TULALIP — While Daniel Emch and Maria Lopez had Joker-style scars painted on the sides of their mouths, Cassie Gibson had her face painted to resemble a sinister doll.

“We’ll have a few theme rooms this year,” said Addison Maldonado, one of their classmates at the Arts & Technology High School, as the students prepared for their fifth annual haunted house later this month. “One room will have creepy clowns and dolls, while another will be a car crash scene. We’ll also have a zombie classroom, a graveyard and more.”

Those on the lookout for a sufficiently frightful haunted house can also help contribute some seasonal support to the hungry by swinging by Arts & Tech from 7-10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 25. Admission is $6 per person, or $5 with a donation of canned food, but either way, all proceeds will be donated to the Marysville Community Food Bank.

“The haunted house rooms will take up half the school,” said Maldonado, who worked on last year’s haunted house, and is spearheading its organization and promotion for her senior project this year. “We’ve gotten practically the whole school involved. Students were asking about it during the first week of school, and we started planning it out the third week.”

Maldonado estimated that around 70 volunteers will contribute to putting together the haunted house this year, with more than 30 donning costumes to serve as actors, while the remainder provide technical support, audiovisual equipment, and assistance with costumes and makeup. Because of “the scare-level,” she said it’s only for ages 13 and older.

“There’s a real sense of community when we do this, and I’ve learned to trust my classmates,” Maldonado said. “It gets bigger and better every year. We’re really working to get the designs and sounds right for each room. And since people need food even more over the holidays, the collection is perfectly timed to tie into the all-city food drive in November.”

The Arts & Technology High School is located at 6332 31st Ave. NE in Tulalip.