After an amazing first trip out to Howl-O-Scream last year, H3 and I made the trip back out to Busch Gardens Williamsburg again. The marketing and early reviews seemed a bit subdued, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. But, any Halloween event is a good time, right?
Generally, yes.
The good of Howl-O-Scream was very good. We managed to do two houses this year. Which may not seem like a whole lot, but I am however pleased to report that H3 joined me for both of them. I honestly never thought I’d see that day. We did “Bloodshot” and “Werewolves: The Wolf’s Revenge”, the two new houses for this year.
Bloodshot
This one was the clear favorite. It’s a “leisurely” stroll through a vampire bar. The set and character designs are amazing; it was clear to us that a large part of this year’s budget wound up here. The jump scares are well-paced, at least they were during our walkthrough. The best part, at least for H3, was that it was just fun. There were plenty of scares, some blood and corpses, and a few live ones, ‘cause vampires. But this wasn’t a push-your-limits kind of house. The gore wasn’t over the top or excessive, which H3 appreciated. We did this one second, and I’m glad we did, ‘cause any other house would have a hard time following it.
Werewolves: The Wolf’s Revenge
This was a decent, narrative-driven house: an attempt to contain and study werewolves in a lab has gone horribly wrong. Like usual. I had seen YouTuber reviews of this house, and while our walk-through wasn’t different story-wise, the overall experience was better. Small differences in pacing and timing of scares, and how the actors played their characters, led to a more thrilling house. Also, the werewolf looks great. It’s a walk to get to this one though, and the entrance line was insanely long when we went by it later in the evening.
Since the other three houses were returning in some form from last year, I didn’t spend any time doing them. H3 wasn’t up for doing any other houses, and I wanted to hang out in our favorite Terror-tories with him instead of running them solo.
Stalker Street:
In New France, living scarecrows attack unsuspecting park attendees. This was the best themed and most effective scare zone. The scarecrows blended into the dark environment and the scare actors were frequently mistaken for props instead of people. While this was largely a repeat of last year, there were a few new additions that made things feel a little different but still wonderfully spooky. This was H3’s favorite; although he is the Horror-Hating Husband, he really appreciated the work and detail put into the theming, and it was fun watching the reactions whenever a passerby was “gotten”.
Ripper Row
Another returning favorite: Victorian England with Jack the Ripper and his many victims on the loose. This is the first thing you see when you enter the park and it’s super effective. The scare actors here have a different approach to scaring. They have to, since everyone entering or leaving the park passes by them. They don’t have the dark corners of Stalker Street or Wicked Wunderland to hide in. Instead, they are effective by mingling with the crowd and just being generally disturbing.
Wicked Wunderland
This year, Germany is home to Krampus and his evil elves. There were fewer set decorations here than last year’s “Fairy Tales”, but overall, I think I liked this one a bit better. The scare actors here were far more memorable, and looked amazing. For being one of the smaller Terror-tories, they still manage to pull off some decent scares.
There is going to be a bit of a theme with my critiques for the rest of the Terror-tories, starting with the biggest let-down for me.
Disgrotesque
The description and name for this zone, located in France, conjures up images of wicked but stylish demons, tormenting souls and dancing for eternity in a hellish disco nightmare. Great idea, but poor execution. This needed more lights, more tortured victims, more fog, more… everything. The actors looked great, they just needed more to set the mood.
Bavarian Bloodshed
To be fair, the only time we really spent in this area was after the opening Scaramonies. This happens in front of Das Festhaus. Afterwards, all the scare actors wander around and scare people and pose for photos. It’s a fun place to be. While there are werewolves here, they didn’t have an overwhelming presence. What werewolves they had looked good, but they just needed more theming for the Terror-tory in general. There was some spooky lighting and a giant Jack o’Lantern… and that was about it.
Fest-Evil
This one may have suffered from location. “Fest-Evil” is in Festa Italia, which also has carnival games and rides. The combination of the bright and cheerful rides with the attempting-to-be-menacing actors doesn’t mesh well. It was also pretty crowded here, so it may have played a part in breaking the mood. Last year’s incarnation seemed better, although that may be related to the smaller crowd size we had. It seemed like there were more scare actors last year too; H3 thinks he saw like maybe five total throughout the area. When your crowd size outnumbers your scare actors by like 40-to-1, the effectiveness is going to suffer.
One last miss that I’ll mention is the removal of the “Gorgon Gardens” Terror-tory in Festa Italia. It was so beautiful last year, with the haunted statues and Medusa and friends haunting the scenery. The decorations themselves are back this year, and Medusa can be found roaming around (weirdly) in “Bavarian Bloodshed”, so there’s still bits of it left over if you look hard enough. It’s a shame, because that space lent itself well to spookiness, although it was probably the smallest of the Terror-tories. That, and two competing and completely different Terror-tories in the same area probably didn’t work so well.
The bottom line is, for the Terror-tories that don’t work well, they just need more theming, as well as more space to live up to their concepts. And probably budget. And staff.
Was Last Year Better?
Even though you might think it was based on my comments, I don’t think so. There were good Terror-tories last year, and not-so-well-developed ones too. When we went last year, it was a Friday, and the crowds were smaller. The biggest issues events like this will also struggle with is crowd size. Too empty and it looks like your event is a fail; too crowded and it’s just not scary or moody anymore. I’m not complaining about the success of any spooky event. Hopefully the better this year’s does, the more they will invest in next year’s.
I imagine this year the park’s focus may have been on opening “Big Bad Wolf: the Wolf’s Revenge”. It’s a fun family coaster that helps bridge the gap between their tamer and more thrilling rides. It’s also the 50thanniversary of the park, so they have a few things going on. With all the focus on more family-inclusive events and activities, it’s probably not a huge surprise that Howl-O-Scream ended up being on the tamer side.
Except for “Fiends”
“Fiends” is a musical comedy clearly inspired by Rocky Horror and filled with R-rated jokes and innuendo. I’ve seen my fair share of cringe-worthy theme park entertainment; this was actually fun. The entertainment at Busch Gardens always impresses me. And I finally got spooky boobs. Highly recommend.
A Word about the State of Things
If you’ve been paying attention to the general state of the world, then you’re probably aware that this year is not unfolding as normal. Especially from a retail importing and logistics perspectives. Let’s be honest; the economy is at best, uncertain. This uncertainty will eventually impact every part of our lives. Businesses may be unsure how to staff, and merch, commonly made overseas, may have been expensive to order or hard to ship in. If you go to a haunt, any haunt, be aware of this. It might not affect your experience. However, if you notice houses that seem understaffed or underfilled, and over-expensive merch tables, it’s not JUST normal greed.
Final Thoughts
I love Howl-O-Scream. I especially enjoyed that, this year, there was more for me to do without fear of triggering a migraine and potential stroke. The atmosphere is fun, and the park is always gorgeous. Even when it’s absolutely packed with people (go on a weeknight). I’m hoping to do more haunts this year, but it’s going to be a packed October. So, I’m glad I got my favorite done early.
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