch, and the grimoire, the cursed book that has since been a link among all the new Scary Farm mazes.
The team discussed their favorite references in the maze, including the Catawampus character, the Haunted Shack accouterments, and just how immersive it was overall. One of the big aspects of the maze was how you felt like you were part of the world before you even entered, thanks to the barker outside.
The other maze was more of a surprise, though.
The Chilling Chambers, a tribute maze that debuted back in 2023 during their 50th anniversary celebration, is getting one last year of scares in before it returns to the fog. This maze was designed to honor the park’s 50-year history and to resurrect some of the most beloved scenes from mazes over many decades, including Doll Factory and Uncle Bobo’s Big Top of the Bizarre. The scenes were chosen to cover as many archetypes as possible within that area of Camp Snoopy, and we would say they succeeded.
It also featured a caretaker, by the name of The Keeper, who was an homage to the original Haunt host, Sinister Seymour, during the first season of the maze.
We had hoped this maze would be a more permanent installation, with scenes swapped out as needed every few years, but alas, it is time for even this museum of the damned to become part of its own history.
Beyond all that, Knott’s took the time to detail how they plan to revamp the clown-based scare zone, Carnevil.
Even though the Mesmer maze has gone into a fog of its own, it hasn’t become fully forgotten. The characters of Mesmer, including the Professor himself, are being integrated into the Carnevil scare zone. Now firmly set in the dustbowl of the 1920s, the scarezone has a more deliberate focus rather than just being an ambiguously themed sideshow. In addition to the professor, there will also be a carnival barker, intent on lowering your defenses, and a woman known as The Clown Maker, the queen of clowns.
But that wasn’t all.
They ended with a teaser for their Nightmares Unleashed event, just a few scant days away, inside the park itself. A short video of camcorder footage played, teasing one of the new mazes. And they confirmed the Boulet Brothers are returning to host the event and to record a podcast that night as well.
While an additional set of limited tickets were made available for the Nightmares Unleashed event, they quickly sold out again. We’ll be there to cover all the news from that event, as well.
Knott’s Scary Farm, however, begins September 17th and runs select nights through October 31. Tickets and season passes are available now at sixflags.com.
