PHOTO BY STEPHANIE BECHARA VIA SEAWORLD
SeaWorld Orlando‘s Howl-O-Scream officially opened for the 2026 season on September 11, marking what the park is calling its biggest lineup yet, with five haunted houses, six scare zones, five new themed bars, live shows, and special themed rides running in the dark through October 31.
The headline addition this year is “I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Final Catch,” the first movie-inspired haunted house in the event’s history. Based on the Sony Pictures horror franchise, the house drops guests into the infamous Southport Massacre, where they relive scenes from the original film while trying to escape the Fisherman.
Three more all-new houses round out this year’s lineup. “Dark Net” imagines a cyberpunk future where cyborgs have turned to vampirism amid a global energy crisis. “Everything Must Stay” turns a suburban home that can never seem to sell into a haunted open house. “Crawlspace” sends guests into a sealed-off sewer system hiding the remains of a failed containment effort. The returning fan favorite “Raveyard” rounds out the fifth house, keeping the original premise of an underground rave that never ended, which reminds us of some of the after-hours parties in downtown Orlando a couple of decades ago. If you know, you know.
There are six scare zones this year. New for this year are “Nekrosis,” a Y2K-themed town frozen in time since the year 2000, “Just One More Chapter,” a dark romance-inspired garden of cursed lovers, “Dooms District,” a town collapsing under dueling doomsday theories, and “Extermination Order,” an all-out battle against a swarm of oversized insects. Returning zones “Woodrot Hollow” and “Trailer Park Tragedy” round out the six.
New food for the season includes a Tripleta Sandwich, an “Eggo Massacre” chicken and waffle dish, a Bacon Mac & Cheese Dog, Beef Birria Ramen, and a Philly Cheese “Stake,” alongside a lineup of specialty cocktails and more than 15 themed mocktails available through the event’s food and beverage lanyard program.
Orlando Shine Photo Friend, Dylan Duncan (Instagram | Website), was on hand for the official media preview to capture video from inside this year’s haunted houses and scare zones, so scroll down if you want a sneak peek.
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