Days before opening night of Knott’s Scary Farm, everyone has to be trained on the operations of the event, so everything runs smoothly and is wonderfully terrifying. There is a hustle and bustle of everyone from build, wardrobe, cast and crew to prepare for the opening of Scary Farm. The day we visited they were focusing on training monsters, black out and guest control for mazes. We saw this process for Paranormal Inc.,Voodoo, and Toothfairy. It will be the first time all of these teams work the maze with guests (guests meaning street monsters who are going through). It is wonderful to see the excitement on the faces of all the streets monsters from Fiesta De Los Muertos, The Hollows, Carnevil and Ghost Town. They are waiting in anticipation to have a good scare from their monster brothers and sisters. Also, since these monsters will always be in the streets, this gives them the opportunity to experience these mazes and to see what the design and build team created.

The First People you encounter at Scary Farm when you head towards your maze of choice is Guest Control, a team of people with white shirts and black ties. They guide you to ensure you get in line for your maze of choice for either Gen. Admission or Fright Lane. When you are in line, they keep line flow at a good pace and count groups for specific mazes that have pre-shows so it is not too many people with you but just enough to ensure a steady pace of line flow.

We interviewed Donald and Deanna, Guest Control from Toothfairy. They informed us what is gone over during dress rehearsals,

“I’m explaining to them what to do with Guest Control, informing them about the maze, controlling the guests, keeping the maze clean and safe.” -Donald

“Our main job for Guest Control pretty much is keeping everyone in order, how many people come in, and we have the clicker right here.”

-Deanna

Inside the maze looking after the monsters, ensuring their safety and guiding you when the maze becomes confusing or super dark are The Blackouts. Even though they maybe invisible at times, they are always there, lurking in the shadows. Before the monsters of streets head into Paranormal Inc. for a scare, Bonnie (the team leader for blackouts for Paranormal and it’s her very first year working Scary Farm), gathers her army of blackouts and goes over the safety and daily procedures. Also what to do when guests want out and everything to know about the maze. Also she gets them excited for another year of Scary Farm. During her meeting with the blackouts she states,

“Just know I am here for you guys, we are all a team: line control, talent, all of us. We got each other’s backs.”

-Bonnie

With every department from Monsters lead by the Cast Lead, Guest Control and Black Outs working together creates a great system for the maze to be terrifying and safe. When we head in, some monsters are in their masks and costume and some are there without that but their characters show through movement, scare and facial expression. Everyone is energetic and on point, it is wonderful that they are given dress rehearsal to get in the groove of their characters and environment. You can see all the action of Paranormal Inc. and Voodoo in our video below.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our article and video. Thank you to the people of Guest Control and Black Outs for ensuring the best and safe experiences at Scary Farm. We here at the Knott’s Network are grateful for your dedication and for what you do. Thank You ❤ Scary Farm starts up again this Thursday, so be sure not to miss out. We will see you all soon… In The Fog.