Howl-O-Scream......not so scary but fun!

Howl-O-Scream is one of my favorite times to visit Busch Gardens because there is so much to do! John and I love the scare zones and mazes. We have been 6 times in the last month or so and we have become howl-o-scream experts! Here's our take on it....


The first scare zone in the park, The Moors, is between England and Ireland, and is inhabited by large gentlemen in kilts, with wooden shields and swords, prepared to chase you out of Heatherdowns and into Ireland. The second scare zone, Mischief and Mayhem, is located in Jack Hannah’s Wild Reserve, between Ireland and France. It features scareactors in ghillie suits, who jump out of the bushes to startle passers-by. They also added some scary folks walking around this area talking in weird voices. In New France, the Watchers has a scareactor on bungee cords, which let him jump out at people walking by and scare them. A few roving ghouls help to hurry people along towards the bridge to Germany. At the entrance to Octoberfest, the Werewolves scare zone features, what else, werewolves. Harvest Hollow is the scariest advertised scare zone, and it is located after the two mazes in Festhaus Park. It feels like you are walking through the movie Children of the Corn, with scarecrows around every turn. Finally, as you exit Festhaus Park, you encounter Strangers Beware, which gives a final group of scareactors one last chance to scare you before your final escape from the area. The scare zone Spell Bound, along the path from Festa Italia to Pompeii, had witches jumping out from behind curtians held up by the trees.

One of the newest mazes, the Cavern of Darkness, is located in and through the Corkscrew Hill attraction. The maze actually takes you across the ride, through the pre-show area, and out the entry queue. The Catacombs is located below the stage of the Royal Palace Theater in France. This maze had the best set design of all the mazes in the park, with corridors that really made you feel like you were in the sewers under Paris. Scareactors lurk around every corner, and potentially may pop out of any hole that you might see in the walls. We think this one is the scariest, but not worthy of 5 pumpkins. A pair of mazes awaits in Festhaus park, with Bitten coming first, followed by the Hunted. Bitten, as expected, is themed around bloodsucking vampires, while the Hunted is themed around werewolves. Bitten features an interesting element I’ve never seen before – namely, the ending hallway floor covered in sand. This promotes a feeling of fear, since you feel that you can’t run away from the vampires fast enough. The Hunted has another interesting element, consisting of floor boards that tilted as you walked on them. This caused a feeling of insecurity, like trick track on a rollercoaster. As soon as you feel like you have a secure footing, a scareactor is waiting around the next corner to scare your pants off. These two are our favorites and the kids favorites too. Cursed is another new maze, located behind Roman Rapids (not in the queue area as in previous years). This location provides one of the largest areas for any of the mazes, and felt more like three mazes in one, with a number of indoor and outdoor sections. Witches inhabit this maze, cackling and startling maze goers.

And then there's the shows. Jack is Back is little changed from its first appearance at Howl-O-Scream. This is an outdoor singing and dancing show, featuring the famous Jack of the Lantern himself. Jack acts as your emcee through a show of popular dance hits of the 70s and 80s. Scarecrow stilt walkers and pumpkin dancers boogie down to the music and get the crowd involved. The show has a street party vibe and is family friendly. Frankenrock in Da Haus. This is a big departure from previous shows that have been in the Festhaus, with a live band backing Frankenstein and his gang of guys and ghouls. While the show includes seasonal favorites like the Monster Mash, Thriller and Time Warp, it also includes some strange selections from the 90s and early 2000s, like Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time”, Spice Girls “Wannabe’, Ricky Martin’s “Living la Vida Loca”, and Aqua’s “Barbie Girl”. The cast is strong in singing and dancing, but it’s difficult to perform in the round, as is required by the setup of the stage in the Festhaus. Monster Stomp Revamped is our favorite and it features a large troupe of dancers, singers and percussionists. This is hands-down the best show in the park, as evidenced by the long line outside 45 minutes prior to the show. Both the male and female lead singers were very impressive, belting out difficult rock songs like Heart’s “Barracuda” and Guns and Roses “Welcome to the Jungle”. There are numerous dance numbers, including a really impressive black light skeleton dance, and the best tap-dancing werewolves I’ve ever seen. However, the stars of the show by far are the incredible percussionists. From standard marching-band drums to high tech percussion sets to cleavers and knives on boards, these guys put on one great show.

So, that's our take on Busch Garden's Howl-O-Scream.....not too scary, but lots of fun!