Haunted houses and Halloween nights in Tampa, and where to eat after

Halloween 2026 is a Saturday, and it is a crowded weekend in Tampa. Chayanne plays Benchmark International Arena on Friday, October 30. On Saturday the Nightmare on Channelside concert fills the same arena, next door to a haunted WWII ship. On Sunday, November 1 the Buccaneers host the Atlanta Falcons at 1 p.m., and the clocks go back an hour that morning. The haunts themselves are spread around the bay: a horror park north in Dade City, a haunted trail east on I-4 in Plant City, Howl-O-Scream in north Tampa, a farm haunt across the bay in Largo. This is the scary half of a night out. The eating half is at the end, in Hyde Park and SoHo.

I write the haunt guides on Mr. Fear, a Halloween site, and I am a guest here. Top of Tampa asked for the haunted houses. They supplied the tables.

The night, in order

Pick the haunt first, then buy the ticket before you leave home. Sir Henry’s sells online only, with no walk-ups. SCREAM-A-GEDDON charges more at the box office than online, asks guests to arrive 30 minutes before opening, and says to expect the longest lines on Fridays and Saturdays. Howl-O-Scream tickets are good only on the date you pick, with no rain checks. Then leave the costume at home. Howl-O-Scream, SCREAM-A-GEDDON, UNDead in the Water and Sir Henry’s all ban guests in costume. Florida’s mask law exempts traditional holiday costumes, but each venue’s own rules still apply. Dress for heat instead: Tampa’s October average high is 86°F. If you are going to UNDead in the Water on October 31, the arena concert next door means Channel District parking will be in heavy demand. Eat after, not before.

The haunted houses

• SCREAM-A-GEDDON, Dade City: a 60-acre horror park off exit 285 on I-75 with Killgore’s 3D Circus, Bloodwater Bayou, Demon’s Revenge, Breach, Ravenhill Asylum and Zombie Paintball Assault, which is a separate ticket. Friday and Saturday nights run 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Every guest signs a waiver, and guests 18 and older can opt in to be grabbed.
• Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens, North Tampa: a separately ticketed night event with six haunted houses, including the all-new Anaconda: Fear Has No Escape, plus scare zones and night coasters such as Iron Gwazi. Select nights from September 11 to October 31, 7 p.m. to midnight. Busch Gardens says it is intended for a mature audience but admits guests under 18.
• UNDead in the Water, Channel District: a walk-through haunt across several decks of the 1945 American Victory Ship, directly behind the Florida Aquarium, run by the nonprofit ship museum. September 26 and 11 October nights, ending October 29, 30 and 31. Stairs, ladders and pyrotechnics, no phones inside, and the ship is not handicapped accessible.
• Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail, Plant City: an outdoor nonprofit haunt park at exit 22 of I-4 with three haunted trails, a haunted hayride, escape games and axe throwing. Opening night is Friday, September 25, with a ceremony at 7:15 p.m. The organizer says it may not be suitable for children under 12.
• Fearville at DK Farms & Gardens, Largo: a haunted house, a haunted trail and a haunted hayride on Friday and Saturday nights in October, 7 to 10 p.m. Each haunt is rated in skulls, and Level 1 is for families. Anyone still in line at 10 p.m. gets through.

With kids

Busch Gardens runs two different events, and the daytime one is the kids’ one. Halloween Spooktacular is Saturdays and Sundays from September 12 to November 1, noon to 4 p.m. with trick-or-treat stations, included with park admission, and children 13 and younger can come in costume. Creatures of the Night at ZooTampa runs 14 public nights from 4 to 10 p.m., included for members and Zoo Fun ticket holders except on October 10, 17 and 24. Saturday, October 24 is the big downtown day: A Night at the Museum at the Tampa Bay History Center runs 2 to 6:30 p.m. on timed tickets, and the free Riverwalk Trick-or-Treat at Cotanchobee Park follows from 4 to 9 p.m. with more than 50 treat stations. In St. Petersburg, Halloween on Central is Sunday, October 25, noon to 5 p.m., and PSTA buses are fare-free that day.

Ghost tours

The ghost walks run all year, so they work on any night of the season. Tampa Terrors meets in front of the Tampa Theatre on Franklin Street every day, rain or shine, for about an hour and a mile; the operator calls it family-friendly. The same company runs a two-hour, four-stop haunted pub crawl from Sal Rosa Kitchen + Bar; its age rule is not posted on the summary, so check before you bring anyone under 21. St. Petersburg Ghosts and Clearwater Ghosts run nightly walks across the bay. For Halloween night itself, 13 Ugly Men holds its charity Halloween Party at The Cuban Club in Ybor City at 8 p.m., and a costume bar crawl works through four South Howard bars from 4 to 10 p.m.

What is not open this year

Guavaween is not coming back; the final Ybor City festival was held in 2017. Tampa Theatre had not posted a 2026 lineup for A Nightmare on Franklin Street when I checked on September 14, and its series page still shows the 2025 program. The Henry B. Plant Museum had not posted a 2026 date for An Eerie Evening at the Tampa Bay Hotel, and the J.C. Newman Haunted Factory in Ybor City had no 2026 Halloween listing.

The full list

Night-by-night dates, age and costume rules, parking and directions for every one of these, plus the pumpkin patches, the Dinosaur World family nights and the Halloween night concert, are on my beat, not a restaurant site’s. The full Tampa Bay haunted house and Halloween events guide on Mr. Fear has all 22 listings checked against each organizer’s own page, with the links to buy.

Where to eat after

Hyde Park and SoHo sit just across the Hillsborough River from downtown, where the Tampa Terrors ghost walk starts, and South Howard is where the Halloween bar crawl checks in. The kitchens close at 10 and 11 p.m., so they fit a ghost walk, a family evening or an early haunt, not the 1 a.m. finish at SCREAM-A-GEDDON. These three are on the Top of Tampa Hyde Park and SoHo list. The scores are theirs, not mine.