Kids and adults are invited for a day of scares at the CV Sheriff’s Station.

By Brandon HENSLEY

Lisa Dutton and her crew may be running on little sleep, but it will hopefully pay off in the form of many scares this weekend at the CV Sheriff’s Station.

Parents and children are invited to the CV Sheriff’s annual Haunted Jail and Halloween Carnival on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. The theme is “Escape from Deadwood and the Demon Outlaw.”

Sponsored by L.A. County Parks and Recreation, the Haunted Jail will be a maze, located at the main parking area from the CV Sheriff’s Station jail. Kids can enjoy a less scary walk-through from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., while adults can delight in the frights from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“With the adults, they’re going to have the usual screaming, blood-gut-gore kind of thing,” Dutton said. “With the children, we’ll have some people there who can walk them through, show them the props, and have it be less scary.”

Dutton, who is a Sheriff’s Station volunteer and a contributor to the Haunted Jail for the past three years, said the adult maze is not as intimidating as Knott’s Scary Farm, but she has seen adults become legitimately frightened, facilitating the need for a kids’ version.

Entrance to the carnival will cost $5 between 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. and $8 afterward. This includes costume contests for children ages 2 to 12. Those contests begin at 3:30 p.m.

Along with Dutton, other contributors to the organization of the event include her husband Paul, daughter and make-up artist Jennifer, and friends Sandra Enslow, Kim Enslow, Dep. Eric Matjeka and Dep. Alex Covian and from the Dept. of Parks and Rec Abel Garnica.

The annual Haunted Jail was shuttered at the station in 2005 due to structural damage to the station’s retaining wall. It was brought back in 2014. In all, 700 people showed up to the three-day event that year.

This year, the event was scaled back to one day. When asked why, Dutton was short on words.

“Trying something new, basically,” she said.

Dutton will be participating in the Haunted Jail as a character, or scare-acter. She said she’s been known to be a background player and scream from the shadows to make people’s hair stand up.

With a reply dryer than the Santa Ana winds, Dutton answered the question of how much she enjoys working the event.

“Enough to do it three years in a row.”

The organizing of the carnival started in January. Team members checked in with each other several times a month as the seasons passed. Finally, it was fall, and this week Dutton and the crew has been hard at work to make everyone’s Halloween dreams come true.

She admitted Halloween is her favorite holiday and that she enjoys this time of year.

“I like the weather. I like seeing the kids dress up. People are in a good mood, having fun and not worried about what’s going on in the real world, but enjoying some fantasy time.”

As far as giving goosebumps to those who dare enter the jail, Dutton said it’s actually a skill to pull that off.

“Yeah, oddly enough,” she said. “Not everyone likes to do that. I can be sweet, like a grandmother, and the next minute screaming and scaring you half to death because you didn’t know I was behind you.”

The CV Sheriff’s Station is located at 4554 Briggs Ave., La Crescenta.

  Brandon Hensley