During October, various spooky walkthrough events further our anticipation of Halloween. Some of these take place at amusement parks. Knott’s Scary Farm first opened in 1973 and became the first Halloween Haunt event at an amusement park. Six Flags’ Fright Fest came to be in 1986. For obvious reasons, the theory is that Six Flags copied Knott’s Berry Farm’s idea. 

This year, Knott’s Scary Farm had eight mazes, while Fright Fest only had six. Six Flags is also much more extensive than Knott’s Scary Farm, making it seem like they would have more mazes. But, they use their extra space for larger scare zones than Knott’s Scary Farm can have. Fright has better-themed scare zones than the ones at Knott’s Scary Farm. These two things are probably the only things Fright Fest has that are better than Knott’s Scary Farm’s.

Knott’s Scary Farm’s mazes are better quality all around. The actors are more talented. The mazes are more detailed, both aesthetically and in plot-line aspects. The mazes are prettier and scarier (yes, these adjectives are purposefully placed in the same sentence). The mazes are more appealing in the sense that they seem well-crafted, as if someone put a lot of time and passion into bringing them to life. They are scarier because the actors seem to have had more practice scaring people than the actors at Fright Fest. The Fright Fest actors are goofier, which kills the frightening part (which can be a good or bad thing, depending on the person, of course). Fright Fest actors also tend to be more touchy than Knott’s Scary Farm’s actors. The actors touching an amusement park-goer while in a maze or a scare zone can be accidental. But, Knott’s Scary Farm actors seem to be far more careful and courteous of visitors to the park than Fright Fest actors are.

Overall, Knott’s Scary Farm is the original amusement park Halloween Haunt. They have had more practice and experience with mazes than any other amusement park. Each year, their performances, mazes, passion, talent, and drive get better. Knott’s Scary Farm’s actors are better at respecting people’s boundaries when it comes to touch. Fright Fest has more space and more astonishing scare zone themes, but they do not use their space wisely. They should create more mazes. I and many others would be thrilled if they made more mazes. Hopefully, they plan on doing so in the future years. I am sure that they can find room somewhere to do it.