Buena Park

Knott's Scary Farm Tryouts Bring a Chill to Summer

It's year 49 for one of the oldest eek-out events around, and a bevy of monsters is required to put on the big show.

Scary Farm - The Depths - Lagoon Monster
Sean Teegarden Photography
  • June 25 and 26, 2022 in Buena Park
  • Applicants must be age 18 or older
  • Knott's Scary Farm haunts Knott's Berry Farm on select nights from Sept. 22 through Oct. 31, 2022

The spirit of summer, at least in many places, is fizzily realized through freezer-cold confections, fried foods on sticks, laid-back barbecues, movies screened outdoors, and the sorts of water-based high jinks that are best performed outside.

But in Southern California?

It's as if a crypt door creaks open when the longest day of the year arrives, and jack o'lantern-style lights begin to flicker, and, quite suddenly, almost out of the blue — or orange, if you prefer — there are a number of big announcements about the local Halloween season.

Odd? Not really. So why can we count on eekier announcements to make their way into the easiest-breeziest part of the calendar?

Theme parks, movie studios, and all sorts of creative-minded pros call our region home, and Halloween is one of their prime times to shine. (Or, if not "shine," then flicker much like a spooky candle does.)

Knott's Berry Farm is one of the monstrous mainstays each fall, when Knott's Scary Farm, one of the region's oldest Halloween-themed events, rattles and moans its way into the hearts of regional fright fans.

It's a huge production, running over several autumn evenings, and to get its monsters in a row? The show, or rather haunted attractions, must be planned months in advance.

Eerie actors are needed, in short, to play the monsters, ghosts, and fiends seen around the Buena Park destination. And the call has now gone out: Talent tryouts are happening over the final weekend of June 2022.

Is this something you've talked about checking out for years? Or are you a returning monster, someone who happily anticipates giving guests the gleefully ghoulish thrills they seek?

You can sign up here, learn how to submit an application, read more about what to expect, and peruse the policies, too (yep, you'll need to be age 18 or older).

Of course, if you would like to portray one of the supernatural figures frequently encountered around Knott's Scary Farm, you'll need to be available to work over several fall nights.

Opening night? It arrives just a season away from today, or almost: It's Sept. 22, which is the first day of fall in 2022, a well-timed dovetailing of an event and an occasion.

Of course, if you prefer visiting Knott's Berry Farm when things are a bit more monster-free, there's plenty going on now to enjoy, including Knott's Summer Nights.

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