When I say Halloween, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Some say trick or treating. Some say costume parties. Personally, the word conjures up images of horror-fied theme parks, and that is solely because I was employed at one.

I’ve spent two years working as a host at Knott’s Berry Farm’s “world-famous” Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant, the iconic 86-year-old homestyle dinner joint perched near the front of the park. When I started in 2019, the place was buzzing with excitement for this thing called “Haunt”ー the associates’ slang term for Knott’s Scary Farm.

The park’s annual Halloween event reimagines the friendly lanes of Camp Snoopy, Ghost Town, Fiesta Village, Boardwalk and Charleston Square dressed up with gruesome decorations and populated with monsters. During the summer, the backstage was littered with gory set pieces for the haunted mazes as they were slowly assembled behind roller coasters, show buildings and wherever else they managed to find space for them. 

Unfortunately, I never got the chance to be scare actor or a monster in a maze. Instead, I was burdened with the added responsibility of dealing with the “Booffet,” a spooky buffet that featured monsters shambling from table to table to take pictures with the restaurant guests.

To account for the massive influx of customers, each host’s weekly hours practically doubled. Even with the loads of extra work we were doing, there were no added benefits. Knott’s clearly had no desire to endear us to our jobs. Our positions were seasonal, and we were treated as such. 

I was so busy with the “Booffet” and school that I never ended up going to Scary Farm myself; but, I did see a side of the “Haunt” that few others ever will.  

As I walked between the employee cafeteria and the restaurant, I brushed shoulders with the various ghosts, ghouls and creatures of the night the park had employed to terrify the swaths of guests. I waited in line for dinner with zombies and evil clowns.  While the“Haunt” season lasted only about a month and a half, I still look back on those bizarre shifts fondly.

Growing up, Halloween was my favorite holiday. Halloween, when I was younger, was always a BIG deal. Everyone went all out with their costumes where I went to middle and high school. 

These days, I hardly bat an eye when the 31st of October rolls around. I don’t know if I can fully blame Knott’s for killing my Halloween spirit, but maybe working in a horror-themed environment made the frightful images I used to love so much lose their luster.

Halloween can bring out the worst in people. Overall, it’s just a little bit rougher than most other holidays. Fights broke out constantly at Knott’s Scary Farm, presumably brought on by either the abundance of alcohol or the unrelenting stress of the ghastly atmosphere. The more chaotic nights made me thankful to just be a host; some of the stories I heard from scare actors and security guards were scarier than any of the creatures of the night that roamed the park. 

These conflicts ranged from terrified guests punching a monster in the face to full out brawls with policemen on horses, intervening to stop guest-on-guest conflict. Security did a good job of escorting out drunk or disorderly guests, though the act was generally accompanied by these guests spewing hateful words and getting physically violent on their way out of the park.

If you enjoy horror theme parks, I’m happy for you. But please remember, those nights of fright you spend there would not be possible without the employees who have been made to work extra shifts under strange conditions. Some of us may look like monsters, but I assure you, we are still human.