{"id":463622,"date":"2026-09-14T19:04:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T19:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/463622\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T19:04:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T19:04:20","slug":"first-look-inside-inked-haunted-house-at-knotts-scary-farm-whittier-daily-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/463622\/","title":{"rendered":"First look inside Inked haunted house at Knott\u2019s Scary Farm \u2013 Whittier Daily News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blood becomes ink and imagination becomes reality when a 1930s animator gets pulled into the twisted and murderous world of his cartoon characters in the newest haunted house coming to Knott\u2019s Berry Farm this Halloween season.<\/p>\n

The new Inked maze will join the lineup of Knott\u2019s Scary Farm<\/a> featuring 10 mazes, five scare zones, three shows and more than 1,000 monsters.<\/p>\n

The 53rd season of the after-hours, separate-admission event kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 17 and runs on select nights through Oct. 31 at the Buena Park theme park.<\/p>\n

ALSO SEE: Magic Castle magicians to perform in new Knott\u2019s Scary Farm show<\/a><\/p>\n

The new Inked maze created by Knott\u2019s Scary Farm creative designer Daniel Miller will take visitors into the 1930s cartoon world of Morbid Studios run by washed-up studio head Mortimer Morbid.<\/p>\n

\"Knott'sKnott\u2019s Scary Farm creative designer Daniel Miller at the Inked haunted maze in Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

To set the mood and establish the backstory, a trio of Morbid Studios cartoon shorts will be playing in the Inked queue: \u201cGraveyard Grovelings,\u201d \u201cHaunted House Hiccups\u201d and \u201cTreats \u2026 No Tricks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inked begins inside Mortimer\u2019s studio where he\u2019s working late into the night on a new animated cartoon for an upcoming Halloween television special.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe pricks his finger,\u201d Miller said. \u201cBlood drips down on the cell and it comes to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The animated characters pop out of the cells, transform into twisted monsters and attack Mortimer and the other animators in the studio.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe realizes he can create this whole new animated world with blood,\u201d Miller said. \u201cHe opens a portal into the animated world, inviting all the \u2018toons in and they attack all the artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first third of the maze takes visitors inside the animator\u2019s studio where we see the story unfolding.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

Visitors are introduced to the three main cartoon characters in the Inked maze: Peety the Pumpkin, Chancy the Cat and Jeannie the Ghost.<\/p>\n

The cartoon characters will interact with \u201cscareactors\u201d and animatronics in the maze via animation projected on nearly invisible scrims.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

Visitors pass through a dip room reminiscent of \u201cWho Framed Roger Rabbit\u201d and a ghostly graveyard scene surrounded by a 360-degree wraparound screen where animation will play on a constant loop.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

A skeleton band reminiscent of the 1929 \u201cSkeleton Dance\u201d from Disney\u2019s Silly Symphony cartoon shorts will play in the jazz hall.<\/p>\n

The middle third of the maze pulls us into the black-and-white cartoon world where the animated characters are in charge and out for revenge.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

Stepping into a cartoon world is fun, clever and cute \u2014 but not necessarily scary.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job was to subvert that and make it as horrifying as possible,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

The last third of the maze returns to the animator\u2019s studio where we see the aftermath of the cartoon attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the very end, you\u2019ll see that the animation has re-entered into the real world and is about to take over,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

Visitors passing through a blacked out rodent room will feel rat tails on their faces, mice scurrying at their feet and hear squeaking and squealing behind the walls.<\/p>\n

Animated characters projected on the walls will interact with the \u201cscareactors\u201d in the maze.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

Special effects will include a walk-through kaleidoscope that will transport visitors into a cartoon hell where they will meet an animated devil.<\/p>\n

The black-and-white cartoon world inside the maze will be drawn in the style of famed animator Max Fleischer who brought Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor Man to movie screens in the 1930s.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

The cartoon cat, pumpkin and ghost in the Inked maze were inspired by early animation from the 1920s to the 1940s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey each have their own personalities,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWe also wanted to tap into all of history and the anthropomorphic nature of the 1930s cartoons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

Any similarities to early black-and-white animated characters like Felix the Cat, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Oswald the Rabbit or Mickey Mouse will be just a coincidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re definitely not those characters,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey\u2019re all new characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Inked haunted maze during Knott\u2019s Scary Farm at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

The new Inked maze will be located under the Xcelerator coaster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blood becomes ink and imagination becomes reality when a 1930s animator gets pulled into the twisted and murderous…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[2223,163,165,164,1311,7,585,8311,611,420],"class_list":["post-463622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-amusement-parks","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-buena-park","tag-california","tag-halloween","tag-knotts-berry-farm","tag-orange-county","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}