Howl-O-Scream 2017- Busch Gardens Tampa

Howl-O-Scream returns once more at Busch Gardens, bringing 7 houses, 5 scarezones and 2 shows, as well as many of the park's thrill rides being open late into the night. Howl-O-Scream is a solid event, provided good scares for a good price.

Houses

Unearthed- Returning for its third year, Unearthed remains a solid entry on the house list. A buried house, sealed away for years, is found during construction at Busch. Inside the decaying house resides a host of crazies, trying to make you their next meal.

This is a solid house, with good actors serving up decent scares. However, it feels like this house is kind of just there since its run as an icon house 2 years ago. It is still good, but when a theme is mostly built around a single character, losing that character kills a bit of the fluidity of the house. It still is good, but it may be nearing time to come up with a fresh idea here.

3/5

Motel Hell- The Sandman welcomes visitors to a motel where bedbugs are the least of your concerns. This is a really good house. The motel facade is one of the best in the park, and the set design goes from decaying bloody motel, to a serial killer's fever dream in the second half. Scares come from all directions, from under beds, to the ceiling tiles. It is a visually interesting house for sure, especially when in The Sandman's world.

4/5

Undead Arena- One of new houses, visitors are put in the arena where spectators take bets on how long it will take for before they become victims of the houses residents. Oh boy, will you here about betting from the barker on the platform above the entrance. In fact you will basically hear the same 3 or 4 lines only slightly altered repeated every 30 seconds. This is not a good house. The theming inside feels very minimal and the scares just really aren't there. Actors are placed in very obvious areas, and the plot is almost nonexistent. This house stumbles hard out the gate in its first year.

1/5

The Black Hole- Wander into a demented pirate's hideout, and try not to end up marked for death. Returning for its second year, this house feels like a marked improvement over last year. The cave systems marking this hideout look really good. Outdoor sections are equally good, especially the execution square. Strong use of the dark and misdirection pepper this house. So do bad pirate accents, but hey we've all been there. This is a house which is improving and has potential to be great. Some points knocked off for the horrifically bad animatronics telling the house story in the line. It isn't so bad at first, but in a 45 minute wait we heard the same explanation at least 30 times. Maybe space out the time before repeating dialog a bit?

3.5/5

Demented Dimensions- The other new house, enter a manor where every doorway leads to another dimension of terror. Well this one is off to a much better start than Undead Arena. The story let the designer's imaginations run wild. Having each room be starkly different from the one before is confusing and keeps you on your toes. Scares are decent, but do leave a lot to be desired. It may have just been the time we went through, but it feels sparsely populated. This does have a strong foundation to build on, and next year could see it jump up in rating quite a bit.

2.5/5

Death Water Bayou- The absolute standout of the event. Take a trip down to the swamps of Louisiana, going through the houses of voodoo practitioners, then a trip into town square where some sacrifices may be occurring, finally to the back alley voodoo shops of New Orleans, making your way safely out. This house is incredibly themed. Whether in the swamps or a voodoo shop, every detail combines to make you really feel there. Great use of music, wind, animal noises, and other such effects make a great house. The scares are on point in this one. They seem to come from everywhere, behind trees, in the crowd at a funeral, to flying in at you from out of nowhere, only to quickly return to the shadows. This is easily Howl-O-Scream's crown jewel.

4.5/5

Scarezones

Class Deceased- What a zone. Kids singing creepy songs carry on the wind. Burnt down remnants of a schoolhouse still glow from the burning embers. All while the children run around looking to torture their headmaster, or any adult they can get their hands on. This is a fantastic zone, with an eerie atmosphere. Actors have many places to hide, and they take advantage of it well.

4/5

Meat Market- Walk down a path where the butchers are sizing you up for meat. Chainsaws are name of the game for this zone. Lots of fog, with a marketplace set throughout. A simple zone, it is serviceable enough, although it seemed to get the least amount of scares of any zone we went through during the night.

2.5/5

Wasteland- A post-apocalyptic road has been loaded with debris, funneling victims through to be attacked by scavengers. A well designed zone, which casts an imposing figure while imposing. Large piles of metal and other debris seem to take up all space that can be seen. This provides room for actors to get good scares. However, there is a major issue, space. This is just a really small zone, if this zone was expanded with some more actors, it would be a great zone.

3/5

The Playground- Another creepy kid zone. The name says it all, a derelict playground where toys and playground equipment uses themselves. A very dark zone with good fog usage, actors can seem to appear right in front of your face. Creepy kids seem to be what Busch does quite well.

3.5/5

Howl-O-Scream has once again put on another enjoyable event. With a couple exceptions, this is a solid event. If going make sure to take advantage of the late night rides too. Rides like Shiekra and Cobra's Curse are great at night. Our personal pick for scariest ride in the world, Falcon's Fury is also open, and it is not to be missed in the dark.

We were unable to hit the final house nor the shows and one scarezone this year unfortunately. Hitting what we did though, was more than worth the value of the cost, and made for a great night of fun and scares. If down in Florida for the Halloween season, this is an event that is well worth going out of the way for.

Overall: 3.5/5