It’s Scream Season

The monsters are restless.

After last year’s somber post-Sept. 11 Halloween, the monsters at Knott’s Berry Farm are itching to scare the screams out of visitors to Knott’s 30th Halloween Haunt, which started Oct. 3. “Last year, with 9/11, the crowd was very subdued,” said Craig Harreld, a Knott’s manager and 19-year veteran of Halloween Haunt.

“I think this year, people are going to want more of an escape,” Harreld suggested. “People were uptight, and now they are going to look for that release. And this is a way for them to release it.” And it’s not just the crowd that’s ready to let loose. “This is a way for the talent to release, too--to scare people and get those emotions and screams and yells and everything out.”

Knott’s monsters are experts at fright therapy. Talk to Harreld, a former monster who now supervises them, and prepare for an education in the dark art of spooking. He spices his conversation with lingo like “sliders” (the monsters who pop up out of nowhere to startle you) and “ping-pong effect” (two monsters working opposite sides of the street, bouncing frightened visitors back and forth between them). “A lot of our guys are veterans. They know how to pick out people, how to scope out the right ones” to scare, Harreld said. “The easiest target is the woman clinging to the boyfriend’s arm. But everyone is a target. Everyone is fair game.

“The guys are supposed to be the macho type. But we find that’s not true. We find that large groups of guys that are out there to have a fun evening, they get scared just as easy as the girls.

“You go down to Ghost Town and, the way they’ve got the lighting, with the blues and the reds and the yellows and the fog, you just don’t know what’s gonna jump out,” he said.

But Knott’s visitors might be even more surprised to discover what all those monsters do when they aren’t scaring people. Turns out that many of them are not just regular theme park employees.

“Some are emergency nurses at hospitals. We’ve got some lawyers--even a couple of police officers,” Harreld said, ticking off a list of his monsters’ day jobs. “We even have a guy who is a professional stand-up comedian.” Whatever their backgrounds, Harreld’s crew gets together each October to make life as deliciously miserable as possible for the tens of thousands of people who attend Halloween Haunt.

But there is one group that Harreld doesn’t want to see at this year’s Halloween Haunt--little kids. Knott’s recommends that no one under 13 attend. “There’s some pretty heavy stuff in there: decapitations, blood and guts and gore,” Harreld warned. “There’s one disembowelment, where blood’s coming out of the stomach. I don’t think kids should really be seeing that kind of stuff.”

Parents looking for Halloween entertainment can find less gory options at local theme parks. Knott’s, for instance, offers Camp Spooky during its regular daytime operating hours, with not-so-scary mazes and children’s costume contests. And Legoland California will again offer its annual Brick-or-Treat, with Halloween-themed shows, Lego creations and a suburban cul-de-sac of scaled-down homes where kids can trick or treat.

But the best single Halloween attraction at local theme parks is at Disneyland, where Haunted Mansion Holiday returns for a second year. Disney has revamped its classic Haunted Mansion attraction with scenes and characters from Tim Burton’s film “Nightmare Before Christmas.” The overlay of the new characters into the old attraction is seamless, creating a wonderful experience that should delight all but the most sensitive little ones.

This year, Disney has also added a new musical soundtrack from the film’s composer, Danny Elfman, something that was missing from last year’s otherwise top-notch version of the mansion. Now all the elements are in place for a complete screamfest.

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Southland Haunts Full of Thrills, Chills

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Event: Halloween Haunt

Park: Knott’s Berry Farm

Lowdown: The original, and the best overall.

But don’t bring the kids.

Scariness: ****

Family friendliness: *

Fun Factor: ****

Price: $42 at the gate. $38 in advance.

Hours: 7 p.m.-1 a.m. (2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays), Oct. 10-13, 17-20, 24-27, 29-31, Nov. 1-2. (877) 858-7234.

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Event: Camp Spooky

Park: Knott’s Berry Farm

Lowdown: If your kids just have to go to Knott’s for Halloween.

Scariness: *

Family friendliness: ****

Fun Factor: ***

Price: Regular park admission. $42 adults, $32 ages 3-11.

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays only, through Oct. 27. (714) 220-5200.

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Event: Brick-or-Treat

Park: Legoland California

Lowdown: Strictly for the little ones.

Scariness: ****

Fun Factor: **

Price: Regular park admission. $39.95 adults, $33.95 ages 3-16.

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Oct. 19-31. Closed Tuesdays and

Wednesdays. (760) 918-LEGO.

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Event: Haunted Mansion Holiday

Park: Disneyland

Lowdown: An inspired remaking of a Disneyland classic.

Scariness: **

Family friendliness: ***

Fun Factor: ****

Price: Regular park admission. $45 adults. $35 ages 3-9.

Hours: Daily through the end of the year. (714) 781-4565.

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Event: Fright Fest

Park: Six Flags Magic Mountain

Lowdown: If you’re up north and don’t want to drive

down to Knott’s.

Scariness: ***

Family friendliness: **

Fun Factor: **

Price: Regular park admission. $42.99, adults. $26.99, kids under 48 inches tall.

Hours: Oct. 11-13, 18-20, 25-27, 31. (661) 255-4100.

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Event: Terrors of the Deep

Park: SeaWorld San Diego

Lowdown: A mix of scariness and fun for the whole family.

Scariness: **

Family friendliness: ***

Fun Factor: ***

Price: Regular park admission. $42.95 adults, $32.95 ages 3-9. $17.95 after 6 p.m.

Hours: Oct. 11-13, 18-20, 25-27, 31. Nov. 1-2. (619) 226-3901.

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Ratings on 1 to 4 scale