BERLIN — The air by the Androscoggin River was warm enough Saturday afternoon for several of the HorrorFest dancers from the Emmanuel School of Dance to take to the karaoke stage with bare arms and shoulders.

The young women's bright smiles as they sang “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” were only slightly marred by the fake blood dripping out of the corners of their mouths. They still looked pretty lively, considering they were obviously “living” among the undead, when they took center stage again, in the haunted village at Northern Forest Heritage Park at the 9th annual RiverFire/HorrorFest.

The afternoon and evening activities by the shores of, and in, the Androscoggin River have become one of the area's premier events, having grown from a simple lighting of bonfires on the boom piers that run down the middle of the river, to an event for children of all ages.

On Saturday, with the mercury hitting a balmy 70 degrees, it was T-shirt weather for the youngest set, who enjoyed the bouncy houses, bounce racetracks and bouncy slides, along with face painting, hayrides, a petting zoo, pony rides, and the ever-popular Bobo T. Clown.

Later, the youngsters traded in their T-shirts for costumes for the traditional Halloween parade, which took place before the sun set, from Brown School on upper Main Street to the park.

After sunset, when the kids were all safely home, the gates of HorrorFest opened. Presented by Theatre North, with almost 100 volunteers both in front of and behind the scenes, the event at the recreation logging camp is meant, organizer Laura Jamison said, “to scare people.”

“We've never done kid-friendly,” she said, noting that this year visitors were restricted to those 13 and older unless with an adult, in order not to have to escort overly-frightened young ones from the show. The sets themselves, in the warren of buildings that is the camp, were put together by the participants, many of them teenagers, and adult volunteers.

“The whole point is, this is a theater that relates to young people,” Jamison said, adding that the participants create their own horror skits, and that Theatre North provides some of the props, make-up, and costumes.

Providing the funds for the hungry crew — the undead apparently have a taste for more than living flesh — was Berlin BetterBuildings. Before the show went on, a ghoulish-looking Lisa Kendall cut cake squares from behind the counter at the cookhouse.

“I got drafted to help,” she explained, sounding cheerful. With the help of white face-paint and black pencil lines marking cheekbones and frown lines, she did not looking particularly friendly, though she did invite a visitor to enjoy some goodies.

It's a community effort to organize and make a success of RiverFire, and months of planning paid off Saturday. This year, the rain held off until about 7:40 p.m., and then it was only a shower.

This year, hundreds viewed lighted jack o'lanterns on the walking bridge, and just as many watched as the fires flickered in the darkness, the reflection of the flames dancing on the smooth river.

RiverFire is presented by the Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Berlin Main Street Program, Northern Heritage Forest Park, with help and sponsorship by many others, including the City of Berlin.

syoungknox@newstote.com