I recently had the opportunity to check out this year’s Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa, now in its 14th year. The general theme for the event is “Cursed,” and here’s why:

There is a song. They say you’re cursed once you hear it. Survive a night with hundreds of roaming creatures at Howl-O-Scream 2014 to break the curse. Or, spread the song and spread the curse.

Whatever you do, don’t listen.

The “Cursed” experience is mainly at the front gate, where the haunted music plays, while strange, almost Gollum-like creatures slink around among a mountain of old TVs, radios and telephones. But watch out, when you least expect it, they’ll run out of nowhere and snatch you away!

There are 8 haunted houses at Howl-O-Scream this year. Two are brand new while the other 6 are returning favorites. But even the “repeats” have some new twists to help keep them fresh.

Ok so I admit… I am a BIG chicken. If you saw my now infamous Scream Cam video from a couple years ago, you’ll know this is true. If you haven’t seen the video, well… I completely froze at one point and eventually had to be “rescued” (much to my embarrassment). While these Halloween haunt events fascinate me to no end and I do love a good scare, I just can’t stomach the blood and gore (even though I know it’s all fake). So I was only brave enough to do one of the houses at Howl-O-Scream this year, while my friends did all of them (except for the upcharge house, The Experiment).

The one house I did, Zombie Containment Unit 15, is one of the new houses this year.

Three years after the undead invasion, there has been a containment failure in Z.C.U.15.  Zombies have escaped in search of flesh, and you’re the next target. Armed with only a Z.E.D. (Zombie Eradication Device), it’s up to you to hold off an undead mob in this interactive zombie hunting experience.

This house was SO much fun! I was a bit nervous going in, but being able to shoot up zombies was a total blast! I wanted to do this again, but sadly it wasn’t in the cards. This is the most popular house this year and lines get long fast!

The other new house this year is Dead Fall.

The ghosts of long lost memories reach into the present and will NOT be forgotten! These spirits from the past lurk in the shadows of this Victorian garden and greenhouse, longing to drag unsuspecting guests into their world. Can you escape before becoming a permanent resident of Dead Fall?

My friends said this house was pretty good and had some interesting scares.

The returning houses are as follows:

Zombie Morturary

No one remembers how the epidemic started, but now, zombies live here. They infest this small town funeral home and feed on the fresh flesh and brains of mortuary mourners to satisfy their insatiable hunger. Avoid the walking dead or you may find yourself deeper than six feet under.

This house has been around for 4 or 5 years now, so this is likely the final year for this one (they only seem to keep houses around for a few years before replacing them with something new).

Death Water Bayou

Deep in the bayou the Voodoo Queen mystically transforms lost wanderers into her minions of evil with black magic. Here, her night servants roam with a zombie-like hunger and seek to grow her collection. The darkest evils lurk in shadows. Get out before you fall victim to her spell.

This house made its debut last year and was one of the most popular houses as well. One of my friends said he got sacred so bad in this house that he fell to his knees!

The Basement

From Momma’s secret ingredient to Granny’s bone-ground flour, Momma’s Meats’ award-winning recipe has always been a family affair that’s only created in the BASEMENT.

Escape the depths of the BASEMENT before she and Butcher turn you in to the secret sauce! She always said it took blood, sweat and tears!

This house also made its debut last year, but they’ve added a few new ingredients to spice things up (see what I did there?).

Circus of Superstition 3D: The Show Must Go On

You’ve tried to avoid black cats and sidewalk cracks, but all those years of bad luck caught up with you! Surviving the terrorizing surprises of Circus of Superstition: The Show Must Go On will take more than luck as you try to escape this whole new dimension of fear.

This is another house that’s been around for a few years, so this might be your last chance to experience this one as it might be replaced next year. This year, they moved the house to Gwazi Park and turned the entire area into a demented carnival of sorts.

Blood Asylum

As lightning rages and thunder crashes outside, “The Creature” escapes from his holding cell in a high-security asylum for the criminally insane.

Now this sadistic deviant is running rampant, skinning his former cellmates and turning the mental hospital into his own torture chamber.

This serial killer’s bloody playground will drive you out of your mind with fear.

This is the house I infamously froze in a couple years ago. It remains terrifying and I remained waiting outside for my friends.

The final returning house is an upcharge attraction…

The Experiment: The Final Test

Researchers challenge your fear tolerance and mental endurance in this interactive Experiment. “Test subjects” endure psychological tests in this exclusive study, pushing the limits of the human body and putting them face-to-face with their worst nightmares. How far is too far in study of fear? Will you survive The Experiment?

This looks to be the final year for The Experiment, based on the “The Final Test” tagline. If you want to experience this house, reservations are required. Cost is $50 for the first “test subject” and $10 for each additional “test subject”.

In addition to the houses, most of the major rides are open as well, so you can experience the all the roller coasters in the dark (besides the “big boys” like Cheetah Hunt, Montu & SheikRa, Scorpion and Sand Serpent are also open to ride), plus you can take on the brand new Falcon’s Fury (the world’s tallest free-standing drop tower).

A last minute addition to the Howl-O-Scream offerings is Crash Test Zombies. Have you ever wanted to drive bumper cars alongside zombies? Well, now you can! This was a ton of fun and after the ride is done the zombies will pose for photos with you.

While there aren’t any specific scare zones this year, there are slash mobs scattered throughout the park. My friends and I really enjoyed watching the sliders (they got us good a few times too).

There’s only one show this year during Howl-O-Scream, the popular, Fiends.

The Howl-O-Scream tradition takes a new twist as Igor, Dr. Freakenstein and the rest of your favorite monsters and misfits are going back to school! Freakenstein University welcomes the Class of 2014 with a musical party of epic proportions!

This year’s show was extremely funny. As always. Igor steals the spotlight with his over the top antics.

PRO TIP: Thursdays are usually less crowded than Friday or Saturday. Zombie Containment Unit 15 is the most popular house this year, so be sure to hit that one first if possible as lines can reach over an hour wait time. I also highly recommend adding on the Fright Feast dinner if you can. For $26 ($23 if you’re a passholder), Fright Feast includes a huge buffet dinner (the popular taco bar is back again as well) along with an exclusive showing of Fiends. The dinner and show run from 6:00pm to 7:00pm, after which you get 90 minutes of unlimited front of the line access to all of the houses (except The Experiment), which includes 30 minutes before Howl-O-Scream is open to the general public. You can easily knock out all of the regular houses in that time frame (and maybe even repeat a couple). If you don’t do Fright Feast, you can purchase Front Line Fear passes starting at $45, which gives you one-time front of the line access to 6 houses.

Even if you’re a big chicken like I am, you can still have a lot of fun at Howl-O-Scream. It’s a great event which I can highly recommend.

Howl-O-Scream runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights now through November 1. The event will also be held on Sunday, October 19 this year. The event runs from 7:30pm to 1:00am all nights it’s offered. General admission is $89, but there are lots of discounts out there on tickets, with passholders getting the best discounts when purchasing in advance online (up to $39 in savings, depending on what night you attend). If you’re not a passholder, you can find promo codes for ticket discounts by visiting participating Taco Bell and Wing House locations as well as promo codes on Fanta displays at participating Walgreens or by purchasing 2 Coke products at Circle K convenience stores to get a promo code on your receipt.

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