Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s Howl-O-Scream returned for 2026 with six haunted houses, an all-new Anaconda maze, and the return of its fan-favorite show Fiends. The separately ticketed event ran select nights from September 11 through October 31, opening at 7 p.m., with tickets starting at $48.99.
Dates and Hours
Howl-O-Scream ran select nights from September 11 through October 31, 2026, about 27 nights in all: Fridays and Saturdays in September, then Thursdays through Sundays in October. The event started at 7 p.m., and the park gate opened at 5 p.m. The event was separately ticketed and not included with daytime Busch Gardens admission.
Tickets
Prices below are from Busch Gardens’ site, verified September 30, 2026. Pass Members got the best rate, with Any Night Tickets for $38.99.
- Single-Night Ticket: from $48.99, for the date you pick
- Any Night Ticket: $76.99, valid on any event night, or $52.99 each in a flash sale that required buying at least 2
- Night and Day Ticket: from $97.99, which adds daytime Busch Gardens admission
- Unlimited Scream Pass: $124.99 for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, or $189.99 for a two-park pass that adds SeaWorld Orlando
The Six Haunted Houses
Anaconda was the event’s only all-new house in 2026, a Sony Pictures license. The other five returned with fresh storylines.
- Anaconda: Fear Has No Escape (all-new): a film crew came to remake Anaconda and never made it back, and guests follow their trail deep into the Amazon in a fight for survival.
- Stranglewood Estate: RePossessed (returning): a seance wakes Madame Stranglewood and the servants who vanished inside the mansion’s walls.
- Circus of Fear: Killer Encore (returning): the circus runs wild in 2026 under a new ringmaster, Vittorio Belladonna.
- Shadows of Wonderland: Reign of Madness (returning).
- Raven’s Mill (returning).
- M.A.R.S. (returning).
Scare Zones and the Roaming Horde
Six scare zones filled the park, along with a roaming horde called the Dead-End Kids. Three were all-new:
- Mr. Gleam’s Auto Spa, where a mysterious cleaning solution comes at a ghastly cost.
- Rootbound, where the Grimherd rises from reopened graves to drag victims into the dark.
- The Punchline: Riot, where a night of bad jokes and crazed clowns spirals into a full-blown riot.
Three returning zones came back with new storylines: Breadcrumbs to Nowhere: Once Upon a Time, The Pestilence: Lazarus Strain, and Ragnar’s Wrath: Call of Odin.
Shows: Fiends and Cirque X-Scream
Busch Gardens ran two sinister shows in 2026. Fiends! Resurrected was the adult, pop-culture party show built around Dr. Freakenstein and his assistant Igor, back by popular demand with new music, monsters, and surprises. Cirque X-Scream returned with all-new acts, from trampoline tricks to aerial stunts. Both played under the event’s 2026 story arc, Dark Side of the Gardens, which the park bills as “Chapter Three.”
Bars, Fright Feast, and Extras
Madame Mary’s Red Rum Social was a speakeasy bar and photo op themed to a Roaring Twenties club with a bloody secret, and the all-new Fear Foto op dropped guests into three haunted scenes. Fright Feast served a buffet in TreeTop Kitchen from 6 to 7 p.m. and added front-of-line access to select houses from 7 to 8 p.m. The park’s coasters also ran in the dark between scares.
Age, Costumes, and Getting Around
Howl-O-Scream was built for a mature audience and was not recommended for young children, and costumes were not allowed. Because it was separately ticketed, a daytime ticket or pass did not include event entry, though Pass Members got a discounted rate.
For how Tampa compares with the chain’s other Howl-O-Scream parks, see my Howl-O-Scream 2026 guide to every United Parks location. For opening dates on haunts nationwide, see my guide to when haunted houses open.
