Our resident paranormal expert Brocarde is continuing her California adventure, unearthing the real ghost stories behind America’s first theme park and the spooky tales behind it
This week, for my Terrifying Travels column, I’m embarking on another Code Orange adventure. Halloween season is officially in full swing in California, and when I was invited to the opening night of Knott’s Scary Farm, I couldn’t resist. This is a theme park with more than its fair share of ghostly folklore.
Over the years, these chilling stories have become woven into the park’s Halloween celebrations. But beneath the monsters, mazes and theatrical scares are tales of supposedly real paranormal encounters that have helped give the park its eerie reputation.
The story of Knott’s Berry Farm is not only charming, but could also explain why some believe a few spirits have remained behind. Let me take you back to 1920. Walter Knott and his wife, Cordelia, dreamed of a life on the land and rented 20 acres in Buena Park, California. They began by selling berries from a humble roadside stall, with no idea that their small farming venture would eventually become an entertainment empire.
After rescuing six struggling berry plants from Rudolph Boysen’s farm in Anaheim, Walter successfully cultivated a large, tart fruit. He named it the boysenberry, paying homage to its origins. The fruit would go on to become a key ingredient in the farm’s jams and its now famous boysenberry pie.Then the Great Depression hit in the 1930s.
Cordelia began serving fried chicken dinners in a small tea room, using her wedding china, with boysenberry pie for dessert. What started as a modest roadside stop quickly became a local sensation. Hungry customers soon found themselves queuing around the block for Cordelia’s famous chicken.
Walter needed something to keep the crowds entertained while they waited. So, in the 1940s, he began adding attractions, including buildings transported from Calico, a genuine ghost town in the California desert.
From there, he created an Old West Ghost Town. In 1947, the attraction was officially declared Knott’s Berry Farm, establishing what would become America’s first theme park. And this is where things get particularly interesting for a paranormal enthusiast.
With parts of Knott’s Berry Farm constructed around the bones of a real ghost town, it’s hardly surprising that stories began circulating about certain historic buildings harbouring lingering spirits. When the park introduced its first Halloween haunt in 1973, the idea was to embrace that rustic history, filling the authentic ghost town with frontier characters, fog and, of course, plenty of ghosts.
Today, reports of strange sightings and unexplained encounters are not limited to Halloween. Some might say that at Knott’s, it’s Scary Farm long after the Halloween fog has disappeared.
I was invited to experience Knott’s Scary Farm on opening night, and the park has an unmistakable charm. Even today, its rustic character remains firmly intact, and once you understand the history behind the place, you appreciate it on another level. As soon as you step into the park, you find yourself in the heart of the ghost town. Through the fog, monsters emerge and ghosts appear to come alive around you.
I was particularly keen to experience Origins: The Curse of Calico. As one of the park’s long running scare mazes, this is its final year, making it the last opportunity to experience the legend of Sarah Marshall. The maze has, of course, been dramatised for theatrical effect, but its story is rooted in the history and folklore surrounding Calico.
At its centre is Sarah Marshall, presented as a real woman from the mining town who was accused of witchcraft and sentenced to a public hanging. Inside the maze, her curse unleashes chaos, transforming the town’s inhabitants into walking undead creatures, part human, part animal and completely terrifying.
There’s a charming, old school quality to the attraction, although it’s easy to understand why it feels like a piece of Halloween history now approaching its final curtain. I enjoyed it, but when you compare it with some of the park’s newer mazes, such as this year’s Inked , the contrast is obvious. I was particularly excited to try Inked , a new maze whose concept immediately caught my attention.
Once again, charm is the word that springs to mind, although this time it comes with a much darker and more surreal twist. Morbid Studios sits beneath a blood red illuminated super coaster, transporting me back to the 1930s and into the bizarre world of a washed up cartoonist. He discovers that his own blood is a magical ink capable of bringing his drawings to life, naturally.
Soon, a whole cast of monstrous creations has been unleashed, and they waste no time in jumping out at me as I’m surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colour. The trippy maze almost left me dizzy as twisted cartoon characters appeared from the darkness, combining classic jump scares with a wildly surreal visual experience. The ghosts encountered here may be fictional creations, but they are every bit as mesmerising.
Without the luxury of big budget blockbuster franchises to pull in the crowds, Knott’s Scary Farm relies on the same ingredient its founder Walter Knott used when creating the park in the first place, imagination.
And there’s one final ghost story worth mentioning. Some believe Walter Knott himself still haunts the park. Staff members have reportedly experienced a sense of his presence, with the legend suggesting that he continues to keep a watchful eye over his creation from beyond the grave.
Apparently, he’s still making sure everything is in order and running smoothly. So perhaps, when it comes to Knott’s Scary Farm, the founder really is still there in spirit.