Starting Friday, area residents can enjoy being scared silly — for a good cause.

The Barton County Sheriff Reserves are putting the finishing touches on "Dead Hollow," a maze of Halloween terror for the strong-hearted. The haunted house will again be located at 5215 West 10th St., which is at 10th and Kennedy, across the street from Taylor Petroleum in Great Bend.

The annual haunted house is the only fundraiser of the year for the group, Reserve Sgt. Dena Popp said. This year the Reserves are assisted by the Criminal Justice students at Barton Community College and the FFA club from Great Bend High School. Those groups will also receive a portion of the proceeds.

The Barton County Food Bank will also benefit from the haunted house, because anyone who brings a can of food on Oct. 29 or 30 will get $1 off the price of admission.

Hours are 7-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 21-22 and Oct. 28-29, and 7-10 p.m. Sunday and Monday, Oct. 30-31. Cost is $5 for anyone 12 years of age and older, and $4 for children under 12, with children under 3 admitted free. Darrell Roach with the Reserves said he’s seen all ages come through the haunted house over the years.

There are also six safety exits for anyone who can’t make it through the maze or who finds it too intense, said J.P. Postlethwaite, who pointed out the glowing symbols that mark the escape hatches. But he agreed there are a lot of fearless kids out there, so the group doesn’t make age recommendations. "Some of them come back two or three times. They love it."

There will be a less frightening, lights-on version of Dead Hollow from 5:30-7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29, Roach said.

Admission is free every night to anyone in the armed forces, law enforcement officers and EMS/firefighters, if they show credentials, Popp said.

Volunteers have been hard at work on this year’s haunted house since Oct. 4, said Reserve Sgt. Kevin Henderson. "We’ve added more props," he said, adding most of the props they made themselves. They’ve also had the attraction inspected to meet all city codes for fire safety and wheelchair accessibility.

When they aren’t building haunted houses, the Reserves are backups for the Barton County Sheriff Office’s full-time deputies. They are given the same training locally that deputies receive at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Academy, and they are sworn law enforcement officers., Henderson said.

Their community service projects include sponsoring the annual Christmas party for the BCSO deputies, helping one or two needy families during the holidays, and funding two scholarships. And there’s the haunted house, Roach said. "We give the kids something to do."