The early nineteen fifties marked a turning point for Walter Knott’s frontier tribute.
The Calico and Ghost Town Railway, Bill Higdon’s Butterfield Stagecoach, The Calico Saloon and
Bird Cage Theatre were brought to life by scads of artists, magicians and colorful characters.
Something was missing though- something promised in the destination’s title. A piece
of the supernatural, a footstep beyond the veil. A place to unleash Ghost Town’s eponymous fate.
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From the arches of the recently completed Bird Cage Theatre, one could see carpenters and
mountain-builders hastily raising an unorthodox compound. At the center of the construction was
Lester Wilson, a Kansas-borne former “sand hog” that spent his adult life climbing Woolworth’s
management ladder. He came here to spend his golden years indulging in his true passion:
entertainment. Though he didn’t know how to read music, Les entered a songwriting contest in 1915.
His entry, a fight song titled “Bow Down to Washington,” nabbed the $25 prize. He never
stopped composing, sharing the hobby with family and friends. His other hobby was stage magic.
Knott’s presented a unique opportunity- the same one discovered by the likes of Bill Higdon,
Gus Thornrose and Jo-An Burdock- the chance to live and work as a bonafide showman.
His business acumen was solid, so all Lester needed was a winning concept that fit
Ghost Town’s roughhewn allure. His solution sprung from the vast roadside of Americana…
“A Knowledge of direction often helps you get where you are going.
Did you know you can use your watch as a compass if the sun is shining? Point the hour hand directly at the sun.
Midway between the hour hand and 12 o clock is approximately south. That’s all there is to it.
However you will find it pays to have a compass if you do a
great deal of travelling in open country.”
Scottish engineer and geologist John Litster was drawn to Sardine Creek in Oregon because a friend
told him that a paranormal activity was discovered there inside an abandoned Gold Assay office.
Litster swooned over the wonders, naming the site the Oregon Vortex. He began offering paid tours
in 1930. The Oregon Vortex confounded visitors with acts that defied physics,
supposedly powered by a magnetic force with a 165 foot radius. Cars frequently
stopped to investigate and word spread. Nine years later, a welder from central California
named George Prather discovered a similarly dizzying post near Santa Cruz, California.
In 1941, Prather put out a sign for “The Mystery Spot” and motorists took notice. Like the Oregon
Vortex, unseen forces cast their spell on the paying mortals with perfectly practised timing.
Those and other “crazy houses” cashed in as post-war Americans took to the byways.
Walter Knott understood the potential of having such an attraction on the farm.
With the heel of his boot, the old farmer marked an empty patch across the train tracks, not far
from the tomb of Hiram McTavish. It was there that Lester was allowed to whip up his vortex.
The location was as far from Main Street as one could go in those days, but what else
was Walt going to put there- a western-themed outdoor stage? Knott’s already had one of those!
Lester’s house of mystery would not be naturally inclined,
so he employed his amateur knowledge to build a roster of eerie conjurings.
“Most spiritualistic tricks are necessarily accomplished in the dark
and what i'm about to offer is the famous table levitation trick, in which the
table floats above freely in midair, while the subject's hands are resting
lightly upon the table top. That forces our weight up with the table top, up goes the table, up,up,
up and down again. The mysterious effect of table levitation is really easily accomplished.
Two of the mediums assistants are confederates, wear this attached to their arm.
By placing the hook below the table top, it is a simple matter to cause the table to rise.”
Walter, a master of promotion and publicity,
got the ad office to do a littling conjuring of their own.
According to the park’s internal newsletter, a legendary shack recently came on the market.
The former owner, a miner known as “Slanty Sam” and his wife “Shaky Sadie” had isolated themselves
in this cabin when the gold rush petered out. After the stubborn couple died, the shack broke
free of its moorings, slid down a hill and came to rest directly over the dearly departed’s graves.
Wanderers who happened upon the property reported strange goings-on, paranormal phenomena that
couldn’t be explained. Knott’s located the derelict domain in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
Using the utmost care, Knott’s spirited the refuge to Buena Park so that guests could experience the
mysteries lurking inside-- encounters that would be remembered until their last days on this earth.
The Haunted Shack opened at Knott’s Berry Farm on Saturday, June 19, 1954. Tours were led by
guides that Les trained himself. Daily operations were managed by his deputy, Mister McWhertor.
Tickets were purchased at a window next to the attractions entrance.
In a corral, guests were grouped and waited for their appointed guide.
A crate marked baby rattlers offered fair warning of the mischievous script.
“North is west to the compass here and a radio is useless in the area. Nature has repealed the law
of gravity and when you enter this cabin you must lean to maintain your balance.”
The first part of the tour took place in a patio where an audio recording by Lester
recalled the shack’s legend. The guide took two volunteers, usually a parent and child,
and sent them to separate ends of a level walk.
“Here at the Haunted Shack we make taller folks taller and shorter folks
shorter, this boy right here is a few inches taller than this one right here
and in a few seconds this will all change. Please exchange places.”
Suddenly, the unearthly powers of the site made the short grow tall
and vice-versa. A quick swap of positions and the natural order was restored.
From there, the group trekked down a stonelike gully. The tour arrived at the shack’s door where
the guide stood inside an adjacent window and disproved a long held truism of engineering.
“Okay every morning, first of all my name is Bob Beto and welcome
to better homes and gardens...Every morning… huh?” “It says your danny?”.
Is this water actually flowing uphill? Or is your imagination, hmm?
Now inside the shack, visitors would see objects moved by unseen hands.
First, a glass bottle passed down a ramp and then right back up.
Second, a volunteer was conscripted to sit on the scare chair, held aloft by an invisible revenant.
For the skeptics, the chair was pulled from the wall- no command strips here.
In the following chamber, the best bet was always the corner pocket; a tennis ball
kept a high opinion of itself; and Sadie’s broom had a bout of lead singer’s syndrome..
“Eureka! The first upright sweeper.”
Another lucky volunteer was selected and asked to sit in a simple arm chair.
When directed to stand the guest struggled, as though restrained by
shadow. Only with assistance could the sitter escape this oblique lounger.
Moving on, visitors saw a continuous stream of water pumped from a pipeless faucet.
“Just like so… His friend suggested looking at the
bucket closer and that wouldnt make a HOLE lot of difference….”
Down a dark and narrow passage, the group discovered the couple’s bedroom,
where Sadie and her husband seemed alive and well. However, once the lanterns dimmed,
a grim scene unfolded and the playful spooks materialized.
En route to the egress, a grumbling voice could be heard from the outhouse:
if you’re next in line, expect a wait.
Oh yes, one more thing, guests weren’t permitted to leave the premises without
taking the Haunted Shack oath. Repeat after me: I / got taken / ….... That’s the whole oath
‘ The Haunted Shack charmed visitors
with it’s optical effects and buffoonery, becoming a fixture practically overnight.
Guests probably figured out that the phantom shenanigans were really the work of gravity.
That’s a simple way to debunk the poltergeists. According to psychologists at U.C. Berkeley,
the misperceptions generated by crooked house attractions stem from the building’s 20 degree
pitch. Professor William Prinzmetal explains that "When the perceiver's body is also tilted,
the distorting impact on vision is greatly magnified- up to two or three times."
What's more, a distorted orientation causes other senses to fall back
while one's visual senses become heightened-- thus low-tech gimmicks become unusually satisfying.
There was another ghost story to debunk, that of the structure’s providence.
Though Esmeralda County does have its share of abandoned huts,
this shack isn’t one of them. Sam and Sadie’s castle never crossed the Nevada state line.
It never even crossed the Orange County line. Knott’s Haunted Shack
was purpose-built by the farm’s talented crew from the ground up; “slanty” ground of course.
The Haunted Shack operated daily, rain or shine, without alteration until 1973,
when the shack hosted a walk-through experience for the new Halloween Haunt event. The shack was
renamed Monster Maze. And so sure that their haunted house would draw a healthy crowd,
the event producers charged a nominal fee to enter. Of course they were right and in subsequent
years the shack presented such humdingers as Trail of the Tortured, Trail of the Doomed,
Conviks Haven, The Enemy Within, Camp Hatchet Head, Encounters of Darkness, Toxichem,
Curse of the Werewolf and Dead Man’s Wharf. Though much is made of Ten Chilling Chambers from 1977,
that landmark maze has The Haunted Shack’s Monster Maze to thank for blazing the trail.
“[Boy]I know a neat place to play cowboys[Music]
at Knotts Berry Farm, even the grown ups play cowboys!
On the stage I tell Grandma I reign the cattle.[Bandit] Come out and Reach for
the sky![Boy]This is the highest I can reach Mr Bandit! [Narrator]
You may think that's a smile on your face but its knotts! As in Berry Farm.”
After Les passed away in the 1960’s, his wife, Pauline, ran the shack.
By 1983, the last of the farm’s concessionaires
sold their attractions to the hands of Walter’s clan.
Cedar Fair purchased a controlling interest of Knott’s theme park business
in 1997 and wasted little time reshaping the farm to match their vision of a modern thrill park.
In November of 2000, Cedar Fair announced that Knott’s would offer a bungee jump-like ride
the following summer. This Skycoaster by Ride Entertainment Group would replace the Haunted
Shack, which had unceremoniously closed after the end of the 2000 Scary Farm. With increasing
maintenance costs, a termite problem and no wheelchair access, Lester Wilson’s addition
simply didn’t have a place in Cedar’s west coast fortunes. The closure was an unpopular move and
prompted a response from Jack Falfas, Cedar’s appointed general manager for the California park.
“No one was visiting it,” Jack claimed. “It was some hokey stuff…” Yeah- he actually said that.
In February of the following year, the skycoaster plans were nixed. Nearby Magic Mountain had the
exclusive rights to Skycoasters in the Southland and by the time Cedar admitted their failed due
diligence, the Haunted Shack was already gone. The park pivoted and commissioned a Sky Sling from
S&S Worldwide instead. The attraction, named VertiGo, opened in the fall of 2001 along with
it’s sister at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Less than two years later, both slings would be gone.
The next thrill ride plopped onto the shack’s haunted ground was Screamin’ Swing, a powered
pendulum, also by S&S. This one lasted from 2004 until 2016. It’s removal was a popular one,
with fans anticipating a worthy successor for the hallowed site. Hopes were tempered when,
just in time for Scary Farm, the farm built a western-themed outdoor stage.
A bedeviling choice considering that Knott’s already had one of those!!
At least this arena would be home to the Hanging- more on that in a future expedition.
“Okay please stand on the sidewalk and tell me if this is level……
Yes it is. If you do have any questions throughout the tour, do not ask myself,
ask this gentleman right there who will explain everything you need to know about this tour.”
For those that just can’t live without a gravity hill adventure on their boomtown expedition,
there is good news. A few hours by car, in California’s official Silver Rush ghost town
of Calico, The Mystery Shack continues to offer tours. This crooked house, sprouted under the
care of Harry Dover, is just like her Buena Park cousin and welcomes water to run uphill, brooms
to stand independently, and families to exchange glances of bemusement at the tongue-in-cheek fun.
In the two decades since it’s disappearance, the Haunted Shack has become a legend in it’s own
right. The shack’s iconography pops up on pins and other merchandise from time to time. One of
the original signs sold at auction for nearly $9 thousand dollars in 2017. That same year, news
of a replica shack was leaked online, alleging the reboot to be called The Haunted Snack Shack.
And if you believed that tale- go ahead and repeat the Haunted Shack oath one more time.
In 2019, the maze that started them all was honored inside
Origin’s: the Curse of Calico- Lester’s pipeless faucet still running just fine.
Though we might never stand amidst the strange goings-on ever again, the intrigue and the
spirit of the Haunted Shack remains, it’s mystique burnished by the wheel of time. Sure it was hokey
and rolled an eye or two, but it was also inviting and encouraged everyone to get in on the fun
and likely helped Walter Knott cast the deciding vote in favor of Halloween Haunt. He embraced the
new, supernatural residents, bragging to the press that he himself witnessed an apparition “[rise]
right through the solid roof of the Haunted Shack and float away like a graceful swan...”
Thank you so much for watching this episode of Expedition Knott’s Berry Farm.
Would you ever bring back the Haunted Shack? What ride would you trade for
a chance to watch water run uphill? Let me know in the comments below.
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We will see you next time.