SeaWorld’s Howl-O-Scream Turns BookTok’s Romantasy Fantasy Into a Haunted Attraction

When you think of SeaWorld, you probably think of killer whales, school trips to the aquarium, or eating chicken fingers while considering the ethics of keeping marine mammals. This Halloween, however, the theme park franchise wants to make SeaWorld synonymous with something entirely different: BookTok-inspired romantasy.

SeaWorld Orlando’s BookTok-Inspired Halloween Zone

On September 11, SeaWorld Orlando officially opened its annual Howl-O-Scream event, an immersive, after-hours Halloween experience featuring multiple scare zones throughout the park.

Among them is Woodlot Hollow, a haunted forest with an I Know What You Did Last Summer-style atmosphere. But the most unusual attraction may be Just One More Chapter, a BookTok-inspired zone built around the tortured, muscular bad boys of romantasy fiction.

In a video posted by an Orlando-based influencer who was among the first visitors to experience the park, young men wearing masks, floppy hair, and painted abs stalk the area in black denim. They loiter beside brick walls, beckon to park-goers, and offer them roses.

On Instagram, influencers posed around a central set piece called “Cathedral”: an oversized open book displaying its chapters and the slogan, “Good girls go for bad boys.”

SeaWorld’s Romantasy Scare Zone Gets Mixed Reactions

Several videos from the scare zone went viral on TikTok and prompted mixed reactions. One X user described the concept as “BookTok’s dark ‘romantasy’ cancer ruining heterosexuality.” Another post criticized the trend of trying to “squeeze the eros out of everything and refine it into pure concentrated shitty cringe.”

The location also adds another layer of absurdity. The event is taking place at SeaWorld, the amusement park franchise most closely associated with the tragic story of killer whales explored in the documentary Blackfish.

Still, at least one content creator who visited the scare zone had a very different reaction. “I can’t say I was scared,” the creator said. They declined to share their name because they “didn’t want to jeopardize our relationship with SeaWorld.”

“But it left me with a good feeling,” the creator added. “In a way, you could call it a sexy feeling.”

Why SeaWorld Created a Dark Romance Attraction

According to SeaWorld Orlando art director Jesse Kinsey, that reaction is exactly the point. Kinsey said she got the idea for the attraction last year after seeing romantic bestsellers such as Lights Out and Haunting Adeline repeatedly featured on TikTok.

She knew a dark romance-themed scare zone was not necessarily “the kind of thing you’d expect from a traditional horror event,” but believed it would connect with BookTok’s audience.

“I remember texting my production manager and saying, ‘Please don’t judge me, but I have an idea,’” Kinsey told WIRED.

Kinsey also writes fiction in her spare time. She wrote the text for SeaWorld’s oversized book set piece and developed the story behind the attraction.

The Story Behind Just One More Chapter

The scare zone is set inside a crumbling Gothic cathedral in a town ruled by a wealthy family called the Blackthorns. Roses grow around the ruined structure, creating beauty amid the destruction.

“These roses grew around it and created this beauty out of destruction,” Kinsey said. “I thought this was a perfect fit for the theme of these books.”

What Is Romantasy?

Romantasy—a blend of romance and fantasy—combines mythology and supernatural figures such as fairies and demons with explicit romantic and sexual storylines. The genre includes books such as Rebecca Yarros’s Onyx Storm and Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Romantasy has exploded in popularity through BookTok. A Bloomberg report estimated that the genre generated $610 million in 2024 alone.

Its most recognizable male characters are tortured, dangerous, morally complex—and designed to be irresistible. They include “shadow daddies” such as Rhysand from A Court of Mist and Fury and Xaden Riorson, the dragon rider from Yarros’s Fourth Wing.

SeaWorld’s Just One More Chapter scare zone takes those familiar romantasy elements—dark castles, dangerous antiheroes, roses, and seductive menace—and turns them into an interactive Halloween attraction.