CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT This classic witch is waiting for anyone who comes along. CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT A happy, chainsaw-wielding gent, at top, stands prepared for another victim inside the Baumgartens' Dungeon. Advertisement

The Baumgartens, a family here in Pahrump, are known for their annual Halloween party.

Chris Baumgarten spends the whole year building everything from coffins to electric chairs, all in preparation of his "home haunt," where a terrifying maze winds through his garages and guests see a variety of eerie, disturbing, even terrifying set-ups.

This year, however, they've taken the next step and all-out converted their home into "The Dungeon" and the whole town is invited to be scared silly.

And you can help the Nye County School District in the process.

The Baumgartens are asking for a $5 donation from those who dare to enter their humbly haunted abode (and if you don't think you have the guts, don't worry--there are plenty on display inside).

All proceeds will be given to the school district to use at its discretion.

Chris Baumgarten said the decision to donate money to the school district was an easy one.

"We actually like this stupid little town," Baumgarten joked.

And he's anxious to help support the community, adding that each year he plans to donate proceeds from the haunted house to a different community organization or group.

"We're looking for people that need a hand," Baumgarten explained, like maybe a family that had an emergency or something and are a few months behind on their property taxes."

He also added that any person or organization interested in helping him find beneficiaries is more than welcome to contact him.

Chris Baumgarten has had visions of bringing the gift of gore to Pahrump for years now but has had difficulty finding a commercial building for his skeletons, ghouls, and maniacal characters (all of which, by the way, move on sensors -- so they know you're coming even if you don't know they're waiting for you).

"We had a building this year, but it fell through at the last minute," Baumgarten said. "So we're doing the best we can with the space we have."

And the Baumgartens' best is better (and cheaper) than most of the commercial haunted houses that spring up in Las Vegas this time of year.

Visitors will enter a dark tunnel, and then take a brief walk through a cemetery in the backyard (with plenty of creepy things skulking about, of course) before actually entering the haunted house.

Inside, Bose speakers will drown out the background noise, and fog will ensure that visitors are surprised on more than one occasion.

But be careful -- there's a dead end if you turn the wrong way, pun intended. Freddie Krueger might try to warn you off, but there's no stopping what's waiting for those who have lost their way.

As Baumgarten put it simply, "Most everything in here does stuff."

Just one example includes a set-up where a rather grueling autopsy is being conducted (one gets the impression the doctor may have forgotten autopsies are usually done on corpses, not living people) during which the removed heart is still beating and an "atomic brain" floats in a jar.

Standing nearby is a disconcertingly enthusiastic mannequin holding a chainsaw.

Baumgarten, who was still setting up at the time of this writing, apologetically said, "There'll be a really bloody corpse over there," as if the limbs hanging from the ceiling above the happily chainsaw-wielding man weren't enough.

But as for what's in store during what Baumgarten is calling "the grand finale," he's not telling.

"It's the nastiest stuff I have," was all the purveyor of fear and gore would tell this reporter.

The Dungeon will be open Friday, Oct. 19, through Sunday, Oct. 21.

The following weekend people can get spooked from Thursday, Oct. 26, through Sunday, Oct. 28.

And of course, the Dungeon will be open Halloween. The fun starts at dark and lasts until 11 p.m.

The Dungeon is located at 3100 Parkridge Ave.

To be fitfully frightened, just make your way down Highway 160 to Homestead Road and go south, then turn on to Dandelion Street and head west to Parkridge.

It's the first house on the right, and you'll know you're there when you see the strobe light.

For more information, you can call the Baumgartens at 775-727-2333.

Since Baumgarten is looking to establish a permanent haunted house in Pahrump, he is asking anyone that might have a building that can be a home for the Baumgartens' rather unusual residents to contact him.

"Even if it's just a crummy building," he said. "Actually, for my purposes, the crummier the better."