Knott’s Scary Farm Targeted for Shut Down by Evangelicals!
According to website themighty.com: “After receiving a letter from John Leyerle, president of the Orange County branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Knott’s Berry Farm changed the name of its attraction from FearVR:5150 – the California police code indicating a person with a mental illness may harm themselves or others – to just FearVR.”
Then things escalated, and a change.org petition was started.
500+ Signatures later, The OC Register ran an article to let us know that the whole attraction has been taken away not only from Knott’s, but from three different haunts! A number of other news outlets have started to report on this today, and it is going to be VERY bad for those of us who love the haunt season and all of the wonderful things it brings to us.
These articles basically explain that some people whose lives have been affected by mental illness are offended that Knott’s Scary Farm is making fun of people afflicted with mental disorders and calling for a boycott. And while Knott’s has commented that “it wasn’t their intent to offend or make fun of anyone,” these people have scared the company enough to shut down the attractions completely.
The door is now being burst open by others who are chiming in about their disdain for all of Halloween. The people behind this are Kay Warren, a leading mental health spokesperson, and her husband, Pastor Rick Warren. They run one of the largest churches in the country with over 20,000 members and routinely use their large flock of followers to battle things they don’t approve of like gay marriage (and to sell books).
But here is the real problem: This is just the beginning. With Knott’s Scary Farm caving to their demands, where does this stop? If you look on Kay Warren’s Facebook page, hundreds of people have chimed in complaining about their neighbors’ “gruesome” home haunt yard displays, Halloween being “evil,” and calling the entire holiday “unconscionable and disgusting.” If these people are able to shut down a haunt, without ever seeing it firsthand, what comes next? “American Horror Story: Asylum?”
As readers of Dread Central, I assume you have a love and passion for all things horror and genre-related. I encourage you all in the horror community to chime in and use your voices, not to slam them or talk smack, but to express exactly why we love Halloween and horror. If you have ever been to a horror convention anywhere in the world, you have seen our thriving community dressing up and trading and selling “gruesome” works of art, along with people lining up just to get a photo with a celebrity that was in a random horror flick 20 years ago and showering them with adoration.
The people in OUR horror community are the ones paying to attend haunted houses, not these people who are trying to generate attention, NOT to further the cause of mental health awareness, but to flex their evangelical muscles and get places like Knott’s Scary Farm, Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, and your local haunts to cave in to their PC demands. Please do not be silent; use your voice, and let them know we won’t let this go.
We won’t let their warped beliefs take away our beloved Halloween just so they can sell some more books.
Categorized:Editorials News
