SeaWorld Orlando Turns Halloween Scare Zone Into Romantasy Fantasy

SeaWorld Orlando is rebranding its annual Halloween event, Howl-O-Scream, by integrating the popular “romantasy” genre into its scare zones. Since opening on September 11, the park has seen record-breaking ticket sales driven by a new area called Just One More Chapter, which pays homage to the dark romance and fantasy tropes popularized on BookTok.

While the attraction traditionally features horror elements like a haunted forest and an I Know What You Did Last Summer-themed house, the new zone focuses on “hot, brooding guys” representative of romantasy antiheroes. Videos from influencers who previewed the park show young men in black denim and mask costumes lounging against brick walls, handing out roses, and posing near an oversized book set piece titled “The Cathedral” with the slogan “Good Girls Go for the Bad Boys.”

The concept was developed by Jessie Kinsey, SeaWorld Orlando’s art director. A fiction writer in her spare time, Kinsey drew inspiration from viral BookTok titles such as Lights Out and Haunting Adeline. She described the narrative setting as a crumbling Gothic cathedral in a town controlled by the wealthy Blackthorn family, noting that the contrast between beauty and destruction mirrored the themes of the genre.

Romantasy, which blends mythology and supernatural elements with explicit romantic content, generated an estimated $610 million in revenue in 2024 alone, according to Bloomberg. The genre’s male leads, often depicted as tortured and morally complex figures like Rhysand from Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses, have become cultural phenomena.

Reaction to the addition has been polarized. Some social media users criticized the move, with one X user calling the trend a ruin to heterosexuality and labeling it “cringe.” Others found the juxtaposition of a horror-themed park with a romantic encounter absurd, given SeaWorld’s history with marine mammal captivity documentaries. However, attendees reported positive experiences; one content creator told WIRED the zone left them with a “sexy feeling” rather than fear.