# ALICE COOPER’S NIGHTMARE CASTLE **Source:** Pinball News Website **Type:** article **Published:** 2018-03-18 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2018/03/18/alice-coopers-nightmare-castle --- ## Analysis Spooky Pinball unveiled Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle at Texas Pinball Festival on March 17, 2018, featuring the P-ROC system, over 700 custom Alice Cooper speech calls, and 16 music tracks. Charlie Emery presented the game at a seminar with two playable machines available afterward. Pre-orders for 500 premium machines were set to begin March 26th. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle runs on P-ROC system (as opposed to Ben Heck-designed boards used in earlier Spooky games) — _Charlie Emery stated this during presentation at Texas Pinball Festival seminar_ - [HIGH] Game contains over 700 custom speech calls from Alice Cooper — _Charlie Emery presentation at Texas Pinball Festival_ - [HIGH] Total of 16 music tracks: 10 by Alice Cooper, 6 incidental tracks by Matt Montgomery — _Charlie Emery presentation details_ - [HIGH] 500 premium machines available for pre-order starting March 26th, 2018 — _Official announcement at Texas Pinball Festival_ - [HIGH] Game was previously announced but Texas Pinball Festival provided first opportunity to see playfield layout and play the game — _News article context_ ### Notable Quotes > "The game runs on the P-ROC system as opposed to the Ben Heck-designed boards used in earlier Spooky games." > — **Charlie Emery**, March 17, 2018 at Texas Pinball Festival seminar > _Technical platform shift for Spooky Pinball, indicating evolution in their manufacturing approach_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle | game | Spooky Pinball in-house title themed after rock musician Alice Cooper, unveiled at Texas Pinball Festival 2018 | | Spooky Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer and developer, presenting new game at Texas Pinball Festival | | Charlie Emery | person | Co-owner/creative director of Spooky Pinball, presented Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle at Texas Pinball Festival | | Alice Cooper | person | Rock musician, theme of the pinball game; provided 700+ custom speech calls and 10 music tracks for the machine | | Matt Montgomery | person | Music composer who created 6 incidental music tracks for Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle | | Texas Pinball Festival | event | Event held in Frisco, TX where Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle was first publicly unveiled on March 17, 2018 | | P-ROC | product | Control system platform used in Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle (contrast to earlier Ben Heck boards) | | Ben Heck | person | Designer of control boards used in earlier Spooky Pinball games (prior to P-ROC adoption) | ### Topics - **Primary:** New game announcement and public debut, Hardware platform evolution (P-ROC vs Ben Heck boards), Licensed IP and artist collaboration (Alice Cooper music and vocals) - **Secondary:** Pre-order availability and production numbers, Spooky Pinball manufacturing and product line ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — News coverage is straightforward and factual. The reveal generated excitement with two playable machines available immediately after presentation. Substantial production effort (700+ voice calls, 16 music tracks) and high-profile IP licensing demonstrated significant investment. ### Signals - **[event_signal]** Texas Pinball Festival serving as major venue for manufacturer product reveals and first-to-play experiences (confidence: high) — Festival hosted official unveiling, seminar presentation, and playable machines for public testing - **[licensing_signal]** Significant licensed IP collaboration with Alice Cooper involving 700+ custom speech calls and 10 original music tracks from the artist (confidence: high) — Over 700 custom speech calls from Alice Cooper; 10 music tracks by Alice; presented as major feature of game - **[announcement]** Official public debut and first playable reveal of Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle at Texas Pinball Festival following prior announcement (confidence: high) — Title unveiled at festival with seminar presentation by Charlie Emery and two playable machines available - **[technology_signal]** Spooky Pinball transitioning from Ben Heck-designed boards to P-ROC system for Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle (confidence: high) — Charlie Emery explicitly stated game runs on P-ROC 'as opposed to the Ben Heck-designed boards used in earlier Spooky games' --- ## Transcript **Date:** 17th March, 2018 **Location:** Texas Pinball Festival, Frisco, TX, USA On Saturday at the Texas Pinball Festival, Spooky Pinball unveiled their next in-house title – *Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle*. [![The translite artwork for Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/055-tpf-2018.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/055-tpf-2018.jpg) The translite artwork for Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle The title had already been announced but this was the first opportunity to see the playfield layout and artwork, and actually play the game. Before the reveal the game was on display at the Spooky Pinball stand at the show, but the playfield was covered. [![In the meantime, here's the cabinet artwork](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/028-tpf-2018-1024x750.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/028-tpf-2018.jpg) The cabinet artwork on the game at the Spooky stand Spooky Pinball’s Charlie Emery presented the game at 4pm on Saturday 17th March at his seminar.   Afterwards, two machines were available to play back in the main show hall. [![Charlie with the new Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle game](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/051-tpf-2018-700x1024.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/051-tpf-2018.jpg) Charlie with the new Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle game [![The first look at the playfield](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/052-tpf-2018-1024x698.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/052-tpf-2018.jpg) The first look at the playfield [![A full look at the playfield](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/053-tpf-2018-730x1024.jpg)](https://www.pinballnews.com/site/wp-content/uploads/shows/tpf-2018/053-tpf-2018.jpg) A full look at the playfield Charlie said the game runs on the P-ROC system as opposed to the Ben Heck-designed boards used in earlier Spooky games.  He also said it contains over 700 custom speech calls from Alice Cooper and a total of sixteen music tracks – ten by Alice and six incidental music tracks by Matt “Count D” Montgomery. Alice’s tracks are: * Brutal Planet * Cold Ethyl * Disco Bloodbath * Feed My Frankenstein * Go To Hell * It’s The Little Things * Lost in American * No More Mister Nice Guy * Billion Dollar Babies You can watch the promotional video for the game starring Alice Cooper below: VIDEO Orders for the 500 premium machines will be taken from March 26th at the [Spooky Pinball website](http://www.spookypinball.com/). _(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 995d9867-daee-43f1-9e44-449b3039497f*