The residential streets of Sammamish are the quintessential, idyllic American suburb — children playing in driveways, picture-perfect houses and mountainous scenery in the background.

But deep in the woods of Beaver Lake Park lurk a hidden crew of monsters — vampires, demons, blood-covered, walking corpses, murderous butchers wielding knives and the ghosts of those who perished in an insane asylum.

It can only mean one thing — Nightmare at Beaver Lake has returned for the 14th year in a row.

Beginning Friday the 13th through Halloween night, visitors brave enough to enter the haunted forest can follow the one-mile-long trail through Beaver Lake Park, entering 32 theatrical sets along the way and avoiding the ghosts, ghouls and headless horsemen (on real horses) that come upon them.

Nightmare at Beaver Lake is renowned throughout Puget Sound not only for its spook-tacular ability to scare visitors young and old, but also for its community spirit. The annual tradition, organized by the Sammamish Rotary and nonprofit Scare Productions Inc., is entirely put on by volunteers.

Rotary Volunteer Coordinator Cary Young said that between the actors, makeup artists, set designers and builders, about 500 people volunteer to make Nightmare at Beaver Lake happen. Many of the actors, she said, are students at Sammamish and Issaquah schools, and participate with their whole families in Nightmare at Beaver Lake every October.

“They grow up with it,” she said.

Rotary President Kristina Williams likened the group of actors, comprised of all ages, to one big family.

“The actors keep coming back because it’s an opportunity to learn something new every year,” she said. “The haunts are new and they become part of the family.”

Scare Productions reaches out to at-risk youth and offers them a niche by giving them the vocational training to learn stage makeup. Young said that many of the kids have gone on to do makeup in major Hollywood productions.

“It’s a population of kids who maybe don’t fit in,” she said. “This is home for a lot of the kids.”

The 32 elaborate walk-throughs this year include an insane asylum, Dracula’s castle, a bloody morgue, a creepy junkyard and even a “Stranger Things” haunted house, to name a few. All were entirely designed and built by Rotary and Scare Productions volunteers.

New sets are built every year, with meetings to plan the Nightmare designs beginning eight months ahead of time in February. Often times, volunteers will plan sets based on pop culture horror scenes; last year’s Nightmare included a set based on the Bates Motel from Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller ”Psycho.”

This year, Young designed a set based on the “Hall of Faces,” the room of faces of the dead visited by Arya Stark in HBO series “Game of Thrones.” The medieval-looking set, complete with a skeleton hanging from the ceiling, took Young about two weeks to make. She and the other volunteers held a “wine and faces” party (based off of the popular wine and wine glass-painting parties) to create the gory images.

“It’s a collective thing,” she said. “Everybody helps.”

The community effort raises about $220,000 annually for the Sammamish Rotary, enabling it to help local charities, such as the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank, as well as important causes around the world. Young said that the Rotary is “instrumental in the war on Polio,” which has not yet been eradicated in parts of Africa and the Middle East.

As time has gone on and Nightmare has gotten more popular with Seattle-area haunted house enthusiasts, more volunteer organizations have joined on, such as Rotary and Kiwanis groups from other cities throughout the region.

And of course, Young said, the event wouldn’t be what it is without the help of the city of Sammamish, which donates the land for the walk, as well as help with the production.

“We couldn’t do this without them,” Young said. “They’re really the third partner.”

Williams believes that the community bond at the heart of the event is what makes Nightmare such a success, and keeps the multitude of volunteers coming back year after year.

“Volunteers come back because they have fun, they see the value that it provides the kids and the community,” Williams said. “It’s a community event, not just a Sammamish event.”

If you dare to venture down the trail of terrors, Nightmare at Beaver Lake runs from 7 p.m. through 10 p.m. every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday evening for the next three weekends, as well as Halloween, Tuesday, Oct. 31. The Family Scare ($12) runs from 7 p.m. through 7:45 p.m. for younger Halloween enthusiasts, while the full scare ($20) kicks off at 7:45 p.m.

A ghostly girl tries to escape the insane asylum in which she is trapped. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

Ichabod Crane rides his skeletal horse (played by a real horse) through the woods of Beaver Lake. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

High-quality stage makeup applied by experienced artists create a disturbingly authentic look that can frighten even the bravest attendee. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

This little vampire may look like the picture of sweetness, but she made an Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter journalist scream at the Nightmare’s press night. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

Great attention to detail is paid to the sets of Nightmare at Beaver Lake, all designed and created by members of the Rotary and Scare Productions, Inc., so that they will look as real as possible to brave passers-by. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

The ghost of a girl who went mad in an asylum shocks visitors as they come around a dark bend. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

A “Game of Thrones” inspired set, created by Rotary Volunteer Coordinator Cary Young. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

Don’t fear the Reaper — he guides attendees along the dark path. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

Many of the ghosts and ghouls come from popular horror movies and TV shows, such as these twins from “The Shining.” Nicole Jennings/staff photo

The incredibly real-looking makeup is all done by volunteers. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

The cast of “Nightmare at Beaver Lake,” many of whom come back year after year, is a family, Cary Young stated. Nicole Jennings/staff photo

Surrounded by Sammamish Rotary and Scare Productions, Inc. volunteers, Sammamish Mayor Bob Keller, center, cuts the ribbon and opens Nightmare at Beaver Lake 2017. Nicole Jennings/staff photo