Story highlights
The Goretorium is being marketed as the first year-round horror attraction in Vegas
It is the brainchild of filmmaker Eli Roth, famous for "Hostel"
The Goretorium is designed as a '60s hotel, complete with guest-driven interactivity and chapel
Meat grinders grinding people. Bathroom mirrors that bleed. And body parts – everywhere.
Sending you screaming will be the mission of the Goretorium when it opens this week in Las Vegas.
Marketed as the only year-round horror attraction in Vegas – the first of its kind – the hotel-themed haunt is the work of Eli Roth, the actor-writer-director who has built a career on low-budget, blood-drenched horror films such as “Hostel” and its sequel.
Roth will be making a special appearance on opening night, performing an illusion that’s actually pretty dangerous, CEO Robert Frey said. Roth’s surprise will be only the first of the evening.
The pitch is archetypal: the Goretorium is actually “the Delmont,” a ’60s-era hotel whose owners make sure the guests enter – and never leave.
There’s a haunted elevator, a go-go lounge and a chapel, which will be open for real-world weddings.
A stew of horror tropes mixed with an eye for decade-crossing design, the Delmont has been planned down to its last detail, Frey said, including the costumes, sound design and even the slot machines featured in the lobby’s casino.
The scares themselves are just as carefully planned. At any one time, there will be 35 to 40 actors at work, many of whom have previous experience in “haunt environments” such as haunted houses.
The floor plan is interactive and free-form, so attendees can choose their own path, whether that means a trip to the laundry room full of squeaky-clean human skin or a peek at the bathrooms, where the mirrors drip blood.
But even though the Goretorium has been built with a flurry of high-tech tricks, the scariest moments aren’t necessarily the most advanced, Frey said. Sometimes it’s the low-tech stuff that guests should watch out for.
One thing the Goretorium isn’t afraid of is going stale. There are plans to add new scares often, Frey said. Tickets are $35 if purchased online.
There will be new things to run away from as early as Thanksgiving and Christmas; it should take repeat customers six or seven trips to see everything, and that’s the point.
“We’ll get you when you least expect it,” Frey said.