Knott’s Berry Farm returns to the fog for Halloween Haunt 2016

Knott’s Berry Farm will add two new haunted mazes for Halloween Haunt 2016 that feature demonic samurais and sadistic farmers plus a new scare zone stalked by the legendary headless horseman.

The 44th annual Knott’s Scary Farm will start Sept. 22 and run on select nights through Oct. 31.

The granddaddy of Halloween events will feature nine haunted mazes, four scare zones and two shows scattered throughout the Buena Park theme park. Elvira Mistress of the Dark returns as the face of the event.

Among the new offerings for Halloween Haunt 2016:

Shadow Lands

The Shadow Lands maze will put visitors in an ancient Japanese temple inhabited by the rotting corpses of disgraced samurai warriors who must redeem their honor on the battlefield.

The maze, which is behind the Xcelerator coaster, takes the space previously used for the Black Magic maze.

Red Barn

A vengeful farmer and his sadistic sons prey on innocent victims who wander into a blood-soaked Red Barn, which teems with carnivorous farm animals and chainsaw-wielding hillbillies.

The gory Red Barn maze re-creates horror films of the 1970s and ’80s like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Motel Hell.” It replaces the Pinocchio Unstrung maze in the Wilderness Dance Hall.

Skeleton Key rooms

This year, Knott’s will build four new standalone Skeleton Key rooms that are independent of the haunted mazes. In years past, the upcharge rooms were an interactive first scene for visitors willing to pay extra for the experience.

• In the Visions key room, visitors armed with augmented reality devices will explore a museum teeming with paranormal activity.
• The Zozo key room features a Ouija board session and a visit from a demonic spirit.
• A masked killer known as the Angel Maker inhabits the world of 1980s horror movies in the Slasher key room.
• Armed with only a faulty lantern, visitors must navigate a blacked-out hay maze filled with mutant beasts in the Prey key room.

Previews of returning mazes:

Paranormal Inc.

A team of ghost hunters from a cable TV show investigate a haunted hospital where patients have been tortured for decades by deranged doctors in the Paranormal Inc. maze.

The maze offers interactive story lines, branching paths and aerial stunts as visitors team up with the ghostbusters from the fictional “Paranormal Inc.” television show.

Voodoo: Order of the Serpent

The Voodoo maze takes visitors into the swampy backwoods of a Louisiana bayou brimming with witch doctors and zombies.

The choose-your-own-path maze wanders through the swamp shanties of a bayou village.

Black Ops: Infected

The rebooted Black Ops: Infected zombie apocalypse attraction will be moved from the wide-open spaces of the 6-acre Camp Snoopy kiddie land to the tighter confines of a haunted maze built to look like a cityscape.

The interactive video game-like experience arms visitors with simulated military assault weapons and assigns them a simple mission: Kill as many zombies as possible. Guided by squad commanders, teams of Haunt visitors will set off into an infected zone swarming with zombies.

Dead of Winter: Wendigo’s Revenge

The Dead of Winter maze puts visitors in the icy grasp of a resurrected snow queen who sounds a lot like a vengeful version of Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen.”

The dark and gory maze will include an army of undead Viking warriors bent on avenging the murder of the queen’s family and determined to destroy anyone who enters her ice palace.

Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy maze mashes up two rites of passage: the legendary creature that sneaks into children’s bedrooms in the middle of the night and an agonizing trip to the dentist’s office.

Trick or Treat

The beautifully rendered Trick or Treat maze takes visitors inside the haunted home of Haunt’s iconic Green Witch on Halloween night.

Gunslinger’s Grave: A Blood Moon Rises

The Red Hand Gang tries but fails to kill a legendary gunslinger, who rises from the dead to seek revenge on an 1883 Old West town teeming with werewolves.

Scare Zones and shows

Three scare zones will return for Haunt 2016: Carnevil, Fiesta de los Muertos and Ghost Town.

New for 2016, Knott’s will adapt the Sleepy Hollow legend into a scare zone haunted by the headless horseman and his army of undead soldiers and farmers. The new scare zone will be in the Camp Snoopy area of the park.

Haunt 2016 will also feature two shows. Elvira Mistress of the Dark will return with an all-new music, dance and comedy show called “Elvira’s Dance Macabre.” The perennial pop culture evisceration of celebrities and their foibles known as “The Hanging” mixes comedy and music with disembowelment and a noose-swinging finale.

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