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my life
haunted house producer Steve Kopelman
“Y
ears and years ago, I was in Phoenix and I’d been working as a concert merchandiser for bands,” says Steve Kopelman. “And I saw this huge line of people waiting to get into a haunted house. And I was intrigued.” His captivation with the idea that people spend money to be scared led to his decision to produce haunted houses of his own. Today, Kopelman is one of the genre’s top producers, opening between five and 10 attractions nationwide every year. The Nest, his haunted house in Phoenix, is one of the top-ranked haunted houses in the country. The Spring resident says that if the dream of being a movie producer is a long shot, doing haunted houses is a close second. “[Fortunately,] people want to be scared when they come to a haunted house,” Kopelman says. “And there are so many ways to scare them.” Throughout his more than 20 years as a producer, he’s loved watching how technology has evolved and how the scale of the attractions has reached what he calls “Hollywood proportions.” He works with designers and makeup artists to ensure his attractions are unique, and says the industry is actually a year-round commitment. “Once you shut down the haunted house in November, you’re already ready to begin working on what’s coming the next year,” says Kopelman, who attends a haunted house trade show in March and brainstorms with his team of artists and designers throughout the year to mount the houses each fall. “Over the last 30 years, Halloween has really become more popular,” he says. “It’s grown so tremendously.” So if you’re looking for a good scare this season, Kopelman offers up a little advice: “Go earlier in the season rather than later, when it’s less crowded. And wear really casual clothes.” After all, you never know what’s waiting around those dark corners.
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prime-living.com
People want to be scared when they come to a
haunted house. And there are so many ways to
scare them. Story | Holly Beretto Photography | Mark Lipczynski