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It was a dark and stormy night, or at least that’s what Busch Gardens Tampa simulated as I stepped foot into the Oglethorpe Asylum at 1 a.m., putting my wits on the line to walk through one of the new haunted houses for Howl-O-Scream 2012 completely alone. The maze is called “Blood Asylum” and the event’s creative director Scott Swenson was on hand to lead me inside - then unexpectedly unleash its insanity on me.
Watch below as I come closer and closer to “The Creature,” a mad serial killer whose cell isn’t always sealed tight.
Video: Howl-O-Scream 2012 Scream Cam at Busch Gardens Tampa
I’m a tough one to scare, as I’ve become accustomed to the tactics used by actors in many mazes over the years, but this first half of “Blood Asylum” did manage to give me a few good startles. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that it was well past midnight and I was already a bit punchy, but while exiting the haunted house through the then-actor-free second half, I quickly saw that the worst was yet to come.
A little more of “Blood Asylum” along with Howl-O-Scream’s other new haunted house for 2012, “Circus of Superstition 3-D,” can be seen in the sneak peek video below.
Howl-O-Scream officially begins its 13th year tonight at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
Ricky I must shake your hand you have nerves of steel. By the time you got to the halfway point where the bit ended I would have been pale as a ghost, can you tell I don’t like haunted houses much. Hopefully as I get older the fear might go away as of right now I get scared before I even enter the maze. Right now I’ll just go for the old fashioned halloween festival on my unoffical home town of Main Street USA.
This does look like a promising house this year… and hopefully the Nevermore house will be much better this year. I heard that its debut was a bust last year.
Nevermore was much better this year! I think Busch Gardens learned a few things from Universal’s Edgar Allan Poe house last year. I’ll be posting a full Howl-O-Scream review soon.