Howl-O-Scream Is Back at Busch Gardens with New Ways to Get Scared

Today, September 11, Howl-O-Scream kicks off at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay – a massive nighttime event that transforms the park into a horror-filled territory every year. This season, guests can expect six haunted houses, six scare zones, themed shows, nighttime rides, creepy bars, and new ways to step inside the story. The event will take place on select nights through October 31.

Howl-O-Scream is designed for an adult audience: there is blood, violence, monsters, loud effects, and intense horror scenes. This is not a family-friendly Halloween festival, but a separate nighttime Busch Gardens event for those who really want to test their nerves.

Six Haunted Houses with New Stories

Haunted houses remain at the heart of Howl-O-Scream, and this year the park has prepared six different stories.

The biggest new addition of the season is Anaconda: Fear Has No Escape. Guests enter an abandoned film set in the Amazon jungle. A film crew came here to make a remake of a movie about an anaconda, but production suddenly stopped, and everyone disappeared. Now visitors will have to follow the trail of the missing crew and find out what really happened in the jungle.

Familiar Howl-O-Scream locations are getting new storylines this year. Stranglewood Estate: RePossessed takes guests back to an abandoned estate where, after a failed séance, the ghosts of its former residents have awakened.

In Circus of Fear: Killer Encore, a circus performance spirals out of control, and a deadly threat hides behind the dazzling show. Shadows of Wonderland: Reign of Madness takes the familiar world of Alice into a much darker reality, where the once-fairytale Wonderland has become a place of fear and brutality.

Also returning are Raven's Mill: Lambs to the Slaughter, where a working mill in the middle of desolate fields hides a bloody history, and M.A.R.S., which sends guests aboard the abandoned Elysium spacecraft, where surviving a mission that wiped out the crew will be far from easy.

Scare Zones Begin Right on the Park Streets

For those who don't want to keep the horror confined to the walls of haunted houses, Howl-O-Scream brings scare zones right into the middle of Busch Gardens. Three new zones are making their debut this year.

At Mr. Gleam's Auto Spa, an ordinary car wash has become a place where a cheaper cleaning solution comes at a terrifying price. Rootbound introduces guests to Grimherd – a creature that rises from open graves to drag its victims into the darkness. And in The Punchline Riot, a disastrous night at a comedy club turns into chaos involving deranged clowns.

They are joined by returning scare zones with new storylines. So even walking from one part of the park to another can turn into a horror scene of its own. Unpredictable hordes of monsters, including The Dead-End Kids, will also roam the park.

Shows Where Horror Becomes a Performance

Howl-O-Scream is about more than haunted houses. Two themed shows will take place throughout Busch Gardens.

Fiends! Resurrected returns in a new version featuring Dr. Freakenstein and his assistant, Igor. This time, they are preparing their biggest Halloween party yet with the help of new innovative technology, along with new music, monsters, and unexpected moments.

Another performance, Cirque X-Scream, combines acrobatics, spectacular acts, and the atmosphere of Howl-O-Scream. It will take place at Stanleyville Theatre.

Nighttime Rides for Those Who Haven't Had Enough Monsters

After sunset, the regular rides at Busch Gardens take on a completely different character. Guests can ride roller coasters and other thrill rides in the dark, combining speed, height, and unexpected encounters with monsters.

This is what makes Howl-O-Scream more interesting than a typical haunted house: you don't have to spend the evening only waiting in line for haunted houses – you can alternate them with rides.

Even Food and Drinks Become Part of the Horror

At Howl-O-Scream, you can take a break between scare zones and haunted houses without leaving the atmosphere of the event.

As part of Fright Feast, TreeTop Kitchen will host a themed buffet with creepy dishes and characters. It is available from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Fright Feast guests get front-of-the-line access to select haunted houses from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The park will also have themed bars and food locations. Another atmospheric spot will be Madame Mary's Red Rum Social – a bar designed as a revived Roaring Twenties club with its own dark history.

A New Way to Take the Memories Home

This year, Howl-O-Scream is adding the Fear Foto Immersive Experience. Instead of taking a regular photo in front of a set, guests can literally step inside three creepy scenes and have their photos taken there. Of course, at Howl-O-Scream, even photo areas don't remain simple sets – some scenes can suddenly come to life.

For those who want to keep the Halloween mood going after returning home, The Shop of Horrors at Marrakesh Market will offer themed clothing, home goods, and souvenirs. Among them is the special No Boo Necklace 2026, which, according to the organizers, is designed to protect its owner from monsters.

If you've already been missing Halloween in Tampa Bay, Howl-O-Scream is a good way to experience the horror, test your nerves, and spend an evening at Busch Gardens a little differently. This year brings a new haunted house, new scare zones, updated stories at familiar locations, shows, nighttime rides, and enough surprises to make one evening feel like it might not be enough.