Universal's Halloween Horror Nights and SeaWorld's Howl-O-Scream, how much do they cost?

Lianna Norman, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·4 min read

Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights has come a long way since it started in 1991 with only one haunted house.

Now a mecca for Halloween and haunted house lovers, Halloween Horror Nights tends to overshadow other theme parks' Halloween events. For those who don’t like to be scared, there’s Mickey’s Not-so-Scary Halloween.

But if you want to get a good scare for cheaper than the $80 to $120 it costs to attend Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, there’s the often overlooked Howl-O-Scream nights at both Busch Gardens and SeaWorld.

Here’s how the experience and prices for the infamous Halloween Horror Nights and the Howl-O-Scream events compare.

What is scarier? Halloween Horror Nights or Howl-O-Scream?

Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights is the most immersive experience of the two, because due to partnerships with huge horror franchises like “Chucky,” “The Last of Us,” “The Exorcist” and “Stranger Things,” the theme park has a much larger budget than Busch Gardens and SeaWorld do for their Howl-O-Scream nights.

Halloween Horror Nights has more of an eerie air about it than Howl-O-Scream, focusing less on jump scaring guests and more on making them feel truly creeped out, like they’ve just walked onto the set of a horror film.

Howl-O-Scream might be better suited for fright-seekers looking for a constant rush of adrenaline. The Busch Gardens and SeaWorld Halloween events tend to have more jump scares, relying heavily on hiring hordes of scareactors to strike fear into guests walking through the park from maze to maze.

Both events are scary in slightly different ways, so choosing one based on its fear factor depends on if you’d rather feel your skin crawl or want to jump out of it.

Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens: Read more about the houses at Tampa's Howl-O-Scream here

How many houses are at Howl-O-Scream Orlando? How many houses are at Halloween Horror Nights 2023?

Halloween Horror Nights has double the amount of houses that SeaWorld and Busch Gardens’ Howl-O-Scream experiences have.

Universal’s HHN has 10 houses, and both the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens’ Howl-O-Scream nights have five houses each.

Howl-O-Scream does have more scare zones than Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, though. Both SeaWorld and Busch Gardens’ Howl-O-Scream events have seven scare zones each, two more scare zones than at Universal.

Here’s a list of the scare zones and houses at each event:

  • Halloween Horror Nights:

    • Houses: Chucky, The Last of Us, Stranger Things, The Exorcist – Believer, Universal Monsters – Unmasked, Dr. Oddfellow – Twisted Origins, Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate, YETI – Campground Kills, The Darkest Deal, Bloodmoon – Dark Offerings

    • Scare Zones: Dr. Oddfellow’s Collection of Horror, Dark Zodiac, Jungle of Doom: Expedition Horror, Vamp ’69: Summer of Blood, Shipyard 32: Horrors Unhinged

  • Howl-O-Scream, Tampa:

    • Houses: Stranglewood Estate, The Residence: Home for the Holidays, D.H. Baggum’s Circus of Fear, Witch of the Woods, The Forgotten – Uprising

    • Scare Zones: Ravens’ Mill, Beyond the Veil, The Shortcut, Big Ed’s Demolition Derby, The Junkyard, Sin City Zombies, Hidden Scare Zones and Roaming Hordes

  • Howl-O-Scream, Orlando:

    • Houses: D3LER1UM666 Laboratories, Dead Vines: N’awlins Nightmare, Beneath the Ice: The Meltdown, Captain’s Revenge: Drowned in Darkness, Blood Beckoning

    • Scare Zones: Blood Light District, Toxic Turmoil, CarnEvil Pier, Portal of Passage, Frozen Terror - Alive in the Ice, Witchcraft Bayou, Terrors of the Deep

The ultimate guide to Halloween in FL: HHN, movies, costumes, haunted houses and more

How do Howl-O-Scream ticket prices compare to Halloween Horror Nights?

Tickets to Halloween Horror Nights are obviously going to be more expensive than tickets to either Howl-O-Scream location. But how much more expensive?

Here are the prices for tickets to both Halloween Horror Nights and Howl-O-Scream:

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: What's scarier? Halloween Horror Nights or SeaWorld's Howl-O-Scream?