The testers of the U.S. Army Operational Test Command are hanging up their science and technology expertise for one evening only so they can celebrate Halloween with a haunted house full of vampires, witches, dead pirates, ghouls and even a mad tester.

The OTC Family Readiness Group’s “Creepy Haunted House,” located in Trailer 12 at the crossroads of Station Avenue and Warehouse on West Fort Hood, is open to everyone, including the faint of heart, 6-8:30 p.m. Friday.

Halloween-themed refreshments, children’s crafts and a children’s costume contest will be available 6-9 p.m. in the Heritage Room, just a stone’s throw away from Trailer 12, said G3 administrative assistant and lead volunteer Carla Anthony.

“Our haunted house will have an autopsy room and morgue, dead pirate’s cove, Dracula’s tomb, potions cellar with a bubbling cauldron, dead tester’s cubicle, spider witch and cave, and a very creepy graveyard,” she said. “Not only are Soldiers and Department of the Army civilians volunteering to set this up, but Family members also have been out here working since last weekend.”

Anthony said her Family has gone all out to support the haunted house, with her husband and daughter Kristina portraying an evil doctor and his equally evil lab assistant. Her other daughter, Jasmyne, is going to be Mrs. Frankenstein.

“We’re hoping for an appropriately macabre setting with glass beakers that distort images and growing body parts that glow in the dark,” she said.

For Capt. Penny Cromwell, Mission Command Test Directorate test officer, helping kick off the first-ever haunted house at OTC was a no-brainer for her, given her fine arts background.

OTC’s protocol officer, Sonya James-Stewart, brought her son, Kehoness, to help build the dead pirate’s cove.

“He had a ball,” she said. “He honestly thought he was going to be doing all the cleanup, and when he found out he was actually going to build the pirate’s set, he had a blast.

“I just pitched in wherever I was needed,” James-Stewart said. “The best part to me was spending time with my son.”

The idea for a haunted house was a result of OTC leadership looking for ways to build its Family program, according to Aloha Valverde, Family programs assistant.

“We are trying to incorporate different events this year,” she said. “We started with the Back-to-School Bash and organization day at the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area. We decided to offer a haunted house so we could target all audiences, and it’s different than what we’ve done in the past, which was a trunk or treat.”

Those who are interested in volunteering or attending OTC’s haunted house can get additional information by calling Delossantos, 288-9050, or Valverde, 288-9645.