Reviews, rankings for all haunted houses at Howl-O-Scream 2025 at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Howl-O-Scream 2025 at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is now running and we ranked the five haunted houses featured this year.
Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is similar to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios in that it features large-scale haunted houses stocked with scareactors but differs in both scale and originality. Where HHN currently features 10 all-new houses, Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens has five, with most being repeats from previous years with revamps here and there. That being said, Howl-O-Scream still remains a world-class haunted attraction with offerings that scare and delight year after year.
Each year, we give you the full rundown on the houses and our rankings so you know what not to miss! As always, I want to give a disclaimer: due to the nature of the haunted houses and how guests go through them, your unique experience will almost certainly vary from ours based on your timing walking through the house, your familiarity with the houses from previous years, and what scares you the most! But hopefully, these rankings will help you plan your trip and let you know what to look out for.
These are our official House Rankings for Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa from least favorite to most favorite:
#5.) ‘Stranglewood Estate‘
Years at Howl-O-Scream: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Official Description: Once a hub of lavish parties, Stranglewood Estate now echoes with the whispers of its dark past. Madame Stranglewood, a beloved socialite with a hidden penchant for cruelty, ruled this town with an iron fist. She lured unsuspecting servants into a secret room in the basement, where she ended their lives, trapping their souls in eternal torment.
Our Review: Now in its fourth year, Stranglewood Estate is certainly starting to feel a little worn and run down. This is not to say it isn’t a quality experience, but the simple theme (literally “haunted house”) and repeated appearances definitely hurt its rankings. I can definitely say that I (and likely many attendees, if the no-wait line was any indication) am ready for a change and would not be surprised to see this house redesigned for next year.
Video from 2024:
#4.) ‘M.A.R.S.‘
Years at Howl-O-Scream: 2025
Official Description: Board the wreckage of Elysium 13, a lost space vessel now overrun by nightmarish alien creatures. After a crash landing on Mars, the crew vanished leaving only bloodied walls and broken signals behind. Now, you’re sent in to destroy the ship before the infection spreads. Navigate flickering corridors, evade mutated lifeforms, and reach the core before you become part of the darkness that haunts Elysium 13.
Our Review: 2025’s all-new haunted house for Howl-O-Scream, “M.A.R.S” (Mars Alien Research Station), gets points for its unique setting in a crashed spaceship on Mars. While alien scareactors are certainly present in this house, most of the scares did seem to come from normal humans with static alien mannequins. There was also what appeared to be a large alien-type puppet which didn’t operate on our media walk-through or either time we went through the house on opening night. Hopefully, this can be fixed before too long. While I would expect to see this house for several years to come, I’m already looking forward to it being revamped. Also, and this may just be the writer in me, but having an acronym where the word it spells is also what the first letter stands for is an odd choice. But that might just be me.
#3.) ‘D.H. Baggum’s Circus of Fear‘
Years at Howl-O-Scream: 2023, 2024, 2025
Official Description: Step right up, step right up, to the most horrifying spectacle ever witnessed! D.H. Baggum’s collection of grotesque creatures will chill you to the bone. Beware, for the midway is a hunting ground. D.H. stalks the unsuspecting, snatching them away for a sinister purpose.
Our Review: One of my favorite houses from years past still strikes a lot of good spooky notes and is only slipping down my list due to its lack of freshness. The creepy circus atmosphere and several very cleverly hidden scares keep this one fun and interesting. I always love my mirrors and this house makes use of both mirrors in a place you aren’t expecting and no mirror in a place you are. If tradition holds, I would expect to see a revamp of this house next year, keeping the same basic theme but adding some kind of a twist. Hopefully, that will give us at least one more year of this fun house.
Video from 2024:
#2.) ‘Shadows of Wonderland‘
Years at Howl-O-Scream: 2024, 2025
Official Description: Step back into Wonderland, but not as you remember it. This warped dreamscape has come from years of torment under the Queen of Hearts’ reign of terror. Once playful characters have become bitter shadows, their anger fueled by Alice’s abandonment. Now, you must confront this distorted reality and face a vengeful Queen who wants Alice and you gone.
Our Review: Last year’s new Howl-O-Scream haunted house still ranks high on our list for the same reasons it did then. The twisted version of “Alice in Wonderland” is certainly nothing new, but seeing all the characters in new ways, the variety of locales, the interesting designs and lighting, and puppetry makes this house still standout. Those familiar with the source material as well as repeat visitors to the house are rewarded with little cameos and Easter eggs that give you plenty to look at in between the jump scares.
Video from 2024:
#1.) ‘Raven’s Mill: Lambs to the Slaughter‘
Scare Zone in 2024, haunted house in 2025
Official Description: Raven’s Mill was once the heartbeat of the region, where farmers worked the land, and the fields fed the town. But when the crops began to fail and the workers vanished, the soil turned cold and something else rose in their place. Scarecrows appeared in greater numbers, stuffed with remnants of those who went missing. No one knows who made the first one, and now they make themselves.
Eyes watch from stitched sockets. The ritual continues without rest. Each new body is a piece of the design. Each step forward brings you closer to becoming part of it. Raven’s Mill doesn’t need crops anymore… It grows something else.
Our Review: A unique hybrid scarezone/haunted house from Howl-O-Scream last year has been built up and expanded upon and makes its stunning debut as a full official house this year. Maintaining the hybrid nature, attendees start by walking through the cornfield/farm land out side before stepping into the barn and through the horrors within. Scareactors coming from multiple angles, the indoor/outdoor nature of the house, and (what can I say?) the chainsaws everywhere make this a house to return to time and again. Make sure to go through after dark and not when stormy weather in the area shuts down the outdoor elements so you can really get the full experience.
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