Though most come and go each October, haunted houses are beginning to become a year-round, non-stop business.

The job of scaring folks is becoming big business as haunted houses become more realistic and cutting edge. And Adams County - home to an abundance of industrial-zoned areas needed to set up the attractions - is perenially one of the metro area's hot spots for haunted houses.

"We love what we're doing," said Dale Ervin, president of Primitive Fear Inc. "We love to scare people."

Ervin has been running haunted houses out of a warehouse in Commerce City for the past 13 years. The operation started modestly, employing about 15 actors, most of whom were plucked from nearby Adams City High School.

Now, Ervin and his staff employ a staff of around 100 people, including acting coaches, off-duty police officers and set designers. While local students still play the parts of spooksters, Ervin is beginning to hire semi-professional actors who have appeared in short films and commercials.

"It's gotten bigger than we ever thought it would," Ervin said. "We're not just a haunted house anymore. We're a haunted production."

Lou LaFond, who designs the special effects for Primitive Fear and The 13th Street Manor, began redesigning the set for one of the haunted houses this summer. The facelift, which took six months to complete, was necessary to compete with the 30 other haunted houses in the area this season.

"You have to keep growing in order to stay alive," LaFond said. "If you don't, people get used it and say 'I've already been to this attraction.'"

Once October ends and the last of the crowds make their way through the attractions, crews immediately get to work on future productions, said Warren Conard, co-owner of The Asylum Haunted House in Northglenn.

"Right now, we're already drawing up next year's floor plan," Conard said. "This is a year-round thing."

Though the work can be grueling - 80-hour workweeks are not uncommon in October - the end result is satisfying, LaFond said.

He added: "It's a fun atmosphere to work in."

Joey Kirchmer: 303-954-2650 or kirchmerj@yourhub.com