The Nest Haunted House opened Friday, and co-producer Glenn Rea already is planning next year’s event. Previously located in the East Valley, the haunted house now has a five-year lease agreement with CJS Film Studios in Avondale.
“We’re going to build more here,” Rea said. “There’s a barn and another acre I haven’t touched. There’s another film studio here. I might go into those.”
The Nest features $525,000 worth of special effects and more than 80 actors on a walk-through haunt covering more than 20 acres. It was selected by America’s Best Haunts as one of the best attractions in the country, the only Arizona haunted house to receive this accolade, Rea said. The Nest has appeared on local and national television, including a feature on MTV.
All of last year’s actors are back this year, including Rev. Fishcrackers, who has tattoos all over his body of tiny goldfish that look like Pepperidge Farm’s goldfish crackers. His wife is the scary one with red hair. Many actors found the gig listed on Craigslist.com, while others heard about it by word-of-mouth. Wet ’n Wild water park in Glendale also is advertising auditions on Craigslist.com for its haunted house this season. Those auditions are being held Friday.
Meanwhile, Golfland Sunsplash in Mesa will host its second annual Golfland Fright Nights from Oct. 1 through Nov. 1, featuring the Gauntlet Haunted House, Spooktacular Golf and other attractions. Rea has been building haunted houses for 23 years, setting up shop in 13 states and as far away as the Bahamas.
His penchant for haunted houses began when he was growing up in New Jersey in a home with a noisy furnace in the basement. His father would send him on errands downstairs, where he was always afraid to go there alone at night. That gave him the idea to start scaring his friends, sending them downstairs in the dark. That, in turn, led to haunting his mother’s entire house and garage. He hopes to attract more than 30,000 visitors to the Avondale site, compared with 20,000 at two facilities in the East Valley two years ago: Schnepf Farms and Mesa Riverview’s Theater District. The Nest is returning after a one-year hiatus.
As part of America’s Best Haunts’ $1 million Scare Stimulus Package, The Nest and nine other haunted houses across the country will provide free tickets during opening weekend to the unemployed and their families, active military families, firefighters and police officers. To qualify as unemployed for tickets, individuals must show formal state identification that verifies the receipt of unemployment benefits. Firefighter, police and military families must present their government-issued ID cards.
“In these hard economic times, it is understandable that people are scared,” said Steve Kopelman, managing partner and co-producer of the Nest. “But screaming and laughter actually relieve stress, and that is part of the fun of haunted houses. Today’s eerie economic challenges provide a similar experience: You go in scared, you courageously face what’s put in front of you, and you feel relief when you make it to the other side. If our country’s top thrill attractions can help Americans in need to face their fears and scream out their frustrations, we take pride in providing some relief.”
The free tickets are available only during opening weekend, Sept. 25 and 26.
The Nest will be open on select Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 31. Regular tickets are $25, while VIP FastPasses are $35.
For more information please visit their official site at: www.Frightened.com
Released from the Phoenix Business Journal
