Annie Delatte gets paid to lie on a table and be mutilated by a slash murderer. The English sophomore is an actress at the 13th Gate, a haunted house in Baton Rouge which Hauntworld Magazine recently named the No. 1 haunted attraction in the country for the second year in a row. The attraction had its annual opening this weekend.Dwayne Sanburn, 13th Gate owner, said his dedication to horror and top-notch employees are what make it the nation’s spookiest Halloween haunt.”A lot of [the crew] have extensive movie industry work,” Sanburn said. “It makes [the 13th Gate] look more like a movie set than a haunted house. It doesn’t fit the traditional mold of a haunted house because we’ve gone beyond that.”Each room at the attraction can cost up to $100,000, Sanburn said. The funds are used to the full extent by set designers who compete with themselves each year to make sets more elaborate.Blain Quam, 13th Gate makeup and scenic artist, said sets he builds are unique because they are full, interactive environments.”Our cemetery is not like other haunted houses with cardboard or foam,” Quam said. “This is an actual above-ground cemetery, and you can walk between the crypts.”With the national acclaim it receives, the 13th Gate pulls visitors to Baton Rouge from all around the country. Many guests drive from surrounding states, Sanburn said, and the longest trip was a group who flew in from Indiana.Though the economy may be enough fright for some people this Halloween,    Sanburn said he doesn’t expect to see a significant decrease in profits.”The last thing that always goes is entertainment,” Sanburn said. “People need a release from the everyday stresses of the world.”Quam said that release is evident from the moment guests emerge from the 45-minute walkthrough.”Probably 99 percent of people come out laughing,” Quam said. “They are terrified, but they release a lot of inner aggression, frustration or fatigue.”Jaclyn Rawls, graphic design sophomore, said she may scale down on visits to the 13th Gate.”When I was younger, we went to the 13th Gate every weekend,” Rawls said. “Now, I may only see it once. You can cut back without eliminating the experience for a year.”Many actors at the attraction are University students. University alumnus Drew Cothern began working at the 13th Gate when he turned 18, and is now “Frankie Peacock,” the janitor who spooks guests as they wait in the lobby for their turn to be scared.”Scaring a grown man and making him hit the floor is really fun,” Cothern said.Cothern said he enjoys the work because it gives him a chance to improvise and try new things as an actor.Actors are paid by the night, Cothern said. The wage depends on how long an actor has worked with the 13th Gate and the physical demands of their role. Delatte, a second -year employee, makes about $50 a night.”You get to say all these ridiculous things and scream at the top of your lungs, and you don’t get to do that anywhere else,” she said. “It’s therapeutic.”—-Contact Ryan Buxton at [email protected]