SCARING UP COMPETITION; UNIVERSAL STUDIOS PLANS HALLOWEEN THRILLS.

Byline: Dave McNary / Daily News Staff Writer

The high-stakes competition among local theme parks could become seriously scary next month.

Universal Studios Hollywood has decided to go directly after Knott's Berry Farm's 25-year-old Halloween business with its own 12-night Halloween Horror Night campaign.

Both events are aimed mostly at attracting the fickle youth and young-adult customers during one of the traditionally less active periods of the year. Each will charge $32 for a night of frights.

Universal executives said Tuesday they aren't frightened at taking on Knott's and its 16-day event, billed as the ``biggest, scariest and most famous Halloween party in the world.''

``We think that in a few years we'll be the event of choice for Halloween,'' said Norman Kahn, Universal Studios vice president of entertainment. ``Knott's has done a great job but we think that there's such a huge market for Halloween right now that we have a huge void to fill. The question is not whether 12 nights is too many but whether 12 is enough.''

Universal has more than 100 employees preparing for the Horror Night campaign, which will feature three mazes: a ``classic'' maze with the studio's Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman and Mummy characters; an ``Area 51'' science-fiction site; and a ``Tales From the Crypt Film Vault.''

The park also will transform the ``Waterworld'' aquatic attraction into ``The Creature From the Black Lagoon's Monsterquarium'' with mutant sea monsters presented as a sort of Sea-World-gone-wrong.

``We want to scare the living daylights out of people,'' Kahn said.

Universal Studios Hollywood is borrowing some concepts already employed at Universal Studios Florida, but executives say it will also be offering never-before-seen attractions.

``We think ours will be more cohesive than Knott's Scary Farm,'' Kahn said. ``We're trying to create a branded event because we're in this for the long term.''

This is not the first time that a rival has tried taking on Knott's. Universal debuted a Halloween event in 1992 but abandoned it the following year, then launched a Chamber of Chills horror revue at its CityWalk complex last year.

Six Flags Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita jumped into the Halloween business with Fright Fest in 1993 and is now offering three ``spooktacular'' weekends starting Oct. 10 with activities such as costume parades and Creepy Crawly Pet Shows designed to attract children and families.

For its part, Knott's expects to sell out all 16 nights at its Buena Park facility, which is transformed into ``Knott's Scary Farm.'' ``This is the grandfather of all Halloweens at theme parks,'' said spokeswoman Dana Hammontree. ``A lot of the other parks have events, but we are clearly the leader.''

Knott's has added three days to its Halloween campaign this year with a preview weekend Oct. 3-4. It promises 11 mazes and re-themed rides, two ``scare zones,'' seven live shows and more than 1,000 ``monsters, such as the Grim Reaper and Leatherface.''

Americans currently spend more on Halloween than any other holiday except Christmas, with spending on scary merchandise estimated at more than $3.5 billion. But there are also those who ignore Halloween, including Southern California's largest theme park.

Disneyland, the cradle of the modern amusement park, had offered a family-oriented Mickey's Halloween Treat event in 1995 and 1996 but ditched the idea this year and has no special Halloween-related event planned.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--color) ``Knott's Scary Farm''

(2--color) Universal's ``Horror Night''