TAMPA BAY, FL — It's the season of the witch ... and the zombie, the ghost, the mummy and the skeleton. Scaring up some Halloween fun isn't hard to do in Tampa Bay where haunted houses, haunted trails, ghost tours and other spooky venues abound.
In the fifth iteration of UNDead in the Water, a mysterious female apparition and her possessed cult threaten passengers across 60,000 square feet of cavernous cargo holds and open-air decks.
Flesh of the fallen adorn the bulkheads and passageways as thrill seekers make their way through the forsaken vessel.
Of the crew that survived, some have entered into the ranks of The Gathering, while the remaining are on the run from her cult, their screams and moans echoing throughout the bellows of the ship.
The American Victory Ship & Museum, 615 Channelside Drive, Tampa, will present UNDead in the Water aboard the World War II cargo ship at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14 and 15, Oct. 21 and 22, Thursday, Oct. 27, and Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28 and 29.
Tickets are $22 to $29. Click here.
Back by popular demand, the Polk County Sheriff's Office's annual Haunted Jail Tour at 455 N Broadway in Bartow (the Lawrence W. Crow Jr. Building) will take place two weekends — Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21 and 22, and Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28 and 29, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. each night.
This year’s theme is "Doomsday," and instead of one tour, there will be two paths to scare visitors as they tour the jail.
The fee is a $12 donation to the United Way of Central Florida or $20 for two tours. The cost for children under 10 years old is $5. Or there will be volunteers available to watch kids in a safe place while parents and older kids tour the jail.
This is a family-friendly, kid-oriented event. Church Street will be closed for a street carnival, with arts and crafts booths, games and contests, a cakewalk, bounce houses and Dunk the Deputy, featuring school resource officers.
Newman BBQ Catering & Events will provide food along with Poco Loco Fruta, and D'Lites Ice Cream.
The tickets for the tour will be sold in person at the event until the 10 p.m. cutoff. There are some high schools that will presell the Dunk the Deputy tank tickets at their schools. The dunk tank tickets are $5 for five throws.
The Haunted Jail Tour tickets, the kid’s carnival games, the bounce house, the Dunk the Deputy tank and refreshments can be purchased with cash or credit card.
The 20th annual Busch Gardens' Howl-O-Scream has taken over the entire park with haunted houses, scare zones, sinister shows and more.
Horror lives in every dark corner, including on Busch Gardens’ pulse-pounding thrill rides. Fill fall nights with fright at Busch Gardens' Howl-O-Scream on select Fridays and Saturdays from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. through Oct. 28, on Thursdays starting Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. and on Sundays and Halloween Monday from 7 p.m. to midnight.
Every town has its share of ghost stories, and this one is no different. Once a lively home filled with laughter and lavish parties is now filled with darkness and the spirit of evil. Welcome to the Stranglewood Estate.
Dark minds have been brewing new ways to terrify those brave enough to enter our sinister haunted houses with new unsuspecting scares.
Scare Zones and Unpredictable Hordes
The scares are everywhere as new terrors lurk in every corner of the park. Experience screams and frights at any moment as you make your way through several scare zones. Plus, with roaming hordes, horror awaits at every twist and turn.
Don't miss spirited productions that are said to be "worth dying for." The raunchy monster dance party, Fiends, will return to its outdoor venue for more devilish antics from Dr. Freakenstein and his gang of ghouls. Plus, all-new event entertainment comes to life during this year's event.
With exhilarating coasters and thrilling attractions, guests can take on their favorite rides in the dark in between the frights and scares of Howl-O-Scream. Bring your fears to new heights on Iron Gwazi and SheiKra, then let the adrenaline rush as you launch into the shadows of Cheetah Hunt and Tigris.
Howl-O-Scream is intended for a mature audience. This event contains intense adult content such as violence, gore, and blood. Howl-O-Scream 2022 is a separately-ticketed night event. No costumes are allowed.
A favorite family-friendly Halloween event, Creatures of the Night, is returning better than ever to ZooTampa at Lowry Park, 1101 W Sligh Ave., Tampa, Friday, Oct. 7 from 4 to 10 p.m.
Guests of all ages can enjoy eerie fun on select nights including Oct. 8, 14-16, 21 and 22, and 28-30.
This year’s event welcomes the Swamp Witch to ZooTampa. Known to all who fear her as Blackwater Mattie, this spooky character spends her nights mixing potions and conjuring spells in the darkest corners of Florida’s musty swamps where few dare to tread. Find her and her alligator companions in the new Florida Wilds area of the Zoo.
In "Eerie Realms," kids can meet their favorite storybook villains, dance with the Spider Queen and play a game with the Lost Boys.
Join pirates for a jolly good time of magic and storytelling and meet Dr. HooDoo and his lovely assistant as they present a comical street show.
Join the zoo's mischievous characters for a night of Halloween adventures with animals and festive treats.
Be sure to check out the Foodie Guide ahead of your visit to find dishes like Swamp Mac and Cheese, Slay the Beast Burger, Monster Pulled Pork Slider, Bloody Finger Dog, Clown Dog, Jack O' Lantern Quesadilla, Crow Bowl, Frankenstein Corn Dog, Graveyard Ribs and Sausage, Pizza Skulls, Medusa O' Lantern, Black Ice Cream, Spider Cookies, Monster Cookies, Spooky Pretzels & Cheese, Dirt Cup, Ghost Cupcakes, Mummy Brownies, Candy Corn Cheesecake, and specialty cocktails like Witches Brew, Bogwater, Poison and Dragon Apple.
The event is free for zoo members and Pay-For-A-Day ticket holders. General admission tickets are $34.95.
Raprager Family Farms, 16907 Boy Scout Road, Odessa, will host its annual Fall Pumpkin Festival and Haunted Farm Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There will be hayrides, a petting zoo, a 1,000-square-foot haunted maze, farmer's market, pumpkins galore and other seasonal decorations, pony rides, face painting, a 5,000-square-foot haunted barn, a 40-foot hay chute slide, live entertainment, a corn pit, a sweets shop with fresh gourmet fudge, candy apples and warm cinnamon-roasted nuts.
After 5 p.m. the fall hayrides will become haunted hayrides with monsters, goblins, witches and more through a foggy cemetery.
Advanced tickets are recommended. The cost is $15.25-$16.95 and free for ages 2 and younger if you purchase in advance and $19.50 at the gate. Click here.
It will continue each Friday through Sunday on Oct. 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30 and Nov. 5, 6, 12 and 13.
Tampa Bay Tours, the host for the Official Ybor City Ghost Tour, named the No. 1 ghost tour in the U.S., has announced additional tours to meet the high demand during the Halloween season.
The organizers will schedule tours seven days a week at 8 and 10 a.m. In addition, organizers will offer a midnight tour for groups of 10 people or more.
A true “melting pot” of immigration, what began as an area populated largely by alligators and snakes grew to become Ybor City.
Along with the cigar workers who came from Cuba and Europe to make a new life in the New World, “Cigar City” hosted more than its share of villains, conspirators, Buccaneers, bandits and gangsters.
They arrived from all over the globe, and some have never left, despite slipping the bounds of their worldly forms. Tampa’s famous “Latin District” has had no lack of strange and creepy happenings.
And, as the sun sets, the restless souls of Ybor City’s frightful past begin to stir. Hear their tales, many of which have been long forgotten, as you walk the streets of this historic town.
Tickets are $25 per adult and $10 per child.
Starting with nothing but a passion for good stories and a love of history, in 2005 Lonnie Herman started a tour company in Ybor City that has ballooned into a nationally hyped sensation.
After years of success, he took on a young apprentice, his son, Max Herman.
The Official Tampa Bay Tour Company takes people from around the world on historic Tampa Tours. The Official Ybor Ghost Tour was rated No. 1 for haunted tours in the U.S. by US City Traveler and has received the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence multiple times.
The Official Ybor Ghost Tour continues to be the only ghost tour with complete access to The Cuban Club, recognized as the fourth most haunted building in the country by The Travel Channel.
The tours will take place at 8 p.m. Oct. 11 through Oct. 31, except Oct. 23, and every day in November, except Thanksgiving, Nov. 24.
Tickets are available at The Official Ybor City Ghost Tour.
In addition, Tampa Bay Tours has begun another ghost tour that features downtown Tampa. The tours begins at the Tampa Theatre and runs seven days a week at 8 p.m.
From the bones of Native Americans below the buildings to the mass graves during the yellow fever pandemic, the streets of Tampa are crawling with spirits and stories of genocide, murder, mayhem and mobsters in what was once called “The Wild West of The South.”
Visit the famous and illustrious Tampa Theatre. Learn about the mobsters and movie stars in The Sapphire Room at The Hotel Floridan. And finish with a close encounter of The Sacred Heart Church erected in 1860.
Tours run Oct. 12-14, 16-18, 20-23 and 25-29 at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $25 per adult and $10 per child.
Tickets are available at The Official Downtown Tampa Ghost Tour.
Eleven months out of the year, the Long family home at 3425 Brian Road S., is much like the surrounding homes in the Palm Harbor neighborhood.
That all changes when October rolls around. First the home is transformed into a workshop where 20-year-old University of Florida architecture student Andrew Long puts his creepiest creativity to the test, building, faux painting and wiring a host of scary props for movement, lights and sound.
Then, he and his father, Michael, set up his macabre monstrosities to create what may arguably be the most realistic scare house outside Busch Gardens' professionally designed Howl-O-Scream.
In the four years since it was launched, Haunt for HEP has raised more than $21,000 for the nonprofit charity that the Long children became acquainted with while volunteering in the shelter's cafeteria. Since 1986, HEP has provided homeless and low-income people, including veterans and families, with housing, food, clothing and support services necessary to obtain self-sufficiency and stability.
Andrew Long was 13 years old when he watched his neighbors across the street decorate their home using cheesy props purchased at the Dollar Tree.
He decided he could do better, and began experimenting with designing and building his own Halloween props using scrap lumber, fabric and any other throwaways he could find. Over time his skills and imagination grew and what started as crude DIY props has turned into a professional-grade, one-of-a-kind animatronic, pneumatic and static structure props.
Now a junior at the University of Florida majoring in architecture, the East Lake High School graduate parlayed his affinity for building and engineering into creating scenery and special effects for his high school's theater program.
"He's a talented kid," conceded his dad. "The portfolio he created of the work he did on the Haunt for HEP and the theater program helped get him into the school of architecture.
Andrew Long's realistic props, including a 23-foot-tall church, faux mausoleum, hangman, coffins with corpses and zombie cage that, while impressive, aren't especially frightening until Long adds his finishing touches — passive infrared sensors that activate when a thrill seeker approaches, 100 different types of LED lights, fog machines and a variety of spooky sounds, many created by Long himself to get just the right sound he's looking for.
Haunt for HEP was the 2020 recipient of Best Walk-Thru Display and Best Pneumatic Prop from the national group, Halloween Yard Haunts and Props.
To supplement the props and bring a human element to the interactive walk-through exhibit, the Haunt for HEP uses 10 to 15 scare actors from the East Lake High School theater department.
Because proceeds go to a charity, the students get Bright Futures volunteer hours for participating while having a blast.
Join the Long family at 3425 Brian Road S, Palm Harbor, for this final year of Haunt for HEP Saturday, Oct. 29 from 6:30 to 10 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 30 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. and on Halloween, Oct. 31, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Urban legend says to avoid the dark, murky waters of Bloodwater Bayou when the sun sets. Passersby have a nasty tendency to go missing while trying to take in the still water at twilight.
Despite the warnings, hundreds of thrill seekers are flocking to Dade City to tour Bloodwater Bayou and other spine-tingling sights as Scream-A-Geddon returns for the eighth year with six scary attractions to explore.
Located on 60 acres at 27839 Saint Joe Road, Dade City, this years venue features upgrades to the Tampa Bay’s premier horror park returns for its eighth season features upgrades to the park's Monster Midway carnival-style games and a new food court as well as craft beer and wine at Bonzo’s Beer Garden.
Voted the Best Haunted House in America in 2020 by USA’s Best Haunted Houses, made up of the top haunted attraction experts in the country, Scream-A-Geddon invites intrepid visitors to also explore Ravenhill Asylum, Demon’s Revenge, Rage 3D and Blackpool Prison, or try their hand at Zombie Paintball Assault.
Scream-A-Geddon is open every night in October from 7 to 11 p.m. weekdays and 7 to 1 a.m. weekends.
Tickets start at $26.95. Click here.
Pirate Water Taxi has announced that it will bring back its Haunted River Tours to set sail in October from the Pirate Water Taxi dock at the Tampa Convention Center, 333 S Franklin St., downtown Tampa.
The Pirate Water Taxi on the Hillsborough River will offer 45-minute cruises featuring stories from Tampa's eerie past told by costumed storytellers, ghostly horror and haunted happenings.
Departure times are 7, 8 and 9 p.m. on Oct. 14-16, 21-23 and 27-30.
Be sure to check back as Patch adds more haunted venues to explore. If you have a haunted house you'd like to add, email the information along with a photo with copyright permissions to dann.white@patch.com.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.