The Beach Waterpark has been transformed into a pool of ghosts and psychos with chainsaws.
This year the haunted house is an asylum where crazy, dead actors haunt the visitors. In fact, the people who play the characters are actors at local middle and high schools.
The Prodigy Arts Coalition created Actors Asylum II as a charity event and a way to inform the community about the organization. William Stafford, a teacher at Bosque Private School, is the president of the Prodigy Arts Coalition.
"We're a nonprofit arts group dedicated to the education of the arts in our community," Stafford said. "We want to nurture a lifelong appreciation of the arts with students of all ages."
Stafford and vice-president Colby Landers come from a theater background. They went to local schools to recruit volunteer actors for the festival.
Theater is not the only art form at the Asylum. Patrons can jam to the beat of local musicians and admire the array of spray-painted, Halloween-themed murals as they wait in line. If they dare to enter, they'll find scary actors in make-up and costumes waiting for them around every corner.
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The event not only benefits the arts but is also a fund-raiser for Project Share and United Blood Services.
Project Share has served over 50,000 people in need each year since 1983. They provide hot meals, job counseling, clothing and holiday programs for children on a limited budget.
United Blood Services provides blood, blood components and special services to more than 500 hospitals across the country.
Elizabeth Waltman, executive director of the United Blood Services of New Mexico, came to the Actors Asylum Gala dressed as a vampire and explained the importance of sucking New Mexicans' blood.
"We've been trying for years to bring awareness for the need for blood, especially around the holiday times," Waltman said. "Over 280 units of blood are needed a day, just in New Mexico. That means 280 people a day."
In addition to helping raise money for the two charities, the Prodigy Arts Coalition plans to eventually build an arts park to make up for the lack of the arts in public schools, Stafford said.
"You hear about budget cuts in the schools, and art is the first to go," Waltman said. "Prodigy Arts will bring that need back - that need for art."
COMING ATTRACTION
The Actors Asylum II
Beach Waterpark
Thursday through Sunday through Oct. 31. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
$8 for adults and $6 for students, with a $2 discount on Thursdays with a can of food
