Two new Knott’s Scary Farm haunted mazes will take visitors into a world of murderous cartoon characters and on an archaeological dig that unearths an ancient evil when the granddaddy of all Halloween events returns to the Buena Park theme park.
Knott’s Scary Farm will add the new Inked and Unearthed haunted mazes along with the new “Voodoo Bayou’s Edge” and “Occultum” shows for the Halloween 2026 season.
Knott’s announced the new additions during the “Nightmares Revealed” event on Tuesday, Aug. 18 that previewed the 10 mazes, five scare zones, three shows and more than 1,000 monsters coming to Scary Farm 2026.
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The 53rd season of the after hours, separate admission event kicks off on Sept. 17 and runs on select nights through Oct. 31 at Knott’s Berry Farm.
The new Inked maze will take visitors into the 1930s cartoon world of Morbid Studios run by washed-up studio head Mortimer Morbid.
Blood becomes ink and imagination becomes reality while Mortimer is working on a final Halloween television special where his murderous cartoon characters come to life and pull viewers into their twisted world.
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The Inked maze will be created by Knott’s Scary Farm creative designer Daniel Miller, who worked on the Zoo maze in 2025.
The new Inked maze will be located under the Xcelerator coaster.
The new Unearthed maze will take visitors on a perilous journey through an excavation site where the discovery of ancient tablets has awakened a malevolent force from a forgotten age.
A search and rescue team responding to a distress signal at the excavation site must battle an ancient evil unearthed by the archaeological dig.
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The Unearthed maze will be designed by Knott’s Scary Farm creative designer Jon Asperin, who worked on the Bloody Mary maze in 2025.
The new Unearthed maze will be located at the former Mystery Lodge attraction.
Eight haunted mazes will return in 2026:
- Mary: The Haunting of Worth Home
- The Zoo
- Widows
- Eight Fingers Nine: The Boogeyman
- Chilling Chambers
- Cinema Slasher
- Room 13
- Origins: The Curse of Calico
The Origins and Chilling Chambers mazes will be retired after the 2026 season of Knott’s Scary Farm.
The new “Voodoo Bayou’s Edge” show on the Calico Mine Stage will feature drums and dancers amid smoke and fire effects.
Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau will guide the audience through a haunted cemetery and into an underworld of spirits who rule over fertility, healing and death.
The new “Occultum” show in the recently refurbished Bird Cage Theatre will feature magicians from the Magic Castle private club in Hollywood that also serves as the headquarters for the Academy of Magical Arts.
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“The Hanging” comedy and stunt show will return to the Wagon Camp Theater for another year of pop culture parody and satire.
The Knott’s creative team will also update the CarnEvil scare zone with a new backstory where carnival sideshow characters take over the Boardwalk area of the park.
The new CarnEvil backstory brings Mesmer the Hypnotist and his carnival curiosities to the scare zone typically overrun with crazed clowns.
Mesmer: Sideshow of the Mind was a haunted maze from 2021 to 2025 during Knott’s Scary Farm.
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The four other returning scare zones include:
- Ghost Town Streets
- Forsaken Lake
- Gore-ing 20’s
- The Gauntlet
The Nightmares Revealed preview event featured a panel discussion on the new Inked and Unearthed mazes, walk-throughs of the Room 13 and Widows mazes with the lights on, monster makeup demonstrations and a Scary Farm wardrobe display.