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Monster For A Day At Knott's Scary Farm Halloween Haunt
Terror of London Maze Every October since 1973 
Jack the Ripper awaits visitors
The London Marketplace
A Church Graveyard
A victim of Jack the Ripper
Elaborate set pieces inside the Terror of London
Will you be Jack's next victim?
Brooke Walters, Maze designer
Once the creative minds have hammered out their ideas, they meet with special effects, lighting, paint and props crews along with costuming and makeup to craft immersive environments designed to scare the life out of you.
The London Sewers
Frankenstein is the finale in the Terror of London Maze
Creating the perfect scare is no easy task. Brooke took us on a tour of the brand new Terror of London maze in the daylight so we could see all the details and discuss its development with her.
The Marketplace scene in the daylight
The Tavern scene
The cathedral in the day still impresses
Elly just has to inspect every detail.
Elly enters Warehouse P
First, I met with costuming and was given a thematically correct outfit for the maze I was to be working in that night, "Lockdown:The Asylum." The costuming area is filled with rack upon rack of clothing separated by maze.
Suiting up is hard to do
They dressed me in a tan button down shirt and a black flap jacket and vest. My role in the maze would be as a guard in a prison where the inmates have gone crazy and are rioting.
Elly likes her costume
After putting on my costume I was taken over to make-up and met with Denice Paxton, the makeup artist would would work the magic necessary to turn me into a believable and scary monster for the night.
Make-up room 1 (aka the Crypt)
Denice Paxton, Make up genius, begins work on Elly
A combination of tissue paper and latex are applied to create torn flesh
Another Monster comes by to wish Elly luck
The other monsters at the other chairs admire the work
Airbrush is used to spray shading onto Elly's face
Denice tears the latex and tissue to give it an organic look.
Using a jar of red gel, the make up becomes more grotesque
Teeth are painted to look not-so-pretty
It's now time for a wig from wardrobe
After the application of all sorts of products I took a quick glance at myself in the mirror and . . . WHOA! Instant Monster.
Elly poses with Denice Paxton
Wardrobe and makeup is quite an involved process. So much so that I find it amazing that these two departments are able to prepare 1000 monsters every single night Haunt operates.
I was then walked over to my maze for the evening, LockDown:The Asylum.
Backstage at Lockdown:The Asylum
We entered the maze backstage.
I had the basic idea of what to do. Still, as I saw the first guests making their way down the hallway to the jail cell in which I stood, I got a bit nervous.
Best scare ever!
I was allowed to work the maze as long as I'd like and was shocked that several hours had flown by in a heartbeat. At the end, I left the maze covered in sweat but feeling energized. It was one of the most enjoyable nights of my life.
Then it was time to return to Warehouse P, home of costuming and makeup, to return my wig , costume and to have my latex makeup removed. I stood side by side with my fellow monsters at a very large sink removing the rest of my makeup, exhausted but fully satisfied that I had scared the daylights out of many guests.
There. All clean.
Story By Elaina Thomas
photos: Fishbulb
Terror of London Maze
Jack the Ripper awaits visitors
The London Marketplace
A Church Graveyard
A victim of Jack the Ripper
Elaborate set pieces inside the Terror of London
Will you be Jack's next victim?
Brooke Walters, Maze designer
Once the creative minds have hammered out their ideas, they meet with special effects, lighting, paint and props crews along with costuming and makeup to craft immersive environments designed to scare the life out of you.
The London Sewers
Frankenstein is the finale in the Terror of London Maze
Creating the perfect scare is no easy task. Brooke took us on a tour of the brand new Terror of London maze in the daylight so we could see all the details and discuss its development with her.
The Marketplace scene in the daylight
The Tavern scene
The cathedral in the day still impresses
Elly just has to inspect every detail.
Elly enters Warehouse P
First, I met with costuming and was given a thematically correct outfit for the maze I was to be working in that night, "Lockdown:The Asylum." The costuming area is filled with rack upon rack of clothing separated by maze.
Suiting up is hard to do
They dressed me in a tan button down shirt and a black flap jacket and vest. My role in the maze would be as a guard in a prison where the inmates have gone crazy and are rioting.
Elly likes her costume
After putting on my costume I was taken over to make-up and met with Denice Paxton, the makeup artist would would work the magic necessary to turn me into a believable and scary monster for the night.
Make-up room 1 (aka the Crypt)
Denice Paxton, Make up genius, begins work on Elly
A combination of tissue paper and latex are applied to create torn flesh
Another Monster comes by to wish Elly luck
The other monsters at the other chairs admire the work
Airbrush is used to spray shading onto Elly's face
Denice tears the latex and tissue to give it an organic look.
Using a jar of red gel, the make up becomes more grotesque
Teeth are painted to look not-so-pretty
It's now time for a wig from wardrobe
After the application of all sorts of products I took a quick glance at myself in the mirror and . . . WHOA! Instant Monster.
Elly poses with Denice Paxton
Wardrobe and makeup is quite an involved process. So much so that I find it amazing that these two departments are able to prepare 1000 monsters every single night Haunt operates.
I was then walked over to my maze for the evening, LockDown:The Asylum.
Backstage at Lockdown:The Asylum
We entered the maze backstage.
I had the basic idea of what to do. Still, as I saw the first guests making their way down the hallway to the jail cell in which I stood, I got a bit nervous.
Best scare ever!
I was allowed to work the maze as long as I'd like and was shocked that several hours had flown by in a heartbeat. At the end, I left the maze covered in sweat but feeling energized. It was one of the most enjoyable nights of my life.
Then it was time to return to Warehouse P, home of costuming and makeup, to return my wig , costume and to have my latex makeup removed. I stood side by side with my fellow monsters at a very large sink removing the rest of my makeup, exhausted but fully satisfied that I had scared the daylights out of many guests.
There. All clean.
For tickets and additional information about Knott's Halloween Haunt, visit: Knott's Berry Farm
More information HERE about this and other haunted attractions for October 2009
More information HERE about this and other haunted attractions for October 2009
Story By Elaina Thomas
photos: Fishbulb
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