Busch Gardens Williamsburg Howl-O-Scream 2023

Attraction Lineup​

Haunted Houses​

1. Death Water Bayou: Full Moon
   • Located in Festa Field behind Roman Rapids
   • Updated version of the new-for-2022 house, Death Water Bayou
2. KILLarney DIEner: Infested
   • Located in the Killarney simulator building
   • Updated version of the new-for-2021 house, KILLarney Diner
3. Lost Mines: The Descent
   • Located below Escape from Pompeii
   • New house for 2023 (replacing 2022's Inferno)
4. Nevermore: Chapter 3
   • Located in Drachen Fire's station building
   • Third iteration of the new-for-2021 house, Nevermore; replaces 2022's Nevermore: Chapter 2
5. Witch of the Woods: Scorched
   • Located in the woods behind Festhaus Park
   • Technically the second iteration of the new-for-2021 house, Witch of the Woods though Witch of the Woods was reversed in its second season without a name change

Terror-Tories​

1. Fest-Evil [New] (Festa Italia)
2. Gorgon Gardens [Returning] (Da Vinci's Garden of Inventions)
3. Meat Market [Returning] (New France)
4. Scary Tale Road [Returning] (Rhinefield)
5. Ripper Row [Returning] (Banbury Cross)

Other Scares​

1. Hack Pack [Returning] (Roaming)

Shows​

1. Jack is Back [Returning] (Killarney)
2. Monster Stomp on Ripper Row [Returning] (Globe Theatre)
3. Phantoms of the Festhaus [Returning] (Das Festhaus)
4. Skeletones [Returning] (Il Teatro di San Marco)

BOOze Bars & Bites​

1. OktoberTaps [New] (Oktoberfest)
2. Stone-Cold Spirits [Returning] (San Marco)
3. Pete's Provisions [Returning] (New France)
4. Jack's Nightcap [Returning] (Killarney)
5. Frost Bar [Returning] (Oktoberfest)
6. BarKastle Spirits [Returning] (Oktoberfest)

Official Website​

Howl-O-Scream: Virginia Halloween Event | Busch Gardens Williamsburg

The spirit of Halloween is unleashed at Howl-O-Scream! Find haunted houses, escape rooms, scare zones, live shows & roller coasters if you dare.

buschgardens.com

 

[Icer]

Welcome everyone, to that one weekend a year when I get drunk and complain about HoS.

First up, what's up with this frostbite looking ghosty blue and white face paint on some of the ripper row scare actors, makes 0 thematic sense. Just looks like some Victorian people went to BGW for the day and after riding Griffon they munched down a churro and got their faces painted.

 

[netdvn]

I had a pretty good time at HOS. Did the event over 2 nights so far. All the mazes performed really well. You could tell there were staffing issues in some of the mazes but they were great overall

Mazes
The new mine maze was pretty incredible. Love the set design. It's about time we get some Deadline quality theming back under Pompeii again.

Killarney was alright. I miss seeing more actors in the diner scene and having insects infest the outside area seems a bit strange but the ant at the end is cute. The added insect theming wasn't too special. No different than BGT gluing bugs all over Motel Hell.

Nevermore was solid. I liked the set design and they did add some actors toward the end so you weren't just walking through curtains.

Witch of the Woods has a great cast, but the lack of an actual witch leaves a lot to be desired. The walk back there isn't nearly as bad either.

Dead Water Bayou is a bit stronger this year than last year. Set design could use a bit more work though. They really should import some of Tampa's sets.

Scare zones
Ripper Row really needs to be changed out. I get why the park does it, but it's been around for ages. The actors were performing better tonight than opening night.

Mardi Gras was really fun. I got jumped a few times. The actors there are all high energy.

The Medusa scare zone was solid too. Most of the actors did well but there should be more here. That and add a few more set pieces. The Medusa head is impressive though.

Scary Tale was performing better opening night.

Meat Market is solid but I'm a sucker for chainsaws so it has that going for it at least.

Idk if France is still a zone or if they removed the actors. I didn't see anybody over there.

They had two actors stationed on Festa Bridge. Idk if they roam or if they're there permanently.

Overall not bad for September. I won't be going as much this year as I normally do. I can't wait to see if October runs any better.

I'll be visiting Haunt tomorrow to see if KD performs any better

 

[cricket]

Since everyone is writing their reviews of this years event, here's mine.

Killarney Diner: I wasn't the biggest fan of this maze last year. This year, this is one of my favorites. The bug theme does not add much but the little bit it does add is very fun. In my experience, the cast this year is amazing and are working as hard as possible. The set design here is great and so are the costumes. (on a side note, I love the fumigators, something about them just makes this house so much better.)

Nevermore Chapter 3: This was my favorite house last year. There are noticably different scenes here, some are better than last year, some are worse. I love the thunder in the windows effect in the start and the garden this year. This house is always well staffed and someone always gets me in the Red Death rooms. I am a massive Poe fan and I feel like this house does great homage to his works.

Witch Of The Woods: I try to see the positives in all of these houses, but I find that hard to do here. Set design is great but besides that, this house has.. nothing. It has a fun cast, if you can even find them. This house is way to short. It feels like just as quickly as it started, it's over. It really is a shame, as you can tell the actors are trying to work with what they have, but when they don't have much, it becomes difficult.

Death Water Bayou: This house is a direct upgrade from last year. Almost every time I have walked through the house this year I have had a great experience.
Every tent here is memorable, every scare here feels like it fits the bayou perfectly. Cast here is amazing. Every time I get scared it is in this house. Unfortunatly, if there is any sort of rain this house gets ruined. No actors in outside areas. On the same note, missing scares here really sucks. If you get unlucky on your walkthrough I can understand why you wouldn't like this house.

Lost mines: This house is fine. I like it. It has good sets and good costumes. Actors do good and I enjoy walking through it. Air canons are a great addition. For some reason, this house has never grabbed me like the other houses did. This is probably the best house this year, however my feelings change every time I walk through it.

SCAREZONES

Ripper Row: Same thing as always. I have a lot of fun here and the little events the actors do make this area soooo much better. I walked through here wearing a hat yesterday and two actors started yelling for the police because I was the ripper. I love it.

Meat Market: It is a great area, but struggles due to how they have essentially got rid of fog this year. Remove the dance zone and add some fog, and this area gets 10 times better.

Scary Tale Road: All of the actors here are great and fit well. I love talking to them and the sets here are great.
Side note, the German Burgermeister actors will walk around past Rhinefield. Yesterday, I watched them walk around in coats pretending to be a scare actor to avoid getting hurt by the actual actors. I had the greatest interaction with them that I have had in a theme park. Amazing

Gorgon Gardens: I honestly forget this place exists.

Fest-Evil: I really like this scare zone. Costumes are great and acotors are always having fun. It's nice, but I don't have much to say about it.

Overall, I feel like there is way too much negativity regarding this event. If you go to have fun, you are going to have fun. I love this park and I love this event.

 

[Icer]

Ripper row, if it is going to be replaced, should be by a black plague themed scare zone.

That's my good idea for the year.

 

[Nicole]

I would actually argue that it is a waste of resources to put a scare zone in the park entrance.

I think that Banbury needs some spooky (not scary) décor that is appropriate not only for HOS, but also for children going the FoF day event. Given its location outside of the main loop, in my experience not a lot of people see Ripper Row except when arriving and/or departing, unless they make a special effort to head over there. It made sense, when it was a full Terror-Tory that tied in with the show. Now it is just a weak scare zone that you can easily miss entirely, especially on night when you arrive early.

 

[Icer]

I guess I'd say the opposite, it is the one scare zone you can guarantee everyone sees since they need to go through it to leave.

 

[Icer]

To avoid popping off with negativity, I'll just summarize my feelings by saying this year very much feels like a transition year. Anyone who asks, I would not recommend buying tickets to go solely for this year. If you have a pass, sure, stop by. If you don't, save your money, stop by in the future.

It's sad, now that we are in a time where it is possible for me to not recommend going to this park. I know it's been on a slope for a few years now, but it kinda hit this weekend that I actively say don't bother.

 

[Coolguy15]

Yesterday I was in the RAP line for Invadr and almost witnessed a fight. I don’t know all the details about why it happened, but it was a shouting match that almost turned physical had employees not stepped in.

 

[Mushroom]

I guess I'd say the opposite, it is the one scare zone you can guarantee everyone sees since they need to go through it to leave.

I think the issue with this argument is that people only see it if they leave before the park closes. I’d argue that a huge chunk of HOS’s audience never sees Ripper Row because they’ve entered the park before HOS starts and leave the park after it’s closed and the actors have left.

I’d rather BGW bring back some previous prime scare zone locations that have been forgotten, like the Wild Reserve, the path from Rhinefeld to Oktoberfest, or the path along Highland Stables.

 

[Rothbury]

The USA Today newspaper has published its best Halloween events for 2023. BGW/Howl-O-Scream placed second among ALL Halloween events in the country. For those of us expecting to see changes for the better; I think we might be out of luck. They will see this as confirmation they are doing a great job.

 

[finalcloud]

So we went Saturday night expecting a mad house. We arrived around 7:30PM and waited in line to get into the park. So we assume a packed house and grabbed our quick queues from the car. We did all five houses by 10:45PM. Sadly disappointed by them as well. Nothing really scary about them. Got more entertainment out of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. And that includes waiting for Jack and Sally.

 

[Ultrasuede]

And somehow they were parking Scotland at 12:30. Is the hunger for entertainment just overwhelming now or something?

 

[nick]

Thursday night still had plenty of scare actors. I thought it would be scarce. The only understaffed section was the Meat Market.

Got to witness a fight. “Why she think she can just walk next to me like that?” Ducked into a shop to avoid the chaos. The cashier rolled her eyes and called Security. Two of the fighting group ran one way, the rest of the group ran the other and I’m unsure if Security got any at all. This was out by Pompeii. After her cell phone report, she told us she’s not phased because this happens all the time.

This was the most unnerving element of the Howl-O-Scream event. I don’t want to be caught in the middle of illogical quarrels where pushing and punching make sense to people. We were just in front of this and we’re glad the fight progressed to the bridge instead of coming our way. BGW did what they could, responded as quickly as they could, and it meant nothing really. Half the group continued in the park from what I know and the two people who split off went right past Security as they responded.

Also had a group SPRINTING through Ripper Row toward the exit with Security following later on.

I was also shocked at how many grown adults wear the “don’t scare me” necklaces!

 

[horsesboy]

I am honestly puzzled as to why BGW hasn't started ringing the park with security cameras at least during the event to help identify snd locate trouble makers. The technology is getting cheap an easy enough that it shouldn't be a major capital investment.

 

[Gavin]

Cameras are cheap, video storage is expensive.

 

[cricket]

Writing this at the park right now.. to the Fest-Evil actor who said he had a question and then came over and flicked my hat, thank you. You made my night

 

[cricket]

Writing this at the park right now.. to the Fest-Evil actor who said he had a question and then came over and flicked my hat, thank you. You made my night

Update: left the bayou house and he came back and flicked my hat again

 

[EdK]

Was at the park this past weekend (Saturday and Sunday) and didn't see any fights or problems. I bought preferred parking Sunday morning and after watching a football game at a local sports bar from 1-4 went back to the park and was told that the preferred parking was oversold and there were no more spots and we would have to park in the regular lots. I thought that was pretty crappy. I put on the flashers anyway and showed the preferred parking pass and they let me in. Plenty of spots open but I can't believe they oversell the preferred parking spaces - I guess it's like overbooked flights.

 

[cricket]

Went to Howl-O-Scream on Saturday. It was almost as good, if not better than opening night. All the cast was out and they were doing their best, and every house was a walk on because of the rain. Nights like that show the strengths of this event. Even the houses that are normally just ok were so much better. (On a related note, doing Witch Of The Woods in the pouring rain makes it 100x better)

 

[farfeather]

I was there on Saturday too, and it was great. sure it was cold and rainy, but the coasters and houses had barely any lines. Very different from what I experienced last year...