The former Robert Levis auto dealership, off Old Spanish Trail in Slidell, is spooky enough. Shuttered since Hurricane Katrina, the vacant showrooms sit gathering dust, as weeds choke the empty parking lot.

Slap a haunted house down on the property, and we’re talking some serious fright time.

The 20,000-square-foot facility is now home to the Asylum, which takes visitors on a gruesome trip through a nightmarish mental hospital, among other scenarios. Created by Slidell resident Shawn Williams, the attraction grew out of a haunted house he first staged in his Breckenridge driveway two years ago.

A ghoul and battered décor grace the entrance to the Asylum. (Staff Photo by Anne Lautzenheiser)

“It was just something to do for the neighborhood kids, and it just got bigger and bigger every year, with more neighbors involved,” said Williams. “Last year we probably got about 1,500 people, so this year I decided to move it outside the neighborhood.”

Williams has always loved Halloween, from the time he was a boy and his parents would stage elaborate events in his New Orleans East neighborhood. He moved to Slidell after his brother, Ronnie, a former New Orleans police officer, was killed by his partner, Antoinette Frank, in a notorious robbery and triple murder in 1995.

The process has been an expensive one. Williams and his partners had no trouble getting an occupancy permit, but could not proceed because there was not an adequate sprinkler system in the aged building. Other obstacles included acquiring a special flame-retardant sheeting to separate the various sections of the complex.

“Man, we went broke,” said Williams. “It finally just came together that first weekend.”

The Asylum opened Sept. 25, and Williams guessed it drew in about 300 people. The crowd has grown steadily, drawn largely by what volunteer Chris Dyer calls simply “a good, scary, haunted house.”

“There’s no satanic images, anything like that,” said Dyer. “It’s just blood and gore.”

Over 100 volunteers help staff the place, including theater students from LSU and Tulane.

A professional makeup artist, recently arrived from Illinois, helps transform the otherwise normal looking helpers into various creatures and madmen. Williams has also received some tips from the owners of New Orleans’ House of Shock, who have given him backstage tours and advice on how to achieve certain affects.

Although reluctant to reveal too many secrets, the crew did allow that it makes use of leftover equipment, from the days when the facility was a working garage.

Patrons enter the Asylum in small batches, and a highly visible security team keeps things from getting out of hand.

“We follow along with a flashlight, so if someone gets really freaked out or confused we can help them,” said Mike Alquist, also a volunteer. “We won’t turn the kids loose by themselves.”

Admission is $15, but a $3 discount coupon is available online at www.asylumhauntedhouse.net. Anyone presenting a canned or nonperishable food item, to be donated to a local food bank, will also receive a $3 discount. Only one discount is available per person, and cannot be combined with the coupon offer.

With lines sometimes lasting two hours, visitors may want to purchase a FastPass, which will bump them to the head of the line with no waiting. In addition, reentry in the same evening is $5. Tickets may be purchased on the Web site or at Daiquiris Now, 1761 Gause Blvd. E., or Daylight Donuts, 2170 Gause Blvd. W.

The Asylum is located at 400 Garrett St. at Interstate 10 and Old Spanish Trail. Hours are from 7 p.m. to midnight Oct. 16, 17, 22-24 and 28-31.