Knott’s Scary Farm returns for the 2026 season with 10 total haunted house mazes — including 2 brand new ones — and if you’re looking for a guide on which ones to make sure you see (and which ones to skip) then we’ve got you covered. Check out our reviews on all ten haunted house mazes so you can prioritize your time and make the most of the event.

We visited this year’s event with hosted admission. Here’s our honest thoughts on what we thought about the haunted house mazes at 2026 Knott’s Scary Farm!

Maze/House Rankings

We have a loose ranking of all the haunted house mazes this year to help you prioritize your plan of attack. Keep in mind, experiences vary WILDLY depending on the luck of the flow.

Inside the Mazes/Houses

Here’s a closer look at each of the experiences including our thoughts on how each one ranks this year.

Cinema Slasher

RATING: 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

REVIEW: The classic stays a classic. This as dipped down for us in some years just by virtue of other mazes outshining it but we are still obsessed with the Cinema Slasher and all of its fun horror movie tropes and gags.

SYNOPSIS: Embark on a journey through the Midnight Theater, entering horror film worlds where you must survive the deadly Slasher’s rage. Can you escape these movie nightmares, or will you be trapped among decaying corpses in the ruined theatre? The sinister Midnight Theater beckons the brave into Cinema Slasher.

Origins: The Curse of Calico

RATING: 🎃🎃🎃🎃⚫

REVIEW: For its final year, this one finishes out strong. As a love letter to Knott’s itself and the lore established in Ghost Town this is a most perfect tribute. We noticed a heavier reference this year to the Marshall Sisters (vs just Sarah) which almost seems like a peek into the future.

SYNOPSIS: Pierce the veil of time and discover the secret of the evil fog that hangs over Knott’s Scary Farm in Origins: The Curse of Calico. Unearth the sinister paranormal activity that plagues the town as Sarah Marshall is put on trial for her suspected crimes of witchcraft. All will be unveiled when the Green Witch rises up and curses the townsfolk, transforming all who have accused her into a wicked horde of malicious creatures with an eternal quench for the living.

Inked

RATING: 🎃🎃🎃⚫⚫

REVIEW: We really wanted to love this one so much more. The concept is great but the execution is super inconsistent. Knott’s often gets digs at being lower budget than other haunts but there truly are some elements here that really come across like home haunt. A strong story concept (and some otherwise cool effects and scenes) saves this one from lower ranking.

SYNOPSIS: Mortimer Morbid, a washed-up 1930s cartoonist and former head of Morbid Studios, discovers that when blood becomes ink, imagination becomes reality. Determined to create one final Halloween special, he brings his infamous cartoon characters to life—only to unleash a legion of murderous toons hellbent on pulling viewers into their twisted world.

The Zoo

RATING: 🎃🎃🎃🎃⚫

REVIEW: We weren’t in love with this one last year but we’re starting to see the appeal. The maze still smells terrible (by design) and it accents a really gruesome and disgusting atmosphere of hybridization in the worst possible way.

SYNOPSIS: Something has taken over the abandoned zoo. What was once a lively showcase of exotic animals has been transformed into a terrifying laboratory of animal/human experiments. Hybrid creatures have turned on their creators, and the compound is crawling with mutant soldiers thirsty for revenge. Rumors are swirling that the mutated monsters are planning something that will change everything!

Mary – The Haunting of Worth Home

RATING: 🎃🎃🎃🎃⚫

REVIEW: We absolutely loved this one last year and the concept is still a great one. Sometimes it’s luck of the draw but this one didn’t quite has hard as some of the others. Still, we got some great scares here and the continued tie in of Ghost Town lore with Sarah Marshall’s book causing the havoc, makes this a fun and uniquely Knott’s spin on this story.

SYNOPSIS: Venture into that creepy house at the end of the street. Within the walls hides a terrifying secret. No one foolish enough to go in there has ever come back out alive. But I’m sure this time it will be different, right? Be careful not to stare into the mirrors too long…you never know what’s staring back from the other side.

Eight Fingers Nine: The Boogeyman

RATING: 🎃🎃🎃⚫⚫

REVIEW: The lore building in this one is also very strong. Plus, tons of opportunities for good scares. This has never been a top-ranking maze for us but it’s still a really solid part of the lineup.

SYNOPSIS: Step inside a living fairy tale in a colonial township that’s under siege by an inhuman monster that preys from the dark. As night descends, Eight Fingers Nine emerges from the shadows in search of fresh meat. His vicious bite penetrates deep, causing sleep paralysis which holds his victim in sway while he slowly consumes their flesh. Step lively and beware the dark, or you may be the main course at his next meal!

Widows

RATING: 🎃🎃⚫⚫⚫

REVIEW: There is some promise to this maze concept but overall it doesn’t quite deliver a super strong package year after year. The scenes are great, the costumes are interesting but something’s just off with the core on this one.

SYNOPSIS: Can you hear that? The spider possessed residents of the convalescent home are preparing a special place for you. Enter their web and succumb to their dark desires.

Unearthed

RATING: 🎃🎃⚫⚫⚫

REVIEW: Maybe we had a bad run through, certainly there were long parts of slow-moving-conga lines when we went through. While the concept isn’t too vague, I suppose it’s clear enough, we weren’t exactly smitten here and we weren’t very scared.

SYNOPSIS: Embark on a perilous journey through the heart of an excavation site as you and your search-and-rescue team arrive at a ravaged base days after receiving a distress signal. Beware, for the discovery of the ancient tablets has awakened a malevolent force from a forgotten age—an ancient evil has been unearthed.

Room 13

RATING: 🎃⚫⚫⚫⚫

REVIEW: Over the years, this has really just tumbled down the rankings for us. There’s a great concept here and the vibes are pretty great across the various locales in which we travel but while the overall concept is very strong the story itself just doesn’t ever happen.

SYNOPSIS: Violent murders at The Blind Tiger interrupt the Prohibition-era revelry on Memory Lane. A dangerously addictive new cocktail named The Devil’s Elixir seems to be at the root of the mayhem, but where did it come from? The answers may lie at the heart of the extravagant Argive Hotel, where many have checked in… but none have checked out.

The Chilling Chambers

RATING: 🎃⚫⚫⚫⚫

REVIEW: As a tribute to the Knott’s Scary Farm 50th anniversary when it debuted, this delivered some great and novel sights, sounds, and smells and while it’s still fun, it lost a lot of its heart when they removed The Keeper. We were hoping for a strong finish for this in it’s last year but it really just feels like we’re beating a dead horse.

SYNOPSIS: Venture into a hellish trip down memory lane in The Chilling Chambers. Guided by the menacing Crimson Lord, you’ll face a collection of the most infamous monsters and themes from Knott’s Scary Farm’s horrific history! Each room reveals a different flavor of horror, drawing you deeper into a world filled with terror. Can you survive the Crimson Lord’s twisted tribute through the decades of fear, or will you become a permanent part of this macabre celebration?

See it for Yourself

Knott’s Scary Farm returns from September 17 – October 31, 2026. Event dates follow:

• September: 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27
• October: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31

DON’T MISS: Get details and ticket information!

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MORE INFO: Check out all MouseInfo coverage for Knott’s Scary Farm