This past weekend, I got to go to Busch Garden’s Halloween celebration called “Hallowscream,” which is an annual event that usually starts sometime in early September and continues through October 31. The experience was upgraded this year, with the park adding three new haunted houses and “terrortories” (with “monsters” emerging for scares at 6 o’clock) to explore all over the park. It also has four Halloween shows to watch if you want some downtime from riding rides. It is supposed to be a very exciting experience, so my family and I decided to take a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia to be able to attend. 

The very first thing I noticed when entered the park was the decorations. Everything from the shops to the trees and everywhere in between was decorated in accordance with the holiday. I really enjoyed seeing what new kinds of spooky decor would appear behind each corner. Depending on the theme for each area, there are different decorations that match that theme. For example, Britain was called “Ripper Row” after Jack the Ripper (an English serial killer in 1888), and the theme for France was “Dead A-Head,” named after the famous beheadings that occured via the guillotine. My personal favorite was the Gorgon area that held different types of monsters and themes from Greek mythology. We spent all day riding rides and roller coasters before it got dark. We even decided to get our faces painted with different Halloween-related objects (I got pumpkins). While waiting in line for another roller coaster, it turned six and started getting darker, so when we exited the ride, the monsters had come out and it was time for some scares! The park added some spooky music, lights, and fog machines to every “terrortory” to increase its thrill and spookiness level, which I found really fun. While walking through the Greek Mythology “terrortory,” we were scared by the Gorgons jumping out at us around every corner and rattling things at us. We bravely went through “Ripper Row” where we heard fake gunshots, and while walking down “Scarytale Road,” we were even chased by a fairytale villain! 

I really enjoyed my time at Hallowscream. I thought all of the “terrortories” were very creative and entertaining without being too much. I am not a huge haunted house fan, so I didn’t actually go into one, but they all had really cool themes that looked like a lot of fun for anyone interested. I would not necessarily say this is a great thing to go to with little kids, as they might get scared more easily than others, but if you think your kid can handle it, they sell light up pumpkin necklaces that tell the scare actors not to scare the wearer, which is a really nice perk the park provides access to. I had a great time, and all in all, I would totally recommend this experience to anyone looking for a fun Halloween adventure!