It’s that time of year again, ghouls and boys! Okay fine, its almost that time of year again- but since both Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm kicked off their Halloween tricks and treats on the 26^th of September, I think its only fair for the rest of us to start the party early too!

Photo by Ben Gibbs

On Saturday, Willie and I met up with some of the lovely people  from MiceChat at Knott’s Berry Farm to test drive the first night of their Halloween Haunt. Now, MiceChat does this every year, and they have got a flawless system down! We arrived early for the pre-scare dinner -which was a Boo-fet, naturally- and feasted on Screamed Corn, Monster Mashed Potatoes, Grave-y, Poisonberry Pie I may have embellished on the names a bit, but with all the spooky decorations and monsters milling around, how can you blame me?! After dinner, Fishbulb and Dusty Sage rallied the troops and we made our way to the main drag to wait for the fun to begin!

While we waited to be let in to the park, we watched a parade of monsters making their way through the crowd. The creative costuming and makeup that the folks at Knott’s come up with is always brilliant, and this year was no exception! We saw werewolves and zombies and monsters I can’t even name, but I have to say that this girl was my favorite!

Photo by Ben Gibbs

Now usually I scare pretty easy, but I was determined not to lose my cool this year. I put on a very brave face and actually believed for half a minute that I was going to be okay!  ..it didn’t take long before a monster managed to creep up on me [in broad daylight!] and give me the fright of my life! Moments later, a monster cloaked in red announced that it was time for the scares to begin. The fog machines turned on, the zombies hid themselves in it, and we were off!

Remember when I said that the MiceChatters had a system? Well, they call it the ‘Death March’ and the plan is to do every single maze in the Haunt in one night! Now, I’m a Knott’s Scary Farm veteran! It’s been a staple of my annual Halloween fun since I was in High School, and I have never been able to make it through all the mazes in one night- so I was more than dubious about our chances of completing our mission.

I shouldn’t have been. Fishbulb marched every single one of us to victory, leading the way with the Sword of Destiny [which was perfect for helping us find him in the foggy, crowded dark] through all the mazes, and the Log Ride and the Calico Mine Ride!

Photo by Ben Gibbs

So how were the mazes? I won’t recap every single one here, but I will say that two of my favorites were the Labyrinth and the Dia de Los Muertos maze. Both were visually stunning and packed with scares!

The Dia de los Muertos maze has 3-D effects, and even though we purchased glasses I wasn’t sure how ‘good’ it would be. [If I can make a suggestion- get the glasses! You can get them at the entrance to all 3-D mazes for $1 per pair, and they're awesome!]

All photos by Ben Gibbs

Knott’s Berry Farm is just a twenty minute drive away from the Anaheim Resort, and if you’re going to be in the area this Halloween Season- you should try to fit their famous Halloween Haunt into your list of ‘Things To See’! It runs September 30th, October 1st – 4th, 7th – 11th, 14th – 18th, 21st – 25th,  and 28th November 3rd. [Ticket prices on the day of the event are $53.99 per person, but you can save money if you purchase your tickets online in advance here!]

This weekend, I’ll be checking out Halloween Time in the Disney Parks!

Lorealle