Knott's Halloween Haunt 2018

Knott's Berry Farm's Halloween Haunt proves to improve every year. It wasn't perfect, but I was thoroughly impressed. I went twice this year and had a blast both times. As always, I got the Fright Lane and Fast Lane bundle to get express access to both rides and mazes. This saved my party huge amounts of time and it's definitely worth it if you don't want to wait in line.

The Good

* Trick or Treat: Lights Out

I highly recommend going on this maze first. Because of the way attendants let people inside and the dark atmosphere, it takes a very long time to get inside even for the Fright Lane. I made the mistake of going later in the day the first time and waited in line for over an hour, something that's never happened before. The maze itself is so innovative and fun with many improvements over last year. Each person (or each party if it's too crowded) is given a flashlight to go through the maze. Everything is in low light and each room gets me into the Halloween spirit: a staircase lined with jack-o-lanterns, monsters under the bed, an eerie dinner with ghostly figures, and a witch's lair. The lair was my favorite because the flashlight changed to blacklight to illuminate the neon symbols and writings on the wall. The end hallway is in the dark, but because it's not completely enclosed, the effect is lessened. There's room for improvement, but this is one of the best mazes at the park, guaranteed to get you in the Halloween spirit.

* The Depths

The Depths is a brand new nautical themed maze that has Lovecraftian supernatural elements. This was my favorite maze by far. It has a much different feel and theme to the rest and has some of the best effects I've seen. Right of the bat, an old man animatronic tells you big fish stories outside to amuse those in line. The first impressive room is a bright light filtering through wooden slats, creating a blinding, otherwordly effect. The second is a room full of mist with laser lights over the top to create a water effect, also seen in Dark Harbor's Intrepid. It's done just as well here with fish humanoids hiding in the mist. A giant octopus emerges from all corners of one room. Another room rocks back and forth like a ship, which I've never seen before. It all ends with an impressive giant shark attack. The only drawbacks were the mermaid room (which I didn't really get until the third time) and the actors with shark heads, which looked super cheesy. Everything else was so amazing that these issues didn't bother me.

* Paranormal Inc.

Paranormal Inc. has repeated for a few years, but it's always one of my favorites. I was a little disappointed that the beginning story is cut short. It makes the story less clear, but loads people into the maze faster. Most of the maze is the same as previous years, an interesting amalgamation of ghosts, a creepy abandoned mental asylum, and a passage to hell. I love the use of actors on bungee cords bouncing in and out of unexpected places. The ending of previous years was lengthy and awesome with glow in the dark blues, an alien hellscape, and gigantic monstrous creatures. The new ending merges that hellscape with the asylum in its hayday. It seems idyllic and quaintly 50's until the lighting changes, revealing that hellscape beyond the walls of the corridor. This effect is absolutely amazing, unlike any other maze I've seen.

* Pumpkin Eater

Pumpkin Eater is a fun maze that's a twisted take on the nursery rhyme. The talking jack o'lantern set the mood well and delighted me. Going inside a giant jack o' lantern looked realistic with pumpkin guts dripping from the ceiling, some of them wet for that extra realism. The dead are encased in pumpkins and other dead bodies are strewn about with pumpkin-headed people and giant bugs on the attack. The ending with the vibrating metal floor is a bit of a surprise and another unique, fun effect. The meat grinder seemed a little out of place, perhaps finding a more thematic home in the Red Barn maze.

* Special Ops: Infected

Special Ops: Infected has the viewers killing zombies and destroying their source with guns in order to save the world. Military people stop you at the end of each area to debrief you on what to do and remind you about your mission. Different varieties of zombies attack you throughout. Some wear collars with lights on them that go off with the laser gun. Unfortunately, some rooms can have few of these collared zombies, making your shots not count towards your score. Overall, the maze is fun and with dynamic areas, but more collars if that's what we need to shoot at. I would personally like to see Forevermore come back, which was in the same location years ago, or have some changes made to the maze in the future.

* Red Barn

Red Barn is in its third year at the park. Each year, it gets a little better with added details and expansion of the lore. A deranged family sees people as cattle for food, very similar to the Sawyer family from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Right from the entrance, the music is loud and oppressive, setting the mood. There are fun pieces of lore on the walls in addition to some impressive gore effects. The rooms with tortured people are the creepiest and the pig masks go a long way. However, the ending has a guy with a chainsaw who just stood there. If there is a chainsaw, I fully expect to be chased out of the maze with it.

* Rides

The old and new rides are all worth the Fright and Fast Lane passes. Ghostrider felt a little less harsh on my back due to more cushy seats. It's a wooden rollercoaster and feels like a very long ride, but it's not so bumpy as to be painful anymore. Silver Bullet and Xcelerator are two of my favorites, but the latter takes a long time to get on even with the pass. This was the first year I ever rode Supreme Scream and it's a definite rush. New rollercoasters like Hang Ten and Sierra Sidewinder are wonderful additions. I took so long riding rides the first time I went that I didn't get to do everything I wanted. There were just too many good ones. The best ride changed by Halloween is the Log Ride. It has a delightful Halloween Hootenanny complete with all sorts of monsters coming together for music and a good time.

The Bad

* Dark Ride

Dark Ride is basically an old carnival ride complete with rats, bugs, and evil carnies. I find the idea underdeveloped and underwhelming to walk through. The ride is intentionally shoddily made with falling apart props and animatronics. The clowns are fine, but mostly relegated to one room. It feels incomplete in some way and that there were very little changes from last year.

* The Shadowlands

Ugh. This one is the most frustrating. Shadowlands is an attempt at making a Japanese themed maze. The product has a few interesting props and one good scare with caricatures of the culture and the actors in essentially "yellow face." It's not scary or edgy; it's just annoying and infuriating. Bring back a quality maze that doesn't have to take on harmful stereotypes to function. The "sexy geishas" are particularly egregious. It's simply not needed and mars the rest of the event.

Overall, Knott's Halloween Haunt is improving by leaps and bounds. The sound design and lighting of each maze improve every single year plus there are always small details that enhance the experience. I love this event, but there are still flaws. I hope next year holds even more improvements.

Knott's Halloween Haunt 2017 Part 3

* Red Barn



Red Barn is another repeat maze, but there are a few changes from last year. It still features the redneck family worshipping horses and pigs while eating people kind of like Children of the Corn Sawyer family. The victims telling you where to go is a nice touch. Judging by the amount of severed limbs and bodies around, there would be a lot of victims running around the place. The undead horse thing never looks good. I wish they would update it with something because it looks ridiculous next to everything else. The new wooden doors and numerous cultish symbols make the rest of the maze cohesive. I was impressed by the trough in a cross shape underneath a body. It combines the cannibalism and religious aspects in one good image. The chainsaw chase at the end is good, but I didn't actually get to see it. Chainsaws always freak me out and I wish they could time it a little better. It's an overal improvement from lasty year even with the weird horse.

* Timber Mountain Log Ride Halloween Hootenany



This ride is so adorable! It's a more family friendly Halloween than the rest of the park, but I just find it delightful. Scare actors are peppered here and there, but they seem out of place with the more wholesome feel. The inside is peppered with cobwebs and black light so they glow. Projection effects have silhouettes of monsters here and there. Jack o'lanterns, aliens, bat-vampire hybrids, witches, and a band made up of horror movie monsters are added to the ride. It's all charming and adorable with fun music throughout. I love this addition to the Knott's.

* Scare Zones

The scare zones were pretty lackluster this year. The themes were fine, but there didn't seem to be enough actors. The fog is crazy as always, but the Day of the Dead themed section is never very scary. The actors were prompting people to dance and goes against the concept of the scare zone. The Carneval section wasn't as good this year and I don't even remember going through the Sleepy Hollow themed section at all. Get it together!

* Improvements!!!

Overall, Knott's Scary Farm improved so much. The makeup is on point. The sets are so much more detailed with appropriate lighting. They've started to incorporate better sound effects and soundtracks to each maze. Between rooms, they opted to have opaque barriers so what's on the other side is a true surprise. They even had those annoying strings in front of your faces that feel like spiders that Universal has used for years. The small details really make a difference. I had so much fun. In past years, the scares just wouldn't land with me. This year, almost every single one landed and there were a lot of surprises. The only downside for me was the lack of workers on the rides. It tales forever for people to put themselves in the ride on their own and it gets pretty crazy. Other than that, everything was pretty awesome. I'm so excited to go next year to see how they will change and become even better.

Knott's Halloween Haunt 2017 Part 2

* Voodoo



While much is the same from last year, the route of the maze is backwards with the swamp first and then the buildings. This one has a very unexpected scare with lighting, sound, and a good scare actor making an excellent jump scare. I'm used to seeing that at Universal, not at Knott's, so it's a sign of them changing their game and creating higher quality scares. The lighting is much more mysterious and creepy, filtering through the trees. The insde of the houses are basically the same. It's a basic culturally insensitive maze other than that. the scare actors on bungeeds are the only other impressive stunt. The snake at the end is pretty cheesy.

* Pumpkin Eater



Pumpkin Eater is a brand new maze that takes the traditional nursery rhyme and makes it creepy and murderous. He seems to skin people's faces or carve their faces like jack o'lanterns. Going inside pumpkin is an experience. The first couple encounters with the pumpkin guts hanging down from the ceiling are dry, but the last one is wet, making it feel just like real pumpkin guts. Very startling when you aren't expecting it. The pumpkin has tortured and dead people along its walls with projection effects to make it seem real. Afterwards is a creepy corn maze, a grinder full of people, and people filled pies in a smoky oven. It's the most unique concept I've seen in a while and it offered quite a few scares.

* Dark Ride



Dark Ride is also a new maze that takes you into a defunct carnival ride where something obviously went wrong what with the dead bodies. It's a fun mixture of obviously fake cheesy scares and something that feels truly wrong. The scary tree scene is pretty much stolen from the Snow White Ride. Other rooms include a haunted library, weird neon electrocultions, and a pretty impress (but damaged) giant dragon. The Danny Elfman-esque soundtrack helps as does the effect when the power briefly goes out, stalling the animatronics, the lights, and the music. It seems that ex-workers have turned it into their torture chamber. It's an interesting concept, but it's missing something.

* Shadow Lands



This lackluster maze is back as another culturally insensitive installment. Samurai aren't really scary even when they're dead. Neither are geishas with loud fans. The only interesting part is the stuttery spider walk (which is missed in the video) of a long haired ghost woman. Everything else is painfully awkward and simply not scary. It's just a step above from the cowboy mazes.

Knott's Halloween Haunt 2017 Part 1

It's that time of year again! I go to Knott's Halloween Haunt every year and it gets better and better. I always get the front of the line Fright Lane for the mazes because waiting hours in line isn't on my agenda for the night, but this time it's bundled with the Fast Lane, front of the line for rides. This year was better than ever with very few flaws.

* Trick or Treat: Lights Out



This maze was the longest to get into because people tend to walk slow when lights are low. You are handed a flashlight to go through the very low lit maze. It has a lot in common with previous incarnations of the maze, but it has an added element because it's so dark. I was more anxious going through the maze and eager to shine my flashlight on everything. The 80's inspired music truly set the stage. The first room is Halloween to me with flashing Jack o'lanterns and a spooky apparition. The room with the masks and lit eyes is so much more effective in the lower light. It's a traditional haunted house with floating books, creepy dolls, and a bathtub full of rot. The chained basement door with something pushing to get out is a particularly good touch. The music inside is right out of a movie and supports the scares. Of course the light goes out right when you need it and you walk through dark corrider. This may not seem impressive, but I haven't been anywhere else that puts anything completely in the dark. This was my favorite maze.

* The Tooth Fairy



This maze has been there for at least 3 years and it's always amazing. It starts with floss hanging from the ceiling that brushes across your face. The high pitched whine of dental drills sings through the air throughout the maze. Right after the inky black Cthulhu doorway is a pitch dark room. Subtle things like this are what strike fear in my heart. You have no idea if anyone else is in the room and I feel unease in the pit of my stomach. The set is incredibly detailed with blood spattered missing posters, children's toys, mutilated children, filthy medical equipment, and piles of teeth and coins. The room with the giant mouths is quite effective and the ending scare is awesome. This maze has a defined tone and atmosphere that I love. They layout is a bit different this year and the end scare is a bit of a surprise.

*  Parnormal Inc.



This maze has such a large story for one maze. It starts in the videos outside with a charlatan medium who breaks character to scream at a creditor. Everything about it seems like the ghosts are fake and the equipment will never work. It's weird to have an insane asylum of abused people paired with demons and hell, but it somehow works so well here. There are two slightly different routes and everyone meets where hell opens up. It can have a bit of traffic there, but the rest of the maze is well done. The room with blinding red light has scare actors in it, which isn't usually done. You can't see anything in the room, so the people could be anywhere and it's unnerving. The giant creatures look amazing and the last scare is epic. I love turning around and seeing other people's reactions to it. Not a lot changed since last year, but the small details make a big difference.

* Special Ops: Infected



It's back! I love this maze because it's the only one where you fight the monsters. You get a gun with unlimited ammo and try to hit the collar around the zombies neck. I'm terrible at this because I panic and I have terrible aim. It's fun anyway. Where else do I get to shoot zombies outside of a video game? Military people guide you through the maze and tell you what to look for, where to aim, and where to stop. I go through each section faster than I really should. The room with zombies tearing into it surprised me and I didn't know where to shoot. The subway sation is even worse with disorienting light. The big monster is pretty cool. The maze is like playing real life Resident Evil. If it's still there in a year, I should go on it more than once so I can actually hit some zombies.

Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Part 3

* American Horror Story: Roanoke



Roanoke starts with the human sacrificing colonists and the Butcher. We enter a small replica of the beautiful house. The ghosts of the colonists attack throughout the house. The scene with bloody items  (no idea what they were) moving by themselves on the wall was weird and I didn't remember anything like it on the show. The nurses who murder people based on their names and ghost Edward Phillippe Mott appear, but the figure most seen is the Pig Man. I didn't really find him that iconic of a character and it was similar to the Saw maze. The backwoods cannibal family is included with the stomach churning leg flaying scene. Overall, this maze was on par with the meh season of American Horror Story.

* The Walking Dead



This year, The Walking Dead maze is a permanent fixture in the park. Because it's not going to be torn down any time soon, it's much more immersive and realistic than it has been in previous years. The rooms where people wait look just like the hospital Rick woke up in complete with missing ceiling tiles, blood splatter and bloody handprints on the wall, and random hospital stuff and trash. I love that they included the iconic bicycle girl, one of the first zombies Rick ever encounters. The fire effects in the next room were the best I've seen at such an event and felt realistc. The windows with zombies crowding around them were a nice touch to make it feel like the zombie apocalypse. The truck with the dismembered zombies was unexpected and so were the pens with numerous zombies. My only gripe is that too many of those zombies are stationary and obviously statues. This maze is on much larger scale than any I've seen before and very high quality. This was one of my favorites.

* Insidious: Beyond the Further



I do not like the Insidious movies and I do not like this maze. The last Insidious maze from 2 years ago had surprising scares, but this one is completely lackluster. The first room is clearly the one they used for The Exorcist and there's no scare in it. There is an overabundance of dummies in the maze. They just don't inspire fear. People seem to be committing horrific acts of murder, but it doesn't work as a jump scare. The man strangling his daughter in her bed and the woman possibly going to stab her infant are creepy in theory and not so much in the maze. The narration throughout the maze was more annoying because it was hard to hear at times. The screams of the ghosts grew repetitive. The best part of the maze is the makeup of the demon at the beginning and the Tiny Tim song Tiptoe Through the Tulips. This one had the longest wait probably in anticipation of the new movie, but I was extremely underwhelmed by the maze. The end is similar to the Titans of Terror maze, but half of the Insidious villains looked goofy rather than scary.

Universal's Halloween Horror Nights gets better every single year. This year, the RIP tour was reintroduced, which was a little different. It includes a delicious buffet dinner, 2 alcoholic beverages, valet parking, and a guide through all the mazes plus the Terror Tram. This means that my group cut in front of the entire line for each maze, but there was very little rest time or breaks in between. I would have liked to go on the rides instead of backtracking and riding them later. In the 4 hours we walked around, there were 2 bathroom breaks and no time to just rest. It's tiring walking around for so long and a little rest time would have been nice. Other than that, the RIP tour is worth the money and I hope it's slightly re-evaluated for next year. I can't wait for next year to see what other movies they will bring to life.

Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Part 2

* Titans of Terror



I love how the maze starts: with an uber-horror fan's room decorated with all things Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface complete with a horror host on the TV. Each villain gets their own section of the maze, separated by rooms lit by different colored, high placed lights and fog, effectivley blinding the viewer. First is Freddy Krueger, introduced by his creepy nursery rhyme sung by children. Walking into his boiler room was like stepping into one of my favorite movies. The kill where his claw goes through a victim was so unexpected. The missing signs with skull superimposed over the children's faces with light is an incredible effect for a maze. The giant bone stroller gives the right amount of weird and cheesy that Freddy embodies. The sound effects of Freddy eating a child are absolutely disgusting even if the placement of the Freddy snake thing made it look super phallic. 

The last two sections are much shorter than Freddy's. Second is Jason Voorhees, introduced with his whispers and by his mother. The maze starts when Camp Crystal Lake is defunct, which is accurate to the movies since Jason as villain doesn't show until the second film. It delves into his mommy issues as his mother plays a lullaby for him and compliments him while viewers are struggling through his waterlogged victims. This section seemed  less detailed. I wanted to see his shrine to his mother with her mummified head. Last but not least is Leatherface, introduced by that chilling, flatly delivered news report at the beginning of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The very next scene is taken from the second movie, which disappointed me since Chop Top is so annoying. We get a glimpse into the Sawyer's grotesque kitchen with skinned and groundup people plus Leatherface working on a living victims, sawing them in half and cutting off their faces. I love the last three rooms, which are three rapidfire jumpscares with all 3 villains. Very effective if you go through with the right timing. This was my favorite maze of all because it was like stepping into two of my favorite movies. (Sorry Jason, your films aren't great.)

* Titans of Terror Tram hosted by Chucky



Chucky hosts the Terror Tram this year with his signature humor and bloodlust. He states the stats of all three killers. Jason is the most prolific with 146 kills over 12 movies. Freddy has only killed 35 people in 8 movies while Leatherface is only responsible for 23 kills. Of course Chucky markets his new movie Cult of Chucky (or he will kill the audience and the driver). At the end of the tram ride, he vows to kill as many of us as possible to catch up with the other villains. A crowd of Chucky's come at us with chainsaw as we leave the maze. It's a good effect and gives a clue to the twist in the new movie, but grown people look pretty ridiculous in Chucky costumes.

Jason is first here with the Camp Crystal Lake Motel. Most of the kills are so much better than the maze: a girl being in the back with a paddle, another's whole body being bent backwards by a folding bed, Jason shoving a girl's face into a circular blade sharpener, putting counselors in front of archery targets, and closing a vise on a victims head. Leatherface is next, starting with Chop Top and a corpse attacked to the front of his body right out of Texas Chainsaw 2. We enter the Sawyer Meat Plant where we are the food, attacked by various Sawyer family members with the uncomfortable sounds of squealing pigs.

The Freddy costumes for the plane crash set are inspired: Freddy is a grandma, a policeman, an EMT, a pilot, a teen athlete, and so many others. The sounds of his glove scraping by the metal dividers and his nursery rhyme accompanies the scene. Then comes the Sawyer Rendering Plant and that same flatly delivered new report. Unfortunately, the scenes that follow are exactly the same as the Titans of Terror maze. All the other villains got different scenes, but not Leatherface. Unfair and poor decision making.

More to come!

Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Part 1

I've been going to Halloween Horror Nights for a few years in a row and it's always one of the best haunts out there because of their attention to detail, the well trained scare actors, intricate sets, and sound design. There isn't a bad maze or scare zone in the bunch.

* Ash vs. Evil Dead



As a person who watches the show, this maze had a lot of small details from it like so many things inside Ash's trailer and the Ashy Slashy graffiti outside his childhood home. Many Deadites populate the maze, including his sister from the first movie and his elderly neighbor from the trailer park. The cabin in the woods has Pablo with the Necronomicon on his face and Ruby's creepy demon children. The most inhuman monsters are saved for last. Although this maze is less scary because of the humor of the show, I thought it was represented accurately and

* The Shining



Wendy Carlos' soundtrack the the movie sets the eerie, uncomfortable tone right away. Jack Torrance attacks throughout the maze while you run into iconic scenes from the movie, such as the bathroom scene with the ghost woman, the twins in the hallway, the chase through the hedge maze, and the elevator filled with blood. The room with the typed papers all over the wall that grow in size as you go and devolve into All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy is incredibly creative and effective with the loud sounds of a typewriter. The barriers between rooms are even giant typed paper. The skeletons at a dinner party were not in the film, but a nice touch to show the old inhabitants of the hotel. It's amazingly well done and creepy.

* Saw



Although the Saw movies are much too numerous and generally lacking in quality, this maze was one of my favorites. It combines the most creative and frightening kills of the franchise plus a glimpse into Jigsaw's workshop. My favorite scenes are the disemboweling scene when Amanda is frantically trying to get the key to the reverse beartrap on her head, the Pit and the Pendulum kill, and the whirring saw blades kill (from the new movie). I could have done with less pigheaded cloaked guys, but it may have been too cheesy to put them in the Jigsaw doll masks.

* The Horrors of Blumhouse



This maze starts with The Purge franchise, which I usually don't like this as an attraction, but so many set pieces are well done.The most annoying character from the third film is included with her iconic white outfit and car covered in white Christmas lights listening to a Miley Cyrus pop song. The later depictions of violence with the Star Spangled Banner piccolo solo over them were chilling. Both American flags shown were amazing. One was made of assault rifles and grenades while the other was made of bones and turned into the Confederate flag when its lights were on. It's topical and more hard hitting about current politics than I expected.

Next is Happy Death Day. The details of the dorm room are pretty exact, which was cool. Entering the same room conveys the Groundhogs day feel, but seems like a waste of a room. The creepy baby masked killer follows throughout the maze with an axe or a knife. I liked the music box "happy birthday" music and the main characters labored breathing because it gave an eerie tone. I'm a sucker for a room of figure where you don't know which ones are real people and which ones are mannequins. This was the weakest part of the maze.

The last bit is Sinister, one of my favorite movies. It starts with the poster come to life, a girl smearing blood on the wall. The music is one of the most frightening in horror movies and my heart started racing because of the weird percussive theme and the symbols on the wall. Some of the most grisly kills are included like the axe dismemberment and the only good kill from the second installment: putting rats under metal bowls and heating them up to force them to eat through the victims bodies to escape. Bughuul appears throughout the maze for jumps scares, which I didn't find as effective since he hardle makes an appearance in the film. I also liked the inclusion of two of the home videos, the iconic tree hanging and the film version of the rat kill.

More to come!

Queen Mary's Dark Harbor

This is my second year attending Queen Mary's Dark Harbor. The first time I was not very impressed, especially for the price and the long lines despite paying for the front of the line passes. This year is much better. The parking is inordinately expensive, but travel over from the shopping center is ample and more affordable.

The Mazes

* Intrepid



The Intrepid maze is my favorite of the whole event. It starts out with a Scottish music and soldiers on a ship. Then, it oddly turns to 14th century plague doctors in bird masks with beautiful architecture. The best room was one full of fog with laser lights over the top of it. I had no idea where to go and scare actors popped out of the fog, but it had such an otherwordly effect.

* Circus



The Circus maze has everything you could want: a mirror maze, creepy clowns, a fortune teller, and tons of other sideshow freaks. My friend was so disoriented by the mirror maze that she ran into a mirror trying to catch up with me and others kept running into dead ends. The bright colors and cheerful music set it apart from the other mazes. The final room full of fog with metal walls was the most effective scare of the maze.

* Feast

Feast is the newest maze with a deranged cannibal cook that greeted us while we waited in line. He and his deranged kitchen staff terrorize you as you navigate his kitchen and look at the food (made of human meat) that they have cooked up. There is a small bar after the first room if you feel like some liquid courage. The biggest scare for me was walking through the kitchen and a scare actor slamming on the metal trays and screaming at us. The Chef was pretty creepy, as was where the food came from and finally the table setting where it would be eaten.

* Deadrise



Come aboard a World War II sunken vessel returned to the surface with a crew of zombies to chase you. This nautical themed maze has morse code, horn blasts, and militaristic drum music playing throughout with lots of metal sheeting for surprisingly loud jump scares. Zombies scream like drill sergeants, spring towards you, and even shoot water at you. The zombie Captain greets you at the end, taunting, and the very last scare comes from a zombie above the exit. Be prepared. I especially liked that this one is mostly outside and gives a different feel than the other inside mazes.

* Lullaby

This maze is home to Scary Mary, a demanding, spoiled, and deranged ghost girl. She wants us as toys and shortlived companions for her games. The children's song Mary Had a Little Lamb plays throughout the maze, making the familiar tune creepy accompanied by her macabre toy collection and play room. The stuffed bear with human ribs was an inspired touch. Many iterations of Scary Mary follow you around the maze waiting to play.

* Soulmate

This maze has a 20's vibe with Graceful Gale's search for a soulmate. The room full of celebrities throughout the ages gives you an idea of Gale's mania and desperation in her search. The human skins and bodies attempting to be disposed of give an insight to what happened to her past lovers. The heart of the ship and it's inscription that it's alive were a little off topic, but creepy additions to the maze. Happy music plays throughout, giving a nice dissonance between it and the grisly sights.

* B340



This maze is the most nonsensical. Samuel the Savage leads you through his deranged mind, but I didn't really get a clear picture of a story. There were creepy set pieces and effective scare actors, but B340 is never really explained and parts of the maze just don't mesh. Nuns, school, shattered mirrors, skeletons, and insane asylums don't really have a cohesive story. The moving bridge and someone screeching at you from beneath the stairs you are climbing up is a particularly good touch in an otherwise lackluster maze.

* Sideshow and Mainstage

The sideshow and mainstage had many different performers, most dressed like clowns. I saw a vaudeville style dancer, an aerialist, fire breathers, and a man who had people staple money to him. There are two different stages plus the sideshow, so tons of acts are going on at the same time. It gave a cool vibe to the event and I always love discovering new talented people to follow.

Queen Mary's Dark Harbor is a huge improvement from last year. It helped that my friend and I went though most of the mazes alone. Super scary. The makeup and scare actors were much improved. There is a large emphasis on drinking with numerous bars, some even in mazes. Of course that's not the whole thing but keep it in mind if you're not interested in drinking. Only one maze was disappointing and it's unavoidable that mazes on the ship will be super hot. The others impressed and were well executed. I will definitely be going again next year.

The Cellar: Dining with the Undead

I went to this amazing event last year, but forgot to post about it. So of course I had to go again. The Cellar is an amazing restaurant that specializes in French dining and wine. The restaurant is underground and makes it seem that we're not in California anymore. This Dine with the Undead event merges their delicious French food with dinner theater courtesy of the Maverick Theater.

Once we got there, zombies would stagger out once in a while and the manager or the chef would drag them away or leave them lying on the floor. We took a small elevator into the restaurant and just as we went down, an zombie lunged at the manager as he shot at it. The restaurant is beautiful with dim lighting. Fake, blood stained spiderwebs are draped over the chandeliers and the statues along the walls. The event is sold out, so if your party is small, you will be seated next to strangers. It was honestly nice to get to know people, chat over the food, and discuss the show. While we were being seated, the radio news program from Night of the Living Dead is playing.

The same manager explains that the zombie apocalypse happens to coincide with this wonderful dinner. He asks us to check for bites and shows us a variety of ways on how to dispatch the dead. He demonstrates how to use a knife on a pumpkin and tries to distract us from the bitten chef. The first course is served, Attack of the Killer Tomato soup, which was creamy and savory. Just as we're finishing, the chef has become a full blown zombie who can no longer cook. Then we have Sea Creatures of the Black Lagoon which are shrimp in a squid ink remoulade that looks disgusting but is actually quite tasty with a little spice.

This whole time, a couple has been arguing and bickering the entire time. The woman is so rude to the assistant manager that he curses at her loudly. Her boyfriend gets sick of her constant complaining and goes to the bar. The manager figures giving the zombie brains will make him remember his past job and complete the main course, so they lead the obnoxious woman to a back room, where we hear her scream. The zombie chef demonstrates his skills and then we are served the main course, Witches Blood Bourguignon. The boyfriend of the obnoxious woman is led to the same room (after he shoots and kills the assistant manager), so the chef can finish the dessert, which is Return of the Mummy, a brownie covered in ganache and butter cream. All of the zombies come out and dance Thriller in their clumsy zombie way.

This is the second year I've been to this event and I enjoyed it immensely. The only downside was the obnoxious older people celebrating a birthday next to us that drank too much and started yelling loudly. The food is beautiful and tasty. You have to be kind of adventurous since some of the fare is outside of one's comfort zone. The wine parings are expertly chosen and not only have fun Halloween names, but go with each course. I highly recommend The Cellar. It's wonderful to have a quality restaurant that has the sense of humor and fun to host an event like this. I will definitely be going next year and I hope to convert some others to come with me.