Knott's Taste of Fall-O-Ween 2020: General Review Featuring Special Guest Zombie Joe

Knott’s Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA

Well, it’s taken a little later than usual on account of this odd, Coronavirus pandemic-truncated season, but we’re finally kicking off our Halloween season coverage. And how fitting it is that our first stop is our favorite home during the fall, Knott’s Berry Farm! After all, that is where we started doing our haunt season coverage, documenting each autumn’s transformation into the Halloween Haunt.

A giant inflatable spider at the Knott’s entrance? Must be that time of the year again!

This year, however, there is no Knott’s Scary Farm. Safety concerns and state restrictions meant that the popular event was canceled earlier this summer, marking the first time we’d go without Haunt since its inception in 1973. However, all was not lost. On the heels of the park’s wildly successful “Taste Of” series, which began with the Taste of Calico in July and continued with the Taste of Knott’s last month, Knott’s Taste of Fall-O-Ween kicked off on Friday with a delightfully spooky, family-friendly offering that saw the park decked in familiar fall embellishments, offering a charming Halloween ambiance for guests of all ages, while also including quite a few fantastic little Easter eggs for Scary Farm fans too!

Understandably, the promise of even just a tease of our beloved Knott’s Scary Farm made us pretty excited to check out the event. And so, we hit the Farm for the Taste of Fall-O-Ween opening day, this past Friday. But we didn’t go alone. Hanging out with us for the afternoon was our dear friend and craziest haunted theater mastermind around, Zombie Joe! Known for his spectacularly spooky and twisted theater productions such as the famous Urban Death series, Blood Alley, Beasts from the Sea, Dark Dark Ride Ride, and a plethora of other wickedly fantastic theater shows, Zombie is also the nicest guy around. And he was ecstatic to take in a bit of Halloween with us at Knott’s!

Zombie Joe is pumped to check out “Scary Farm Lite!”

Before we dive into our general review, though, lets pause and talk about COVID. As annoying and inconvenient as it is, the Coronavirus pandemic is still going on and still very much real. As the country (and really, the world) continues to grapple with the spread of the virus and the ebbs and flows of its associated disease, most places continue to engage in health safety restriction policies to various degree, and guidelines like social distancing mask wearing, and attention to sanitary measures remain very important to obey.

This means that even for Halloween season, the most responsible thing to do would be to stay home as much as possible and forgo haunts, since they are non-essential events where many other people may gather. And many people are indeed opting to do just that. But as this pandemic continues to rage on with no close end in sight (it may be close to a year before a vaccine makes its way across the country and is administered in large enough numbers to render the pandemic stopped), it’s also understandable to not want to put life in a complete pause for such an extended period of time. So to that end, there’s no shame or criticism in wanting to have a little bit of escape from the stressful real world and go out to do something fun. The catch is doing so as safely and responsibly as possible.

Knott’s has been doing these Taste Of events for a couple of months now, and they’ve established a pretty solid set of policies and procedures that have generally allowed for as safe of a setting as is possible for a venue like a theme park. Attendance for each day is significantly limited well beyond normal park capacity and is controlled through the use of online-only ticket reservations. The park has engaged in efficient health checks prior to entering, and inside, plenty of tables, socially distanced line markers, and open space has been set up to try to get guests as far away from each other as possible. There is constant cleaning of tables present, and a fair amount of staff around to manage crowds as they develop. And in perhaps my favorite example of display of COVID policy, Knott’s has several themed reminder announcements broadcast over the park PA system to reinforce the rules in a fun and hilarious manner. Professional mask wearer, the Phantom of the Opera, reminds guests to keep face coverings worn throughout their stay. The Wicked Witch of the West offers a lesson in hand washing (though suffers an unfortunate fate in doing so). And a mid-century movie announcer voice offers a trailer for the terrifying film/experience, Invaders of Personal Space (space… space… spaaace…)!

Through three visits now, I’ve largely seen success in compliance with the rules, and though there are definitely some exceptions with proper mask wearing (I didn’t see anyone without a mask on except when eating at a table this time around, and I saw less than twenty guests improperly wearing their mask through the six hours I was there this time around) and crowds (The Boardwalk was more packed during the day than other areas), by and large, the environment has been comfortable enough to me that I have felt safe and able to keep away from other guests whenever I’ve needed to. Knott’s continuation of having duplicate food items across multiple locations to spread out crowds has also helped lower the extent of lines compared to the initial Taste of Calico weekend. Things won’t be perfect, but Knott’s certainly feels less risky from a Coronavirus-exposure standpoint than a Trader Joe’s, Target, or Costco these days.

Lite only applies to the absence of mazes, monsters, shows, and rides. But it certainly doesn’t apply to the theming!

Of course, each person’s comfort level will vary. I consider myself relatively stringent with caution, public exposure, and safety practices when it comes to this novel Coronavirus, but am I certainly not the strictest practioner. But for me, the fact that the Taste of Fall-O-Ween takes place almost completely outdoors, everyone needs to wear a mask, and there are not conditions where people are packed in any dense proximity reassures me that my chance of encountering any exposure to concentrated or prolonged viral load is very, very small. Each person will need to evaluate how they feel about said chances. Because it must be said: though Knott’s has done a great job of managing crowds, the Halloween aspect will assuredly make this event the most popular and highest attended one yet.

All of that rumination aside, lets jump into the official primary draw of these little food festivals that Knott’s has been putting on: the food! Here’s a look at the tasting card for the Taste of Fall-O-Ween, available for $35 for 5 tastings for adults and $20 for 3 tastings plus a trip to the Camp Snoopy Trick-or-Treat Trail ($31.50 and $18 respectively for Knott’s season passholders), plus tax.

Just like with the Taste of Knott’s, there are two dozen-plus food stands located in Ghost Town, the Boardwalk, and Fiesta Village. Map displays are located in multiple locations around the park. The dining establishments and booths have letters corresponding to the tasting cards.

If you’re looking for more information on the gourmet grub being offered at the Taste of Fall-O-Ween, check out our listing in the event announcement post from a couple of weeks ago. There are so many dishes to try that one would need multiple trips to make a dent in the sections. We were able to sample ten of the items on the menu, though.

We peaked immediately. The Pastrami Tater Tots were amazing and arguably the best dish of the event!

Zombie was in the mood for something boysenberry and ice cream-ish. Well, the Boysenberry Smoothie (more like an Icee) was perfect!

The Jalapeño Poppers were pretty tasty. Jalapeños with cheesy goodness inside the breaded shell, paired well with chipotle crema.

The Shrimp and Veggie Curry at Judge Roy Bean was, unfortunately, not that impressive and sort of bland. Plus, unlike the publicity photos, the shrimp was tiny and almost Instant Ramen size.

The Cheeseburger Mac ‘n’ Cheese was better than the Hatch Chile Mac ‘n’ Cheese last month, but not spectacular. (I should disclaim that I’m a mac ‘n’ cheese snob, though, and have high, exacting, gourmet standards; Zombie thought this dish was grea… — The Cheeseburger Mac ‘n’ Cheese was better than the Hatch Chile Mac ‘n’ Cheese last month, but not spectacular. (I should disclaim that I’m a mac ‘n’ cheese snob, though, and have high, exacting, gourmet standards; Zombie thought this dish was great.)

Need to satisfy a sweet tooth? The Orange Creamsicle Icee Float-Orange Cream Icee with Vanilla Soft Serve Ice Cream was fantastic, but also diabetically delicious.

A salad??? There’s all this savory food and you got a salad? Okay, but the Beeting Hearts Salad was actually really good, and a good vegetarian pairing to a largely meat-heavy festival menu. — A salad??? There’s all this savory food and you got a salad?
Okay, but the Beeting Hearts Salad was actually really good, and a good vegetarian pairing to a largely meat-heavy festival menu.

Asian Chicken Drumsticks were very tasty. The sauce was tangy and very slightly spicy!

They went well with Boysenberry Sangria!

Nighttime dessert: Orange Sugar and Chocolate Fudge Cookiewich with Pumpkin Soft Serve Ice Cream. I really enjoyed this one!

But the food is not all there is to the Taste of Fall-O-Ween. And in fact, if it was, then the consistently increasing price tag for a tasting card (and admission) for the Taste Of events ($25, $30, and now $35 for adults) might actually be a bit distasteful.

But the beauty of the Taste of Fall-O-Ween is that it’s a celebration of Halloween, and that means Scary Farm with everything except the scares. Sure, that may not be enough for some, but in terms of ambiance, it still means a lot. Ghost Town, Boardwalk, and Fiesta Village have been transformed into spirited, autumn versions of their normal selves, with plenty of wonderful Halloween-centric theming ranging from the classic, Gothic stylings of Ghost Town to the casually twisted tone of Carnevil over in Boardwalk to the vibe of Día de los Muertos over in Fiesta Village.

We start off in Ghost Town, where posed skeletons, cheese cloth cobwebs, evening fog machines, and an assortment of spooky theming offer the closest thing to a theme park haunt available in Southern California this year. Knott’s has done an amazing job decorating its original themed land to provide that familiar, comforting, charming macabre ambiance that Haunt fans know and love. And sure, the monsters and the sliders may still be missing, but the spirit of the season lives on strongly, and nowhere is it most emphatic than in Ghost Town.

The Calico Mine Stage—home to dining and a show (but not in this photo).

All the sights and sounds of Ghost Town during the Halloween Haunt are present at the Taste of Fall-O-Ween. Skeletons, pumpkins, harvest scenes… you name it. And there are also surprises in some of the peek-in’s too. An animated scene tying into the Green Witch in one. Perhaps a surprise street character lurking in another. Supernatural happenings inside a third. Even Sad Eye Joe shows a furry transformation, though thankfully for this family-friendly environment, he does not turn as foul-mouthed as his Scary Farm alter ego, Mad Eye Joe.

Boot Hill Cemetery is beautiful at golden hour.

The rooftop decor is a cream at Ghost Town!

By night, the Halloween Haunt aesthetic really starts driving home, as Ghost Town is bathed in eerie blues and magentas and greens. Fog Alley may not be shrouded in zero-visibility mist, but the fog does spread across the path from time to time. With jack-o-lanterns and boney creatures scattered across the rooftops of the buildings, the environment is quite a haunting affair, and it provides the type of fall familiarity that is soothing to the Scary Farm soul.

Colorful and eerie, Ghost Town ironically really comes alive at night!

Fiesta Village features sugar skulls galore as it celebrates the Mexican Day of the Dead. New this year seems to be something taken from or inspired by Home Depot—towering 12-foot tall skeletons painted with bright and vibrant streaks and bent in an assortment of dynamic and charming poses. They make for great photo ops and add a bit of silly whimsy to the atmosphere. Of course, the regular-sized Día de los Muertos figures are also present, placed in the planters and bushes and accompanied by plenty of pumpkins (seriously, Knott’s may have bought out the entire Orange County supply—or at least it kind of feels like it!).

Fiesta Village bringing out the old Fiesta de los Muertos decorations for the Taste of Fall-O-Ween!

Like in the Taste of Knott’s Fiesta Village also feature a DJ playing music throughout the day for ambience as guests eat. The dance floor has tables on it to discourage guests coalescing into crowds to dance, but the musical accompaniment is nice nonetheless.

The Fiesta Stage near the end of the night, after the music has stopped.

Boardwalk ends up the least immersively Halloween themed of the three primary park areas. Although the autumn fountain at Charleston Circle is spectacular as usual, there is limited decor elsewhere, other than banners from Carnevil that line the lamposts and some more pumpkin-filled harvest displays along the palm tree planters in the middle of the main midway.

The fountain at Charleston Circle is beautiful!

The Boardwalk always seems sun-drenched.

There is Halloween theming here, but not as densely done.

On the other hand, once night falls, HangTime still features its Halloween light show, pulsating colors to the catchy riffs of the DJ Dangerously Remix of Jelly of the Month Club’s “Welcome to the Carnival.” It’s yet another touch from Knott’s Scary Farm that’s migrated over to the Taste of Fall-O-Ween.

Whereas the Taste of Knott’s only had 3/4 of the park and its lands open, the Taste of Fall-O-Ween has pretty much the full property accessible to guests. However, Camp Snoopy stands in some contrast by being a little bit restrictive in comparison. You see, Knott’s has transformed all of Camp Snoopy into a nostalgic and terrific trick-or-treat trail aimed at children but with enough Scary Farm props, theming, and even animatronics recognizable to longtime Haunt fans that it’s kind of the must-do for anyone who is here for the Halloween spirit.

Officially, the Camp Snoopy Trick-or-Treat Trail is designed to be for children, and adults who want to trick-or-treat need to pay an upcharge to do so. However, when we went on Friday, the trail was not that busy, and adults were permitted to walk through at no extra charge, as long as they were not intending to take candy the trick-or-treat stations.

Zombie Joe’s imitation game continues on the Trick-or-Treat Trail!

Well, since they can’t be on the Log Ride this year, they’re jamming in Camp Snoopy!

And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out…

The stroll through Camp Snoopy is well worth it, even if an upcharge is required, because it’s a trip through Scary Farm history through its assortment of set pieces, props, and figures recognizable from past Halloween Haunts both recent and distant. The Calico Coffin Creeps band from the Halloween Hootenanny overlay of the Log Ride make an appearance early on, while familiar sights from The Hollow and Forsaken Lake spring up here and there.

That’s not the best part of Camp Snoopy, however. That belongs to the skeletons who have been creatively inserted into every ride that guests pass by as they traverse the Trick-or-Treat Trail. From the ferris wheel to Pig Pen’s Mud Buggies to Linus Launcher to even the Huff ‘n’ Puff, there are boney riders (and a few ride operators) having the time of their lives (deaths?) enjoying each of the attractions. This is such a creative and magnificent surprise, and it might even elicit some squee’s from guests delighted at how adorable everything is.

Also, candy corn family is. Freaking. Adorable. And I don’t even like candy corn.

Alien Woodstocks and alien are the best.

If it’s possible, do the Trail at night too. Though the skeleton riders aren’t as prominent in the lesser light, the show lights make up for it, creating a wholly different atmosphere for Camp Snoopy and even evoking The Hollow vibes in certain areas. Don’t forget to look up and around too, because members of the Peanuts gang are also lurking around the Grizzly Creek Lodge and Sierra Sidewinder station to offer a friendly wave and a pleasantly eerie pose! Oh, and if you keep your eyes peeled, you might spot the Headless Horseman trotting alongside the trail.

Oh hey, Rock Monster from such mazes as Beowolf, End Games, Dead of Winter, and more!

Those Hollow vibes ring strong here. Yup, the Taste of Fall-O-Ween touches nostalgia both old-time and recent!

There are no official shows at the Taste of Fall-O-Ween, same as the previous two Taste Of events, but there is still entertainment. It’s just unscheduled and much less formal—mostly in the form of undead versions of Ghost Town Alive characters coming out onto the Ghost Town balconies from time to time to engage and interact with passers-by. This happened in the Taste of Calico and the Taste of Knott’s too, and it’s a great, enjoyable bit of improv and guest interaction to behold!

The Deputy Mayor of Calico has seen livelier days.

Yes, sometimes, a vulture will squawk at you if you walk by.

Everyone’s dead in Calico, but they’re still friendly!

In addition, though, the Taste of Fall-O-Ween brings street characters into the mix for the very first time! Most of them are situated in Ghost Town, though there is roaming talent in the Boardwalk too (as well as friendly and sometimes scaredy cat scarecrows in the Camp Snoopy Trick-or-Treat Trail). The are atmosphere actors—not monsters, not intended to scare. Instead, they engage with guests, ask how their days are going, and crack jokes at their own expense. With punny or humorously alliterative names like conductor Ollie Board or town gossip Nosy Rosie, they add to the layers of charm this event lathers over in multiple facets.

The dead/undead Citizens of Calico can also be found at ground level.

Conductor Ollie Board looks like he could have been a newspaper editor in a previous life.

Nosy Nellie might have the best view in Calico, but she spends it shouting at the townspeople down below instead, in order to get gossip.

Beyond that, there are unscheduled mini-shows too—though we weren’t able to catch them. An acrobat/contortionist performs impressive feats of flexibility and athleticism in the Boardwalk. Professor Mayhem’s Pseudo-Scientific Deceptions of the Absurd (magician Chipper Lowell under pseudonym) offers a bit of a silly variety show at the Calico Mine Stage during the day. In the late afternoon and evening, a recorded Halloween performance of Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies plays on the big screen at the same Calico Mine Stage location.

Stick around late and head over to the Boot Hill Cemetery in Calico to discover another surprise. At night, some of the cemetery’s spirits materialize in projections to tell their torrid tales of how they met their demise. Endearingly animated and spoken in rhyme, this exhibit of supernatural storytelling showcases another example of the family-friendly spooks that the Taste of Fall-O-Ween has engineered.

And it features a few ghostly surprises too! Phineas Wherry, for example, narrates the tail of his demise. And he’s not the only one!

Last but certainly not least, the Taste of Fall-O-Ween has incorporated the now-ingrained Scary Farm tradition known as the Into the Fog art show. This gallery of paintings, models, and even a bit of photography this year is devoted to all things Halloween Haunt, and its bigger than ever, with dozens of fantastic art pieces that are available for purchase! Guests who don’t want to foot the hefty price tag for the originals can also purchase prints of select artwork.

In addition, Into the Fog features a lot of merchandise that would have been featured at Scary Farm, had it gone on. Pins, shirts, and other merchandise will please any Scary Farm fan. It’s souvenir central in this art gallery, located at Cordy’s Corner, across from the future Beary Tales 3D attraction opening… whenever Knott’s can reopen as a theme park.

Amazing work by the Knott’s build team on the Into the Fog set!

And this talking Jack may conjure up some Pumpkin Eater memories.

That wraps up our overview of the Taste of Fall-O-Ween. We’ll be back with more in-depth looks at the Camp Snoopy Trick-Or-Treat Trail, Into the Fog art exhibit, characters and entertainment extras, and the park ambiance. And no, that’s not just because I have a ton more photos that I took… though photography eye candy may be a major motivating reason.

All in all, though, the Taste of Fall-O-Ween is an excellent celebration of Halloween that provides a reassuring and heart-warming reminder that Halloween season is not cancelled or dead this year. It’s merely different—and arguably more innovative! The event offers the closest thing to Knott’s Scary Farm without the mazes, monsters, and shows, and as a setting for Halloween fans to enjoy atmosphere, imbibements, and eats, it is an excellent production.

The terrific entrance photo op at night.

I went into the Taste of Fall-O-Ween optimistic that it would be a fun event but not really expecting much more than a moderate attempt at theming and decor and not much else. Instead, the amount of effort, detail, and thoughtfulness that the folks at Knott’s have poured into this event has been a hugely spooktacular surprise. I’ve spent most of this year adapting to a much less socially and recreationally active lifestyle than usual thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, much like many people have. And I even resigned myself to no Halloween season this fall given that the United States never got the virus even close to under control like many other countries have. But I didn’t realize just how much I missed the traditional Halloween season until Friday’s visit to the Taste of Fall-O-Ween. It filled a void that still definitely was missing the energy and shocks of the season.

In summary, and to repeat, Knott’s Taste of Fall-O-Ween is a wonderful, beautifully themed, charming, spooky celebration to Halloween that is great for the family and kids but also contains some great details, Easter eggs, and "secret" treasures that Haunt fans will love and appreciate. It is a testament to the decades of embedded Halloween DNA that Knott’s has retained. Knott’s is where the “Granddaddy of Them All,” the Halloween Haunt, began. It invented the theme park haunt. And though this iteration is less actively scary, it captures the addictive fun of the autumn holiday.

Knott’s Taste of Fall-O-Ween runs Fridays through Sundays from now through November 1st. Open hours are 12-9pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 12-8pm on Sundays. For anyone comfortable enough with going out (and being safe, careful, and considerate about it) during these Coronavirus times, I highly recommend checking out the Taste of Fall-O-Ween. It’s [Mrs. Knott’s Fried] chicken soup for the [supernatural] soul.