Is it true that one of your earliest jobs was on Pee-wee’s Playhouse?

Yes. I was just, like, a production assistant. That was in 1984, I think. It was the first season. It was funny, though, because one of the cameramen on Pee-wee’s Playhouse was actually the cameraman who shot The Devil’s Rejects and both Halloween movies. But we hadn’t talked to each other in over 20 years until [we reunited] just by chance. I thought that was pretty wild. Small world.

Are you satisfied just putting your stamp on the Halloween franchise, or are there other established horror properties you’d like a shot at?

No, I’m happier doing my own stuff, really. Doing the Halloween films has been very cool, but when you do your own stuff—which is getting harder and harder to do these days because nobody actually wants to produce anything original anymore—it’s more fun because there are no rules and there’s no preconceived ideas of what it’s supposed to be. And Halloween comes with a lot of the fans and things, and they go, “Well, it’s supposed to be like this…” And I’m like, “According to who?” There’s no official rule book you’re supposed to follow. So that’s what’s cool when you do your own stuff. Everyone’s just watching it with no preconceived notion of what they think it’s supposed to be.

What’s the status of your movie Tyrannosaurus Rex?

There was a poster, a rumored 2009 release date, then nothing. That movie hasn’t been made yet. I would like that to be the next film that I do, and it quite possibly might be. Unfortunately, it got announced way too early that it was going to be my next movie, and it was never really officially my next movie. And then Halloween 2 came up. So I’m hoping it’s the next thing I do. I’m going to finish [H2], I have a record done, I’m going to release a new album, go on tour, and then after that, hopefully, T-Rex.

Is there any chance of a White Zombie reunion?

No, that’s over with. We haven’t played together since 1995 or something. That’s a long time ago. That’ll never happen. And it shouldn’t happen, either. Not only would it not work, but it wouldn’t be good. People remember it a certain way and are like, “Oh, it would be so great.” No, it wouldn’t. Better to remember it the way you remember it. Things are trapped in time in your mind and you’re remembering how you saw it when you were in high school and it was so cool. Then you see it 20 years later and you’re like, “Ack! Shit. This isn’t how I remember it.” I’m not big on going backward. If you were there and you saw it, great.

So is there anything left that still disturbs or freaks out Rob Zombie?

No. I’m pretty numb at this point.