Friendly Phantoms & Festive Fun at Knott’s Spooky Farm 2023

Before the monsters are unleashed and the fog rolls in for the nighttime Knott’s Scary Farm, Knott’s Berry Farm hosts the family-friendly Knott’s Spooky Farm during the day. Running Thursdays through Sundays until the end of October, Spooky Farm is full of quirky Halloween shows, activities, and trick-or-treating!

If you’re also interested in the incredible 50th anniversary of the original theme park Halloween Haunt, we have a comprehensive guide to Knott’s Scary Farm 50:

https://www.micechat.com/365380-knotts-scary-farm-guide-2023/

Spooky Farm has a little bit of Halloween fun for everyone, so let’s take a look:

Knott’s Spooky Farm 2023

Knott’s Spooky Farm is family-friendly and not at all scary. All the ghosts and ghouls are quite cheerful despite being dead. Instead of terrifying monsters, Ghost Town is full of friendly ghosts who only want to gently haunt you. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t find any friendly ghosts during my visit. I fear it was because it was slated to rain the day I visited. What I did find were plenty of wonderfully kooky Halloween shows and activities…

Knott’s Spooky Farm 2023 Shows

Two shows are available for Spooky Farm this year. This is a reduction in the number of shows from previous years, as the Camp Snoopy Theater is currently under renovation.

Returning this year is the Bob Baker Marionette Halloween Spooktacular and Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies.

Bob Baker Marionette Theater Presents Halloween Spooktacular

A retro-classic style marionette show, Bob Baker’s Halloween Spooktacular is a delightful show filled with creative and ghostly puppets. It’s just spooky enough to set the right atmosphere without being too scary for the little ones. 

This show remains the same eccentricly nostalgic show that we’ve grown to love over the last few years. That includes all the polish that was added last year. 

The clever use of backlight remains the most iconic part of the show. 

Following the end of the Halloween Spooktacular, the performers bring out the puppets to take pictures with.

Bob Baker’s marionette shows have really grown on us, and we’re delighted to see them back again this year— especially since they ended their performances in Fiesta Village early this summer. Make sure to stop into the Bird Cage Theater to see the skilled marionettists perform this wonderful show!

Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies

Everyone’s favorite comedy bluegrass band has taken over the Calico Mine Stage. Playing a mixture of classic bluegrass and twangy versions of pop songs, Krazy Kirk remains one of the most beloved acts at Knott’s Berry Farm. 

With the Spooky Farm season, expect to see the band change some of their standard sets and add Halloween songs. Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies also provide backing music for the Costume Cavalcade!

Knott’s Spooky Farm Activities

Trick or Treating

All around Ghost Town are classic trick-or-treating booths. Treat bags are handed out as you enter the park and children under the age of twelve are encouraged to dress up for the occasion.

Costume Cavalcade

Toward the end of the day, families are invited to show off their Halloween best at the Costume Cavalcade. Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies return to the Calico Mine Stage to supply the spooky soundtrack while the citizens of Calico host. 

Led by Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang, the costume cavalcade circles the Calico Mine Stage viewing area. 

The cavalcade is great fun for the entire family. We love just how fun and inventive everyone’s costumes can be!

Creepy Critters of Calico

Inside the Livery Stables, creepy critters are on display, ranging from skeletal horses (they’re not malnourished, just painted to look spooky) to large snakes. 

Knott’s Spooky Farm Attraction Overlays

Knott’s has overlayed two attractions, filling them with pumpkins, spooky surprises, and candy! Here’s a look at what you’ll find:

Calico Candy Mine Ride

The miners at the Calico Mine Ride are once again mining for rock candy! The classic dark ride is turned into the Calico Candy Mine Ride, filled with lollipops, taffy, and everything sweet!

The loose Pink Fairy storyline returns— an open invitation for everyone to come down to the mine and have as much candy as they’d like!

If it’s too sweet during the day, take a ride through the mine during Scary Farm and you’ll be met with something quite a bit different. The Pink Fairy perhaps eats too much candy at night and turns a little green…witch… and subsequently transforms children into gingerbread cookies to eat them. 

It’s yet another appearance of Sarah Marshall, in line with her terrifying nighttime appearances throughout Origins: The Curse of Calico and Ghost Town Streets. Have a look if you dare:

Timber Mountain Log Ride: Halloween Hootenanny

Knott’s’ own kooky Halloween band, the Calico Coffin Critters Band, is back to party another season on Timber Mountain. 

Halloween Hootenanny is one of our favorite seasonal overlays due to its lighthearted and quirky monsters. We’re still hoping for Knott’s to release the delightfully spooky soundtrack recorded by Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies. 

Knott’s Spooky Farm Atmosphere

Knott’s Scary Farm is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and the entire park is filled to bursting with decoration. While Scary Farm and Spooky Farm props have always mixed a bit, the Scary Farm 50 decorations have been designed to fit in well with the daytime decorations. Everything looks a bit cartoonish by day, but takes on a more sinister aura at night. 

The recently remodeled Fiesta Village is home to beautiful Dia De Los Muertos displays. I do wish there was a Dia De Los Muertos-themed show here now that the area is open again. 

Many people walk right past the peek-ins throughout Ghost Town, and they’re missing out even more during the Halloween season with all the peculiar spooky characters that are now inhabiting them. Several monsters are playing poker in the Sheriff’s office:

Inside the Calico Gazette, an edition was written on Sarah Marshall.

The Post Office is now taken over by a large crow-like creature.

The Undertaker’s storefront is now being haunted by the Grim Reaper. 

There’s a rather unsettling new tenant next to the Gun Shop…

My personal favorite is the Toy Shop window, which has a terrifying child and a monster locked up in a cage with a sign that reads “Bary was bad.” 

Some Scary Farm props mix in better with the daytime Spooky Farm than others. The Boardwalk is particularly terrifying this year as it’s filled with many crazy jack-in-the-boxes…clown-in-the-boxes?

Others are more subdued like the newsboy skeleton for the Gore-ing 20s scare zone.

Other examples are the fire pits with piles of remains on the terraces of Jaguar. The pits are actually an interactive lantern activation during Scary Farm. 

Usually, Camp Snoopy is the oddest mixture, but with how huge Scary Farm is this year, they haven’t finished installing all of the Gauntlet’s decorations quite yet. 

For now, kids can enjoy the spooky decorations without the medieval props mixed in. 

Knott’s Berry Farm really is gorgeous this time of year. The entire park is decorated. 

Ghost Town is still the best, though, with its repertoire of western skeletons. 

Knott’s really takes Halloween decorating seriously and it truly pays off! There are very few places in Southern California that are at this level. 

If you’re feeling dreadfully hungry, Halloween treats are available and many of them are on the season pass dining plan! Knott’s has a handy guide that tells you where to find everything.

I stopped by Papas Mexicanas in Fiesta Village to try out the A La Diabla Fries, which are included in the all-season dining plan. While I enjoyed the authentic Yuca Fries, after talking to Wilf Seymour, the director of Food and Beverage, he told me that the deep-fried shrimp and spicy Diabla sauce in this dish also pair well with the other kinds of fries that Papas Mexicanas offers. Sounds like I need to come back!

Let’s Hear From You

We appreciate that Knott’s Berry Farm continues to offer a great family-friendly alternative to the intensity of the nighttime Scary Farm. While there are a few things missing this year due to Camp Snoopy’s remodel, it’s still a wonderful time to come visit the park. Let’s hear from you. Does your family frequent Spooky Farm? What would you like to see added in the future? Let us know in the comments below.