Howl-O-Scream Unleashes 2026 Nightmares

Howl-O-Scream returns to SeaWorld San Diego in Mission Bay on select nights from Sept. 11 through Oct. 31, inviting visitors into San Diego’s largest Halloween nighttime event. Now in its sixth year, the event features its biggest lineup yet, with six haunted houses, new scare zones, live performances, dark speakeasies, themed bars and scares waiting around every shadowed corner.

Howl-O-Scream is set to deliver two all-new nightmares, each ready to deliver relentless scares and pulse-pounding surprises:

Area 64: MotherShip

An all-new haunted house, designed and built entirely from the ground up by SeaWorld San Diego's Entertainment team. Serving as the prequel to the fan-favorite Area 64: Alien Outbreak, the experience transports guests 30 years before the original story, where negotiations between a secretive government taskforce and an extraterrestrial species have spiraled into chaos. Guests navigate the wreckage of a crashed alien mothership and government research labs where hybrid experiments have gone horribly wrong, coming face-to-face with a threat from beyond the stars. The attraction features an 80-foot-long, 16-foot-tall mothership façade — the largest show scene by volume ever created for a Howl-O-Scream San Diego haunted house.  

6th House

A terrifying new haunted house will hook new and returning fans alike at Howl-O-Scream. This ALL-NEW house will reveal itself from the murky depths of Mission Bay in a few short weeks. 

Four fan-favorite haunted houses return to Howl-O-Scream, bringing twisted carnivals, gruesome factory floors, cursed bayous and nightmare-fueled experiments back for another season of relentless scares.

Circus of the Damned 3D

An evil ringmaster unleashes chaos and confusion in a neon-lit, 3-D clown nightmare as he searches for new performers to restore his cursed circus to its former glory. Guests must navigate the twisted big top, evade his condemned crew, and escape before they become the newest members of his horrifying circus.

Simon’s Slaughterhouse

Simon the Butcher delivers a gruesome walk through a deranged meat factory. Guests navigate a decrepit meat-packing plant while evading "Simon the Butcher" and his murderous crew, dodging screeching buzz saws, meat hooks, and menacing slaughterhouse blades.  

Deathwater Bayou: Awakening

Step into New Orleans where a Mardi Gras night takes a dark turn – guests are bewitched and dragged into a cursed bayou, where witches summon an ancient, ravenous deity. With every step, the swamp grows darker and more alive – and escape becomes more unlikely.

Nightmare Experiment Sweet DreamzZz

Journey  through a converted asylum now run by a mysterious pharmaceutical company testing a sleep aid with horrifying side effects. From hallucinations to uncontrollable rage, the results are disastrous – and you’re the next test subject!