By Jaimz Dillman
It’s been twenty-five years of terror for Busch Gardens Tampa’s Howl-O-Scream, but our biggest nemesis on opening night was the high humidity and confusing park pathways.
We’re kicking off spooky season with long-time seasoned vets in the haunting game, and with them celebrating a big milestone, we were looking forward to BG bringing the scares. This year, the Architect is the figurehead of minions wanting your soul. At the start of the night, he made an ominous appearance through the fog on a stage with other beasties. Our thoughts were, “Cool! A kickoff show!” But no, after they pose and preen a bit, they stand elevated above passersby for photos. Throughout the park, there are beautiful big printed photo ops of previous years’ icons. And that’s cool, but not as big a deal as expected for a major anniversary.
There are four returning houses, tweaked a bit for theme and sets, and a brand new maze—Shadows of Wonderland. Gone is the long-time Fiends show (no loss, really, IMO), and CirqueX-Scream returns with a high-powered rock ’n sexy blast for audiences. Unfortunately, we missed the second show, The Reckoning, as it was across the expanse of the gated-off acres and acres of pathways, and a lot of our time was spent backtracking, trying to figure out how to get to the next attraction. Although, we heard from friends that the show was very good.
Team members were as confused as we were, not knowing where the closest house was or even how to get out of the area.
As dusk settled through the trees, we joined the Witch of the Woods: Rise of the Coven queue, ready for some scares!! We wound through bushes and shrubs, being warned along the way that the trees would take our souls. Good luck finding them, haha! This was pretty close to last year, but one thing I appreciate about HOS is that the sets are pretty detailed. Especially in twilight, there’s a lot to see. The scare actors weren’t too intense, but I did feel like some of the screamers would be without a voice by the end of the night. I scare better with spooky whispers than shouting, but that’s just me.
Next up, we ran away to the circus. D.H. Baggum’s returns with carnie gore. And, being someone who doesn’t deal well with clowns, I was not looking forward to it. Again, the sets were well done, with mannequins serving to distract you from the scares. And it was more of a carnival-type setting than a traditional circus, from what I saw through barely open eyes. The queue line actors were having fun setting the creep factor, so props to them.
Houses Bramblewood Estates and The Forgotten: The Uprising were also brought back for another year. Both were good in their own right. Bramblewood had my favorite actors and scare effects, especially in the parlor, plus the option to crawl in one space or go down a hall. We crawled last time and were so hot and sweaty that the hall was an easier choice this round. The Forgotten, unfortunately, could have been just that, according to my partner. We knew it was very vampire S&M based, but nothing seemed any different or changed from before. Though this trip didn’t include a 7-year-old in front of us with his dad—dying to know what quest that kid had after his experience last season!
Shadows of Wonderland is the new shiny penny for HOS 2024, and it was a delightful trip down the rabbit hole. You understand the story straight away, following the rabbit down into a land of mushrooms and mischief. But the residents aren’t having a fun tea party tonight. The Queen of Hearts is on the warpath, and several times, you’re warned to watch your head. Alice is a little psychotic, the rabbit isn’t quite right, and the Cheshire Cat is cheesin’. I’m a little partial to the Queen myself, and her costuming/wig could’ve used some love, but maybe that lends to the craziness of her world.
Our favorite of the night was by far CirqueX-Scream. A high-powered, loud rock music dance and variety act spectacle. While something mind-blowing—and sometimes cringeworthy—is happening throughout the show, the brilliance is in its simplicity. One act happens at a time, so it gets your full attention, and you’re not distracted by something on another part of the stage that you might feel like you could be missing. A team of dancers opens the show, supports transitions, and closes everything out with energy that makes you want to up your workout routine.
Aerialists are amazing eye candy, a fire starter tames flames on chains, and a freak… well, he does what freaks do—you know, nails and screws through his face, and sparks fly off his head from a saw hitting metal. Just the kind of thing you expect when crossing acts of daring with spooky season. Seriously, see this show and give the performers the standing ovation they earned from us. Just a clean, well-balanced, high-intensity show.
Beverage options are plentiful at various stations and bars—although it’s the same pre-made cocktails, blood bags, jello syringes, and beers at each location. We tried the vodka-based Screamsicle (pretty good, citrusy but too sweet after a while) and Gin Makes Me Sin (better than expected and not your usual gin flavor, more floral). Sorely missed this year was any kind of pumpkin beer or cocktail. We searched at every stop and again found team members who didn’t have answers to our questions, so we were left to find out there isn’t anything fall-flavored, as of yet, in the park. Hot Cheetos has a featured booth topping sandwiches, tacos, and mac ’n cheese. I don’t know why the correlation of spicy and horror started—it’s not my jam, but others seem to enjoy it. There are some cringe-worthy menu items like a chocolate insect waffle bowl (yes, with actual bugs), slaughtered pork belly with hemoglobin BBQ sauce and rice larva, ooey gooey fibula mac and cheese egg roll with bloody cheese sauce, and severed chicken wings served with coagulated garlic chili sauce. Sounds bloody disgusting, but perfect theming.
We tried some pretty tasty pork carnitas tacos, fun cookie cups, and amazing cupcakes with big fluffy icing, decorations, and gooey filling, but couldn’t find the sweets available anywhere within the event. Not sure if they’ll be at the bakery location in the front of the park or were just for media. The best one was the dark chocolate with mocha filling, but beware the black icing. It’ll stick with you all night.
Scare zones were pretty fun, with our favorite being Little Nightmares. Something about creepy kids in Halloween costumes will always be spooky. The Vegas Zombies were having a good time, beware the Florida Swamp Ape, Christmas has gone all kinds of wrong in the Tree Lot Massacre, and cool props and sets are repurposed in Terror Through Time. You’ll also encounter Vikings, Orcs, Fairies, and backwoods carnivores roaming the streets in your travels. No one seemed especially menacing, but a well-timed chainsaw rev-up will always surprise the crowds.
Merch is the usual T-shirt and hoodie offerings. Always surprised there are sweatshirts and jackets for us in the warmer climate. However, a fantastic spirit jersey and a couple of Halloween Loungefly backpacks definitely got our attention.
Howl-O-Scream is a good time for those of us with a proclivity for the dark side of haunt season. Just a few tweaks and an amp-up of the scare factor, and another 25 years is inevitable. The park itself just really needs to work on the operational side of things so guests can enjoy all offerings and not feel like all the backtracking will have them miss out on anything—because you probably will.
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