Rob Zombie's haunted house could bring Scottsdale big bucks

Rob Zombie wants to hear Arizona scream.

The heavy metal legend's Great American Nightmare haunted-house attraction is set to debut at Westworld of Scottsdale where event producers expect at least 30,000 shrieks of terror Friday, Sept.19, through Saturday, Nov. 1.

If it's approved by the Scottsdale City Council in July, the Great American Nightmare's base rent will generate about $82,000 for the city, in addition to the percentages earned in paid parking and food and beverage, said Kelly Corsette, Scottsdale communications and public affairs director.

The Great American Nightmare is just one event, in a larger push to attract new events to Westworld's redesigned 274,000-square-foot climate-controlled event space, Corsette said.

"This is the first season the new facility is complete and we are ready to bring in new events," Corsette said. "Ultimately we expanded the facility at Westworld specifically to attract new events, particularly during the summer season."

In addition to the revenue generated from the event, the haunted-house attraction would bring in 150 part-time jobs and an estimated 1,000 nights' stay at Valley hotels, said Steve Kopelman, co-producer of the Great American Nightmare. Last year, more than 30,000 people attended the event's debut in Pomona, Calif., Kopelman said.

"It's really a rabid haunted-house market (in Phoenix)," said Kopelman, who has nearly 30 years of Arizona haunted-house experience. "And people loved it in California last year, so I anticipate a lot of them to come out."

Rob Zombie, rock-legend and filmmaker, is instrumental in the design for each of the disturbing and hopefully horrifying trio of haunted houses, which if approved, will be constructed in Westworld's climate-controlled tents, Kopelman said.

The "fully immersive" experience would include haunted houses based on Zombie's films "House of 1000 Corpses," "The Devil's Rejects," and "The Lords of Salem," as well as sideshow performers, food vendors, and a opening night concert featuring Rob Zombie.

"We've got some really cool surprises and really interactive immersive theater that, to our knowledge, hasn't been done before," Kopelman said.