What’s up with all the similarities between recent HHN original houses and Knott’s Scary Farm? Obvious caveat, there’s only so many horror settings/tropes so similarities are expected, they’ll both approach the material differently, etc. but man, there’s been a hell of a lot of coincidences recently.
· Last year Knott’s debuts The Depths, a maze set underwater, and this year we’re rumored to be getting the aquatic Depths of Fear.
· Until last year, Knott’s had a tooth fairy house, and this year HHN is apparently getting one.
· Two years ago Knott’s gets Dark Ride, and last year we had Carnival Graveyard, both about carnies stalking you in scrapped attractions.
And those are just the 1:1 connections, there’s also:
· Pumpkin Eater & Twisted Traditions both revolve around a rotting pumpkin patch with some similar costume designs.
· Special Ops: Infected & Dead Exposure: Patient Zero are both gimmick zombie houses set in a city. Dead Exposure’s been a thing for 10 years so it’s not really a 1:1 comparison, but both feature an extensive subway/underground sequence.
· This one I think is complete coincidence, but it is funny that HHN may be doing a bigfoot house the same year Knott’s is retheming their rapids ride, complete with an animatronic bigfoot.
Again, I know there’s always going to be thematic overlap between different events, there’s only so much scary to go around. It’s just weird seeing Knott’s introduce a fairly unique spin on something, only to have the same idea show up at HHN a year or so later. Like, barring the line slowdowns/loss prevention issues it may cause, I wouldn't be shocked if the Hide and Seek house turns out to be a riff on flashlight tag, using the same tech as Trick or Treat: Lights Out.