Knotts Scary Farm Adds Inked and Unearthed Mazes for 2026

Knott’s Scary Farm is adding two new haunted mazes for 2026, Inked and Unearthed, when the separately ticketed Halloween event returns on select nights from September 17 through October 31 this year.

If you are buying Scary Farm tickets for Buena Park this fall, the booking decision is no longer only about returning favorites and familiar scare zones. The official event page now names the new mazes clearly and keeps the rest of the haunt package on the same paid night ticket for guests.

What Knott’s posted for the 2026 mazes

The official Knott’s Scary Farm page now lists Inked and Unearthed as new mazes. Inked follows Mortimer Morbid, a washed-up 1930s cartoonist whose blood-as-ink finale unleashes murderous cartoon characters. Unearthed sends guests through an excavation site after a distress signal, where ancient tablets awaken a malevolent force.

Those summaries matter for ticket buyers who care about theme more than just maze count. They also show Knott’s is still building original haunt IP rather than only borrowing movie brands for every room.

What the Nightmares Revealed preview added

On August 18, Knott’s held its Nightmares Revealed preview. The Orange County Register reported that Inked and Unearthed arrive with new shows titled Voodoo Bayou’s Edge and Occultum, alongside the park’s returning maze and scare-zone package for the 2026 season.

The same coverage said Origins and Chilling Chambers will be retired after 2026. Deep Arrival already covered that farewell stream in Knotts Scary Farm Retires Origins and Chilling Chambers After 2026. This article is about the new mazes and shows that replace capacity in the lineup, not a second retirement writeup.

How the ticket decision works

Scary Farm is not daytime park admission with a free haunt add-on. Guests buy the after-hours event, then walk a park transformed with mazes, scare zones, shows, and more than 1,000 costumed monsters according to the official page. Knott’s also warns that the event is not recommended for children under 13.

If your group includes younger kids, compare Scary Farm nights against daytime Halloween Time at the park or other Southern California haunts before you lock a date. If the group wants the mazes, treat September 17 as the opening window and buy for a night when your preferred mazes are scheduled once detailed calendars publish.

For daytime layout planning around Ghost Town and the rest of the park before a haunt night, Deep Arrival’s Knott’s Berry Farm park map remains the useful companion page. Soak City stays a separate product; the Knott’s Soak City planning guide only helps if your trip stacks a water-park day with a Scary Farm night.

Southern California already has a crowded fall haunt calendar. Scary Farm’s advantage is longevity and a full park takeover rather than a single warehouse walkthrough. That also raises the planning load: parking, bag rules, chaperone policies, and meet-up spots in fogged Ghost Town streets all become part of the night before the first maze door opens.

Buyers who waited for maze names now have enough to choose. Inked leans into cartoon horror and practical-joke dread. Unearthed leans into archaeology-gone-wrong suspense. If your group hates one tone, the other may still carry the night alongside returning rooms. If your group hates both tones, wait for a fuller maze map or pick a different haunt date elsewhere in the region.

Price and inventory still move after the announcement. Knott’s typically releases timed Scary Farm tickets by night, and popular Fridays and Saturdays sell first. Treat the September 17 opening as the start of a limited inventory window, not an unlimited walk-up promise. If you need accessible routing or quieter pacing, weekday nights are usually the cleaner bet once they appear on sale.

Food and merch will expand as the season nears, but they should not drive the first purchase. The durable decision is whether Inked, Unearthed, and the returning maze set justify a separately ticketed night for your group. Everything else is optimization after the ticket is in hand.

Finally, keep daytime and nighttime Knott’s products distinct in your calendar. A MonteZOOMa daytime coaster plan and a Scary Farm night can share a hotel stay, yet they do not share a ticket. Build recovery time between them, especially if Rapid River Run or Sky Cabin daytime closures overlap your hotel dates later in August and early September.

What is confirmed and what is still open

Confirmed on the official event page: season window September 17 to October 31, 2026; new mazes Inked and Unearthed; separately ticketed Scary Farm format. Confirmed in same-week local reporting from Nightmares Revealed: additional new shows Voodoo Bayou’s Edge and Occultum, plus the retirement timing for Origins and Chilling Chambers after this season.

Not yet a reason to invent details: exact nightly maze operating lists, every scare-zone name for 2026, food booth menus, or precise ticket prices beyond what Knott’s posts at purchase time. Check the official Scary Farm page again before you travel because haunt lineups can still shift room to room.

Also keep the Ghost Town setting honest. Scary Farm floods the park’s western streets with fog and monsters, but a daytime photograph of Ghost Town is not a picture of Inked or Unearthed. Use it as property context, then judge the new mazes from Knott’s own descriptions and later first-hand reports once the nights begin.

Knott’s is not standing still for its longest-running Southern California haunt, and the August maze reveal is the clearest signal yet that 2026 will not be a copy-paste of last year’s night map. Inked and Unearthed give 2026 ticket buyers two fresh reasons to compare nights, while the rest of Scary Farm still demands the same separately ticketed commitment as last year.

Use the official Scary Farm page as the living source of truth for dates and maze names, then use local reporting only for the show titles and retirement context Knott’s has not fully mirrored online yet.