Welcome to Theme Park Insider! Join the community or log in
Theme Park Insider
Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube

Howl-O-Scream

Halloween

Written by
Posted: September 17, 2011


Howl-O-Scream 2011

2011 marks the 13th anniversary of Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Howl-O-Scream operates on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from Friday, September 23, 2011 through Sunday, October 30, 2011. The park hours will be 10:00 am to 10:00 pm for all open dates except Saturdays between October 8 and 29, in which the park will be open until 11 pm. The Howl-O-Scream events will run from 6:00 pm to park closing, unless indicated otherwise below.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg is offering a Fall Fun Card for Howl-O-Scream. For the price of a one day admission, you can come back as many times as you want through October 30th.

This year's Howl-O-Scream will feature five haunted houses, five scare zones, and three shows. The theme for the Howl-O-Scream this year is “The Dark Side of the Gardens: Fear Grows Here”.

Busch Gardens will continue to offer the Howl-O-Scream quick queue. You can get either a one-time use (per attraction) quick queue or the unlimited quick queue for the entire day. You must specify the date of the quick queue if you purchase it online.

Here is a breakdown of each of the haunted houses and shows. All attractions open at 6 pm unless otherwise indicated.

Haunted Houses

Dead Line
Location: Italy

(New for 2011) This attraction is located at the entrance to Escape from Pompeii. It is set in Pompeii, Italy, where a metro system is being built; however, a pipe was struck and now those inside are trapped with no outside communication possible.

Fear Fair
Location: Festa Italia

(New for 2011) A traveling carnival is visiting Festa Italia. Be prepared to come close to some unusual characters such as clowns and freaks.

Bitten
Location: Festhaus Park

This maze is set in Eastern Europe in the 1800s, and has the theme of vampires and the undead.

Catacombs
Location: France

Here, you will go through a ruined cemetery leading to an underground city. This place marks the final resting place of those buried there. The dead will show themselves here.

13: Your Number's Up
Location: Ireland

(New for 2011) A dark tower has been hidden for 13 years. This attraction takes place on the 13th floor of the tower, and our darkest fears and phobias come alive from the shadows.

Scare Zones

Scavengers
Location: Scotland
(New for 2011) This attraction is set in the Scottish village farmland that was recently harvested. All is well by day, but by night you become the one being scavenged.


Unleashed
Location: Ireland

(New for 2011) It's a full moon outside and you hear wolves, but they are actually werewolves and you are the prey. The werewolves have the advantage under the cover of darkness.

Widow Makers
Location: New France

(New for 2011) You're in New France in the woods at a logging site where the spiders rule the night. The loggers fight back with the sharpest blades they have, but in the dark, are they getting the spiders, or you?

Stitchin' Time
Location: Germany

(New for 2011) The streets of Germany are dark while monsters and zombies control the streets. An evil docor is on the prowl for body parts from those that are still living to create an immortal creature and minions to do the evil doctor's bidding.

Grin and Scare It
Location: Festa Italia

(New for 2011) Join the traveling carnival in Festa Italia. However, it's not your typical carnival. This carnival has traps just for you. You may not want an encore.

Shows

Jack Is Back
Location: Killarney, Ireland
Jack-O-Lanterns were used in Celtic Ireland to ward off evil spirits. Jack comes back for a visit during this street show. The performers and guests alike sing and dance to the music. There are no major changes to this attraction this year.

Monster Stomp Revamped
Location: Killarney, Ireland
This show is located in the Abbey Stone Theater. Witches, skeletons, mummies, and other characters come out to play for the evening to the sounds of your Halloween favorites. This show features some adult themes, and parental discretion is advised. There are no major changes to this attraction this year.

Fiends
Location: Oktoberfest, Germany
This show is located in Das Festhaus. The doctor and his wacky nurses are back in the house while the doctor works on some new inventions.

The official Busch Gardens Williamsburg Howl-O-Scream site, where you can also purchase tickets, is located here.

[Update this description | Read previous versions]

Photo of Howl-O-Scream

See all photos | Submit Photo

Readers' Opinions

From drew horsefield on Jul 19, 2009
The first thing to remember is that BGE Howl-O-Scream is a completely different animal than BGA. The haunted houses are not as good and the scare zones are nowhere as elaborate. All in all I enjoyed my weekend at BGE for Howl-O-Scream.

From drew horsefield on Jul 19, 2009
The first thing to remember is that BGE Howl-O-Scream is a completely different animal than BGA. The haunted houses are not as good and the scare zones are nowhere as elaborate. All in all I enjoyed my weekend at BGE for Howl-O-Scream.

From Shannon Tate on Oct 20, 2007
Just went 13 Oct 2007, my first time, and admit I was a little disappointed. The shows were very good, but I went for the "scare zones." I can't say they were much better than typical haunted houses. Not to say they weren't scary and fun, but I was expecting more from BGE. The queue time was also very long, we didn't get to do "Tormented Tales" maze because the wait was over 2 hours. The whole clown thing in Italy/Turkey struck me as kind of lame. I hate to diss on BGE b/c I love it so much, but this was a little bit of a let-down.