Scaring the living daylights out of people while providing for the hungry in a community doesn’t seem like two ideas which naturally go together.

But its a paradoxical formula of terror and compassion which the Dark Hollow Haunted Forest has successfully used for its annual attraction at the Royal Arch Park in Maple Valley.

This year’s attraction, which is set to open Friday, will run every Friday and Saturday until the end of the month. It is a nonprofit event which will benefit the Maple Valley Food Bank, as well as the organizations which help set up the event.

The event is developed and directed by Valour Designs, a haunted attraction and media creative team led by Erik Tavares.

Tavares, who has been frightening people since 1998, stated in a telephone interview that he and his team first got the idea of a haunted attraction in Maple Valley when he moved from Everett. After viewing the park, he thought it made an ideal location for a haunted attraction, and held the first attraction in 2007.

Valour Designs works on developing the annual theme which is used as the blueprint for converting the park’s buildings and forest.

“We’ve expodentially gotten bigger, more details, more sets,” Tavares said. “We’re always learning. It allows you to be creative, to do some fun and to do some good.”

The five person team works on initial designs as well as promotional videos. To help keep the process organized, the blueprints of the attraction are broken up into zones, which is managed by particular groups working in each, such as DeMolay, Eastern Star, Job’s Daughters and Rainbow Girls.

These groups also provide volunteer actors who perform on the sets.

“It’s…a great opportunity for youth, for actors, to get a sense of ownership,” Tavares said. “They gain maturity as they’re having to step up and get things done.”

Every year features a new theme for the attraction. While last year’s theme dealt with things like zombies, this year will focus on Alrich Von Helsbane, a defender against the supernatural. His nemesis is an ominous young girl named Lolly who lurks inside of Blackwell Manor along with a host of other ethereal characters, including maniacal clowns, wild animals, undead children, dead pirates, cannibals and blood-thirsty “hellbillies.”

“(We’ve) kind of gone back to the more classic horror, but we’ve thrown in a variety of different ideas,” Tavares said.

While the park — which is run by the local Masonic lodge — provides costumes for the actors, Tavares brings in professional makeup artists, as well as sound effects for the zones. They also have a training program, “Ghoul School,” to teach the actors how to perform their parts.

“It’s very collaborative,” he said. “They really do a great job. We just keep getting better and better.”

Although some haunted attractions attempt to terrify with grisly scenes of violence, Tavares said, they prefer more atmosphere and ambiance. One way they do this is with the Blue Moonlight Drive-In, an outdoor theater which screens clips from classic horror films for people as they wait to enter the park.

“Our particular haunted attraction is highly scened,” he said. “It’s not nearly as gory as other places. Rather than come into a room and get pummeled with stimuli, we have a style that’s a storyline.”

This might explain why they have they have not received negative feedback about the unworldly aspects of the attraction.

“The only complaint we’ve gotten is that we’re not scary enough because we tend to focus more on families,” he said.

Even then, Tavares explained, they have an alternative hour-long “Family Walk” for children at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Attention to detail and realism are key components to the production, according to Tavares. The character of Alrich Von Helsbane, for example, has been around since 2002 and was previously featured at a Sammamish attraction. To help provide character background, Tavares builds props, such as photographs and journals, to provide a sense of authenticity.

“I tend to really ejoy myself creating details,” he said. “Some sets are really bare…and then there is the case where rooms and areas are full to really create that feeling.”

While a haunted house doesn’t necessarily conjure up notions of charity, Tavares stated most of them involve some sort of community benefit.

“Haunted attractions are almost always connected to the community in some way or form,” he said. “There’s a few full on profits out there and even then they make a connection. It’s very much a way to give back while at the same time scare people to death.”

For the event, visitors are asked to bring canned food, which will be donated to the Maple Valley Food Bank. The donation will also count for three dollars off the price of admission.

And, Tavares added, the point of a haunted attraction is not just to scare people out of their wits. Escapism plays a large part in its appeal which draws people from across the state and even Canada.

“Our approach is more theatrical,” he said. “It’s very much like you’re going through a living play. They (visitors) forget about the blls, they forget about the job…and just have the time of their life.”

Royal Arch Park is located at 20821 Renton Maple Valley Highway. The attraction is open 7-11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. General admission is $15 and $5 for the “Family Walk,” which is recommended for children under the age of 10. Parking is free. For more information go to www.DarkHollowHaunt.com.