When you sign up for a scary Halloween event like Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, even if you haven’t been before, you basically know what to expect: terror around every turn, monsters running out of the fog wielding bloody weapons, jump scare after jump scare. For some people, it’s a nonstarter. They don’t like to be scared and they refuse to go, convinced they won’t enjoy an event designed to terrify them. For others, it’s when their Halloween fantasies finally come to life, when they can revel in the adrenaline rush of fearing for their lives without ever being in real danger.

But there are people in the middle, for whom a haunted house is dauntingly scary, but they want to try it anyway. This year, Knott’s Berry Farm tried to make it easier for them to enjoy its Halloween event, Knott’s Scary Farm. Whether the theme park succeeded is a matter of some debate. 

For the 2023 season, the 50th anniversary of Knott’s Scary Farm, the park is selling a “no boo necklace.” For $14.99, people can buy an oversized blue necklace with a spider medallion on it that lights up. When the necklace is illuminated and you’re wearing it, you’re theoretically supposed to be immune from the scare actors who roam the park. They aren’t supposed to try to frighten, or even approach, anyone wearing one.

The theme park has gotten absolutely roasted for launching the “no boo” necklace, both in the press and from some fans. 

“Wait, not nice,” she said. The boos continued as the pair put on their necklaces. “She clearly said it was a ‘no boo’ necklace, so you’re not allowed to boo us,” Tucker added.

“This necklace is going to grant the wearer ‘scare immunity’ in our scare zones,” Vamp said. “So, if you have one of these on, it’s illuminated and most importantly, visible to the monsters. They will avoid scaring you directly.”

Event fans in the YouTube livestream chat criticized the necklace, the consensus being that if you don’t want to be scared, don’t go. In a column for the Orange County Register, Theme Park Insider’s Robert Niles agreed. 

“Like many theme park fans, I want to see parks trying new things from time to time, so I won’t roast Knott’s Berry Farm too hard for trying something new at its Knott’s Scary Farm event this year,” he wrote. “I just hope that the park’s management sees its attempted innovation as a failure and does not bring it back again next year.” 

Niles’ essential complaint: “Seeing other people get scared at a haunt is as much a part of the attraction as getting scared yourself. That camaraderie — that shared belief that we are all fair game for the monsters — is one of the qualities that makes haunts so beloved among fans.”

But that view — that everyone going to the event wants to be scared, or can physically withstand intense jump scares — ignores many people who might wear the necklace. Maybe they’re dipping a toe into the event to see if they can handle it. Maybe their whole family is going and they don’t want to miss out. 

“It’s really for the chaperones,” Redditor Curious_Changeling wrote on the Knott’s Berry Farm Reddit page. Under Knotts’ chaperone policy, no one under 16 is admitted without an adult at least 21 years old. “Because of the chaperone policy, kids and teens can’t come into the park without an adult. Quite often, this adult is someone’s mom or dad, who may not want to be targeted by scare actors.”

“To be honest, my mom would have killed for something like this,” the user continued. “When I was about 12 or 13, I wanted to go to Scary Farm and HHN with my friends. My mom had to chaperone since she didn’t want a bunch of preteens running around a theme park in the middle of the night. But she hates scary stuff, and got targeted by scare actors all night because she was clearly frightened. She said more than once that the parks could make a fortune selling something ‘for the moms’ that meant they could walk the park without being constantly terrified.”

An additional motivation for wearing the necklace: mental or physical conditions that make folks especially susceptible to sensory overload. There are plenty of people who have sensory issues that make people screaming in their face over and over hard to withstand. They have every right to visit a nighttime Halloween event that doesn’t feel geared toward children. (Knott’s Spooky Farm is the daytime, family-friendly Halloween celebration that’s included with park admission.) 

In addition to the mazes and the scare zones, there are also live performances and Halloween-themed food to experience, not to mention just appreciating the immersive environment. A handful of necklaces worn by people who want a less intense experience isn’t going to ruin it for everyone else.

For Psychology Today, licensed mental health counselor Shainna Ali wrote about people with anxiety who love Halloween. “Not everyone who lives with anxiety is drawn to scary things, but a lot of us, even those of us with a diagnosis, share a fascination for the eerie,” she said. 

“In a world that generally sends the message that it is unacceptable to have emotions, much less to explore your deepest fears, people who live with anxiety tend to be isolated with their often obsessive inner dialogue,” Ali added. “Yet, on Halloween, all things eerie rise from the darkness and the experience of being frightened is normalized.”

“Some people just go to see the park decorated, and see the various attractions,” Redditor JolkB wrote. “It’s definitely nice to have an option to take a break from the scares if you get anxious or overwhelmed easily. Just let people enjoy things the way they want to.”

Other parks, including many also owned by Knotts’ parent company Cedar Fair, have long offered the necklaces with less blowback.

“My girlfriend has severe anxiety but loves the Halloween ambiance but can’t handle people causing jump scare to her,” Redditor Wiscoaster_IG wrote, adding that they visit Halloween events at Cedar Fair’s parks Cedar Point and Kings Island. “We also love the fact that fall gives much more opportunity for night rides. I get it’s different because Scary Farm is a separate ticket but id assume it’s a case of we have them for other parks in the chain, why not just send some to Knott’s too.”

Aside from criticism from fans and the press, the necklace has been getting heat from another, more surprising, source: the park itself. This year’s Halloween show “The Hanging: Uncancelled” unapologetically mocks “anyone and everyone,” according to the sign outside the theater. But in reality, it seems more pointed than that.

“Within the context of the show, I make fun of the people who complain,” Tucker, writer and director of this year’s “The Hanging,” told the Orange County Register. “There are no sacred cows.”

Among the mocked: “Karens” described as “social justice warriors” who, if they had their way, would enforce “diversity classes, paper straws and double masks for everyone.” In the show, a Karen is the final villain, and her ultimate punishment is a “no boo necklace.”

“I think we can find something appropriate to wrap around your nosy, know-it-all neck,” the sheriff says. “Hangman, your no boo necklace!” The crowd cheers, and the Karen, wearing her glowing necklace, is hanged. 

But the real disconnect — aside from a misunderstanding of what a Karen is — is that it’s not the biggest complainers who are likely to wear the necklace. It’s the people at the event who are most scared and vulnerable. Rather than a sacred cow, it feels like targeting the most exposed of the herd.