SeaWorld's Dark Romance Scare Zone Is Open, and BookTok Has Mixed Feelings About the Masked Men of Just One More Chapter

SeaWorld promised masked men, and SeaWorld delivered masked men. Just One More Chapter, the dark romance scare zone at Howl-O-Scream, opened with the event on September 11, and the first videos of its bare-chested, masked performers are drawing reactions from romance readers online.

Not everyone is swooning. TV Insider reports that as some of the clips gain traction, the reactions are mixed.

A Just One More Chapter performer is filmed on phones in the fog. Photo: Seth Kubersky, Attractions Magazine

What is actually in there

SeaWorld pitched the zone on its Howl-O-Scream attractions page this way: "If your bookshelf is filled with toxic obsession, masked men, and the most twisted love stories, this is the scare zone you've been waiting for."

Attractions Magazine, which says it visited during opening weekend, describes the zone as a gothic garden where performers styled as dark romance characters step out of the fog to engage with guests. Some of them appear on a raised stage edged with vines, beside a tall gothic window lit in purple, and a "JOMC" monogram is worked into the set.

TV Insider sums up the first videos as "men with masks, airbrushed abs, and flowy shirts" wandering a garden full of machine fog and purple light.

The stage, with the JOMC monogram in the glowing window. Photo: Seth Kubersky, Attractions Magazine

What the internet is saying

On the Howl-O-Scream Orlando Instagram reel announcing the zone, Attractions Magazine found the comments overwhelmingly positive. The most-liked reply, in all caps: "THEY FOUND OUT ABOUT THE MASKED MEN EVERYONE SCATTER." Another commenter wrote simply, "BookTok has entered the chat." One asked guests to keep in mind that the cast are real people, and hoped the performers stay safe.

On TikTok and Instagram, TV Insider found a more mixed response. Some Instagram commenters said the clips left them cringing, others found the whole thing "ironically funny", and one TikTok commenter asked, "Is Seaworld even about sea life anymore?"

TV Insider also notes that some BookTok viewers are comparing its performers to Fryboy and Archer, the face-painted performers from Hersheypark Dark Nights who went viral in 2025.

The Just One More Chapter logo. Image: SeaWorld Orlando

If you want to see it

Just One More Chapter is included with a Howl-O-Scream ticket, which is separate from daytime admission. The event runs select nights through October 31. It is one of six scare zones this year, alongside the returning Trailer Park Tragedy and Woodrot Hollow and the new Dooms District, Extermination Order and Nekrosis.

Our take: this looks like a Howl-O-Scream zone plenty of fans will want to linger in, phones out, instead of running through. Whether it scares anyone is another matter. As one commenter's husband put it, per TV Insider, "Not scary, but there will be screams."

Sources

• SeaWorld Orlando, Howl-O-Scream attractions
• Attractions Magazine, Howl-O-Scream Orlando turns dark romance genre into a scarezone
• TV Insider, What to Know About SeaWorld's Viral Howl-O-Scream Romantasy Scare Zone

Image credits: Performer and stage photos by Seth Kubersky for Attractions Magazine. Logo courtesy of SeaWorld Orlando.