ISSUE 40 : COVER STORY

Growing Up Gruesome: The Evolution of Howl-O-Scream

By Jill M. Revelle

For Halloween fans, there’s a smell that defines the season. By the light of day, it’s nothing more than fog juice and grease paint, dusty props and mothballs. But when night falls, it becomes the scent of fear – of clutching the person next to you, of steeling yourself for what might be around the next corner, and of the scream when the scare finally does come.

For the many theme parks and tourist destinations that have embraced Halloween, it’s also the smell of success: a boost in profits and attendance during that traditionally slow time between summer crowds and the holiday rush.

A dozen years ago, Orlando was the hotbed of Haunting for central Florida. Universal Studios Florida introduced Halloween Horror Nights in 1990, and Terror on Church Street opened its doors in 1991 as a year-round Haunted Attraction. In 2000, the smell of Halloween became the scent of opportunity for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

For more than 40 years, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has offered an array of attractions based on exotic encounters with the African continent. The 335-acre family adventure park features a unique blend of thrill rides, a world-class zoo with more than 2,000 animals, live shows, restaurants, shops and games designed to appeal to guests of every age.

In 1999, the park built on that long-standing tradition of family-oriented fun with a kid-friendly Halloween celebration called Spooky Safari. With the new millennium, though, came a new kind of terror in Tampa: the inaugural Howl-O-Scream fright fest.

The event, which ran for 10 select nights in September and October, featured three walk-through haunted mazes, live bands and world-class roller coasters by the light of the moon. Special celebrity appearances included the original "Eddie Munster," Butch Patrick, acclaimed mentalist The Amazing Kreskin, and a 1961 Cadillac hearse formerly owned by television horror host Dr. Paul Bearer.

Guests were also treated to terrifying chance encounters with the "Creature Crew," a band of 70 costumed characters who crept around the park under cover of darkness. "Creature Crew [are] the ghouls, creeps and nasties," said Alan Talbot, an area supervisor for the Busch Gardens entertainment department, during a 2000 interview. "The moment you step into the park, you’re in the environment. There’s no escape."

The Crew was led by Dr. Livingsdoom - mad scientist and terrifying tour guide for the Haunted Jungle Trail maze. Under that rat-nest wig, though, was one of the brains behind the Howl-O-Scream phenomenon, Scott Swenson.

In 2000, Swenson was a member of T.R.I.B.E. (To Realize Innovative Busch Experiences), an in-house think tank dedicated to bringing Busch Gardens into the arena of major Haunted event players. Howl-O-Scream looked to capitalize on the scare factor that was so successful at other attractions, but blend it with the party atmosphere that Tampa had come to expect from the city’s other major Halloween offering, Guavaween, a street party in a club area of Tampa Bay.

"We’re scary with a sense of humor," Swenson said during a Creature Crew audition in 2000. "We avoid blood and gore. But will we be startling? Yes."

Livingsdoom became the face of the 2000 event, also making an appearance in the Labyrinth of Lost Souls. Billed as one of the mad doctor’s more ghastly inventions, the prison-like maze was home to trapped spirits who preyed on the living guests through special effects like mysterious winds, ghostly textures and sense-altering sound and lighting.

Howl-O-Scream 2000’s trio of mazes was rounded out with Dark Cavern. This walking tour featured nocturnal animals, including bats and other creepy creatures of the night, combined with special effects and a surprise twist that blurred the lines between nightmare and reality.

Though the event was targeted toward teens and young adults, that inaugural Howl-O-Scream did not stray completely from the family-friendly formula. A pumpkin patch near the park’s Clydesdale paddock offered a festive fall spot for parents and children, and the park’s Land of the Dragons area was designated a "monster free" zone, featuring face painting and friendly characters to help younger "boils and ghouls," get into the Halloween spirit.

A Change in the Air

In 2001, though, Howl-O-Scream’s new tagline signaled a shift in thinking: "You asked for scary… be careful what you ask for."

According to the event’s press release that year, Howl-O-Scream returned with one purpose – to immerse guests in a startling landscape of fright over 14 haunting nights. Ads warned that parental guidance was recommended, and the comically creepy Livingsdoom was replaced by a downright terrifying trifecta of spokes-spooks, "Torment," "The Mangler" and "Pernicia Gloom."

Torment was conceptualized as a "creature spawned from evil." His mind was haunted by the voices of demons, and he answered the voices in erratic outbursts of violent argument or vigorous agreement.

The Mangler was one of Torment’s creations – an average guy named Frank who, according to the back story, was snatched from the 2000 Howl-O-Scream event and transformed into an agent of evil. The resulting half-man, half-creature roamed the park, held captive by the chains of his two hooded "Keepers."

But it was Pernicia Gloom who pushed the party’s rating from PG to PG-13. In the tradition of Elvira and Morticia Adams, Howl-O-Scream’s vexing vixen made scary just a little bit sexy with her flaming red hair, curvy figure and tight-fitting ensemble crafted from the skin of her victims.

"We decided to dial up the scare factor." said Robbi Lepre', Director of Theatrical Services. "We wanted the event to become edgier to appeal to the older teen and young adult audience."

The Haunted Jungle Trail of 2000 became Jungle of Doom in ‘01, the first of three "scare zones. " These heavily-themed areas, built around existing sidewalks and structures, were not identified on the event map and gave guests the feeling of being in familiar territory… with a twist. Grisly Gardens, for example, looked like any well-landscaped Busch Gardens walkway, until the plants started reaching out to grab unsuspecting visitors. Inferno Express turned the park’s Nairobi Train Station into a haunted depot for the terror-bound railway. Using existing infrastructure made these zones a very cost-effective way to provide additional scares and keep guests on their toes between the event’s five new Haunted Houses: Escape from Insanity, Curse of Tut’s Tomb, Screaming Reality, Creeper’s Crypt and Night Stalker in 3-D.

Keeping with the party atmosphere precedent set the year before, Howl-O-Scream ‘01 also introduced two live shows into its lineup. Fiends, whose sultry nurses are a perennial guest favorite to this day, began as a ghoulish rock ‘n roll concert featuring traditional Halloween characters. RIP-TV poked fun at several contemporary music artists and provided the entertainment for "Fright Feast," which offered guests dinner, a show and early access to the Haunted Houses.

But perhaps the most shocking aspect of the event that year – at least for the bride’s mother – was the wedding staged Halloween night at the park’s Crown Colony House restaurant. With Torment as the best man and Pernicia Gloom as the maid of honor, local lovebirds Tony and Erica said their "I do’s" surrounded by friends, family, a snake, a vulture and several Tampa media outlets. As one headline read, "Deadicated Couple To Marry in a Horror-able Wedding Ceremony At Busch Gardens."

That Voodoo You Do

If Howl-O-Scream 2001 aimed to be "scarier" Howl-O-Scream 2002 set its sights on "downright terrifying." Guests were invited to "Face Your Fear" over 15 horrific nights and race to escape the breeding ground of evil, where voodoo spirits and horror reigned supreme.

Images of a stylized skull peering from an unearthed coffin dominated the advertising, and that disturbing visual was brought to life at the event by the skeletal "Death Spirit" – a walking zombie with African voodoo roots and the power to bring deceased spirits back to life as animals.

That Cajun flavor bled over into two brand-new venues in ‘02: a "backwoods misadventure" Haunted House called Bloody Bayou and the Cursed scare zone, where a sinister queen keeps her victims on pins and needles with her collection of voodoo dolls.

Also new to the event were the Agony Express and X-ecutioners scare zones, and three more Haunted Houses. Tortured began as an invitation-only party that turned deadly when the unknown host started herding his guests into the basement, and Ripper Row was a tribute of sorts to the rancid world of Jack the Ripper.

Perhaps the most notable Haunted House addition, was The Mortuary. The concept was simple: take guests on an undertaker’s tour, complete with embalming, cremations and underground burials. But the overall effect was far greater than the sum of its parts, and the response was incredible.

"Death is a very terrifying concept for many people," says Elaine College, Vice President of Busch Gardens’ entertainment department. "I don’t mean gruesome, tragic death – I mean the natural, inevitable process of death and burial. We can’t escape it, and that fear really resonates with our guests."

The Mortuary haunt has returned in various incarnations every year since and continues to generate high praise in the focus groups and guest surveys that Busch Gardens uses to help plan each successive Howl-O-Scream event.

"We know that you can’t make judgments and decisions based solely on what you personally like or don’t like, fear or don’t fear," Lepre’ explained. "We’ve learned to really listen to guest comments, to ask the right questions, and to talk to fellow haunters who are willing to share their talent, time and knowledge. We’ve embraced the feedback, and this has helped us to grow, evolve and become more creative."

Such feedback ensured that several elements from ‘01 were back by popular demand in ‘02: Escape From Insanity returned with new surprises in the familiar Sunny Meadows Asylum setting, and the Grisly Gardens scare zone sprouted several new scares. The success of 2001’s Night Stalker in 3-D house led it’s creators to expand upon the possibilities of black-light paint and polarized glasses, and Demented Dimensions was the result. The back story involved an archaeological expedition that unearthed an alien presence deep in the fiery innards of the Earth, but the real thrill of the house was the actors’ ability to hide within the eye-popping 3-D effects and camouflage themselves against the wall until the intended target of the scare was directly in front of them.

The event’s redoubled efforts in ‘02 didn’t go unnoticed. HauntFreaks.com reviewed the Howl-O-Scream that year, calling it worthy competition to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. "Busch Gardens has a winner on its hands with Howl-O-Scream," the review noted. "For those of you die-hard HHN fans who believe that no one can top Universal, keep an eye on Busch Gardens – they are making a grab for the brass ring."

A Reign of "F.E.A.R."

By 2003, Halloween was being recognized as the fastest-growing commercial holiday behind Christmas, and Howl-O-Scream sought to "bring new meaning to the word Fear," positioning itself as a national leader in haunted events.

Bolstering that notion was HauntWorld Magazine, which ranked the event "America’s number one haunted theme park attraction," and a quote from Haunted Attraction’s own Leonard Pickel, who called Howl-O-Scream "The new king of Florida Halloween events."

Park Vice President of Marketing, Joe Couceiro, attributed Howl-O-Scream’s early success to the event’s freshness and great world-of-mouth buzz. "Busch Gardens has always been known for our world-class thrill rides and quality entertainment, and we’ve taken that same approach to Howl-O-Scream," Couceiro said. "When we created Howl-O-Scream, we wanted it to be unlike any Halloween event in the country. We’ve made sure that every aspect of our event is highly original and thoroughly entertaining. And I think the positive responses and feedback we receive day in and day out reflects that."

As in ‘02, the ‘03 event featured a few new twists on old favorites, including pumped-up versions of Tortured, Ripper Row, Demented Dimensions and The Mortuary, as well as the continuing saga of the Sunny Meadows Asylum.

Escape from Insanity: Resident’s Revenge served as a second chapter to the story that began in ‘01. In the wake of a patient uprising, the asylum’s in(sane)mates were now "outpatients" and the staff was behind bars. "Guests just loved it," says College. "It’s like seeing the sequel to a great movie, you already know the characters and like the story, but now the plot is advancing."

The Whiplash and Speed Demons scare zones combined with returning favorites Cursed, Grisly Gardens and Agony Express brought the activity count to five. The Fiends show also returned to Stanleyville Theater with a new emcee, Dr. Freakenstien.

But ‘03 will be remembered as the year of terrors that were tailored to each guest with two new experiences that let participants help determine the outcome. Eternal Reward [see sidebar] replaced RIP-TV with a pop-culture parody show that let the audience vote on the characters’ fate. Darkheart’s Fear Fair Haunted House combined an indoor and outdoor maze of carnival-themed carnage with four possible paths, depending on which turns one chose.

"We’re really excited about Darkheart’s Fear Fair, because guests get to choose their own experiences," said Swenson, who served as the co-chair of the 2003 event. "As they go through the house, they come to several forks along the way and, depending on which way they choose, they’re going to end up having a different experience."

No Escape. No Mercy. Nowhere Else.

Riding high on the "reigning king" title of ‘03, the creators of Howl-O-Scream 2004 had no choice but to go bigger and better with the event’s new tagline: "No escape. No mercy. Nowhere else."

Busch Gardens set about creating an alternate, after-hours world that sought to immerse guests so completely that they would forget the fact that they were in an African-themed family adventure park.

"As you wander through this dark city, the feeling of being in the wrong place at the wrong time creeps in," read the backstory. "Residents of this strange nightlife lurk in the shadows, watching your every move. What’s about to happen is out of your control, and once you’re in, good luck getting out."

The navigator of this nightmarish cityscape was "Hack," a dirty, pale, bleary-eyed taxi driver who offered passers-by a ride in his cab. What he didn’t promise, however, is that they had any say in their final destination.

The event was expanded to 16 nights, leading up to a Halloween-night finale Oct. 31. Thumping DJ booths and the rumble of seven world-class roller coasters punctuated a 335-acre expanse of darkness. Nearly 1,000 additional employees were brought in to staff six Haunted Houses, five scare zones, two live shows, and dozens of Halloween-themed food and souvenir locations.

Some of the most demented elements of years past were resurrected, with enough new surprises to leave first-time visitors and die-hard fans alike begging for mercy and screaming for more: Darkheart’s Fear Fair and The Mortuary returned, providing a new generation of Howl-O-Scream fans with enough chain saw-wielding clowns and decaying corpses for a lifetime of nightmares.

The best elements of the Grisly Gardens and Cursed scare zones were combined to create Garden of the Cursed, an enchanted place where the topiaries and statues come to life and an evil voodoo priestess shrinks the heads and boils the bones of anyone who dares enter.

3-D creepiness was revamped with an artistic flair in the Chaos! Haunted House. Macabre masterpieces by Escher, Dali, Pollack and Picasso came to life, and guests were challenged to find their way through a pole maze, a tube room and a postmodern "Rubik’s Rage," based on the famous Cube.

New to the lineup was the Sliderz! scare zone, which took innovative characters from 2003’s Whiplash and gave the leather-clad vigilantes a good running start to skid across the pavement on metal-studded shin guards, sending up a shower of sparks in front of their intended targets.

Capitalizing on the popularity of reality television, the DepRAVEd Reality show was created, featuring look-a-likes such as Jessica Simpson, Simon Cowl, Donald Trump, Anna Nicole Smith and Paris Hilton in a celebrity grudge-match to defend their 15 minutes of fame.

Two new houses were introduced - one of them twice. ‘Til Death Do Us Part was a traditional "manor house," with a Victorian feel and haunts provided by the spirits of a wedding-day massacre. Corporate Nightmare, which was designed as a office building overrun with evil, opened the first night of the event to rave reviews… only to be overrun in real life by Hurricane Francis not 24 hours later.

"We can obviously control a lot of things, but the weather isn’t one of them," said Director of Marketing Communications Gerard Hoeppner. Within two weeks, Corporate Nightmare had been relocated to another part of the park and rebuilt with all the scares of the original, which included zombie-like employees, cannibalistic office supplies and an army of faceless executives called "The Suits."

Lurking Ahead to ‘05

As plans get underway for Howl-O-Scream 2005, Busch Gardens continues to challenge itself to create an event that is fresh and edgy - one that breaks through the pack with novel themes and innovative scares.

"We want to continue to produce a quality haunted event and exceed our guests’ expectations," Lepre’ says. "We want to build Howl-O-Scream’s image as a leisure opportunity that is very different from our regular Busch Gardens brand and provide a rite of passage for visitors who survive the frighteningly fun experience here."

The goal is for guests to attend Howl-O-Scream as an annual tradition.

Jill M. Revelle is a public relations representative for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. She performed as part of the Creature Crew in 2003 and is the marketing project manager for Howl-O-Scream 2005.