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Are you looking to get scared this Halloween season in Tampa, Florida? Then you should attend Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens theme park!
Busch Gardens’ after-hours scary Halloween event is a great place to go if you love being terrified. Every year they keep topping themselves in the scare department. In fact, last year they were voted the #1 theme park Halloween event!
This year, Howl-O-Scream takes place on select nights from Friday, September 5, 2025, through Halloween on Sunday, November 2, 2025. The event runs from 7:00 PM to park close.
So now you know the dates and times. But we want to go over everything else you need to know for the upcoming event. This includes all the haunted houses, scare zones, rides, and shows. But it also includes information on upgrades and tickets – including how to save money on tickets!
Haunted Houses
Howl-O-Scream has some great haunted houses. They essentially work as haunted mazes.
There are multiple haunted houses, and it may be hard to fit every haunted house into one night along with other activities you’ll want to do. If you’re worried about getting everything done in one night, consider buying a Front Line Fear Pass. This gets you to the front of the line at each haunted house one time.
I want to tell you about some of these haunted houses. Now, this is not a complete list of haunted houses. As we get closer to the event, I’ll be able to tell you more about the haunted houses as Busch Gardens slowly tells us about more and more haunts this year.
But here is what we know now!
Stranglewood Estate
Stranglewood Estate is back at Howl-O-Scream. The story behind this haunted house is that Stranglewood Estate used to be a nice, lively home full of laughter and lavish parties. But gone is the laughter and fun. It has been replaced with darkness and the spirit of evil. This year there is even new scares and new special effects.
D.H. Baggum’s Circus of Fear
In this fan favorite haunted house, D.H. Baggum won’t be giving you the greatest show on earth so much as the most terrifying show on earth!
Shadows of Wonderland
This is another returning favorite haunted house! The premise behind this haunted house is that you are stepping into a Wonderland. But it’s not exactly the kind of wonderland you might see in the Disney Alice of Wonderland movie. No, this is a warped wonderland the Queen of Hearts is tormenting everyone in her reign of terror and playful characters have become bitter and angry by Alice’s abandonment. Can you make it out without losing your head?
M.A.R.S.
We do know about a brand new haunted house this year, and that is M.A.R.S.: Mars Alien Research Station.
The premise behind this haunted is that the space vessel Elysium 13 has crashed landed on Mars. The crew has vanished, and now in its place are alien creatures. And we’re not talking about nice aliens like E.T., we’re talking the stuff of nightmares.
Your mission? You have been sent in to destroy the ship before the infection spreads. Can you avoid mutated lifeforms before you join the darkness?
Scare Zones
Scare zones are outside areas of the park that are marked as scare zones. You might think it’s just part of the park you can walk through to get to the next attraction. But actors dressed as scary creatures and monsters can jump out at any turn.
This can get quite scary, which is a big part of the fun for most guests. But if you don’t want people coming up to you to scare you, consider getting a Noo Boo Necklace. How it works is that you wear the necklace and then the monsters will know not to scare you. I’ve found this mostly works, though a few times an actor might mess up and scare you. But for the most part, this is a good purchase if you want to be able to walk through the park without lots of actors jumping in your face. You can get the No Boo Necklace at the park.
But if you like getting scared, then keep reading so you can know what the themes of this year’s scare zones are! Once again, we don’t know all the scare zones yet, but we’ll tell you about the ones we do know.
Ragnar’s Wrath
This new scare zone takes you to a Viking longhouse. If you smell the stench of death here, well, be forewarned: that’s only the beginning. The real horror starts when you step inside…
Sawgrass Slaughter: Legend of the Skunk Ape
In the depths of the Everglades lies the legend of the existence of a Skunk Ape. There’s a musky odor in the air. Is this legend real? Are you brave enough to find out?
Rides
Have you ever done a Busch Gardens Tampa Bay ride at night? It brings a totally different experience from when you ride it during the day. Just look at how much different Cheetah Hunt looks.
Discounted Tickets
Now, unlike other Busch Gardens Tampa holiday events (like Christmas Town and Mardi Gras), you need a separate ticket to get into Howl-O-Scream. But luckily, here at Green Vacation Deals, we know of several ways to save money on these tickets.
First and foremost, you need to buy your ticket early. Because tickets are cheaper the earlier you buy them. And as of right now, you can save up to 70% on your ticket. So buy your ticket here.
