Hawaii Kai family’s tradition haunts friends, neighbors every Halloween

Alan Hong has been scaring children for years. On Halloween he lurks in the shadows of his Hawaii Kai home, hides in planters and remains as still as a ninja until he’s ready to pounce.

"Sometimes he hides in the house when I come home from work," said his wife, Karen Hong, a 61-year-old insurance agent with Finance Insurance. She said she’s gotten him back with her own scare tactics and is no slouch when it comes to celebrating their favorite holiday.

"We are a family of practical jokers," said Alan Hong, 68. "When the family gets together, we are laughing and giggling nonstop."

To provide a setting for their Halloween antics, the Hongs have created haunted houses at their Hanamaulu Street home for more than 15 years, each one with a different theme. Although it’s hard to pick a favorite, Karen Hong said their "Sharknado" haunted house, complete with the flying sharks, was the most fun to create, and a clown-themed set was the scariest. (One particularly graphic scene from a Halloween past showed lifelike human heads roasting on a rotisserie grill, with Alan Hong in costume as the grill master.)

"I spend about half the year trying to come up with a new theme," she said.

Last year they ratcheted up the spectacle with a synchronized light show and a "Thriller" flash mob arranged by their daughter Alana Hong Eagle, 30, of Moiliili, and her friends. Karen Hong said she watched YouTube videos and did other research to learn how to engineer the light show, picking up soldering, wiring and computer programming skills along the way.

"Some of the kids were terrified of the haunted house, so I started the light show," she said.

Her husband, who retired in 2011 from the city Department of Parks and Recreation, where he was manager of Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, said he is a mere minion in her Halloween schemes.

"She just tells me what to do," he said.

Speaking of Minions, this year’s haunted house theme is based on the yellow, bullet-shaped, animated-film characters. The Hongs have set up a giant inflatable pirate Minion in the front yard and bought Minion costumes. Even the couple’s two dogs will be in costume. Their other daughter, Liana Hong, 23, will return from Portland, Ore., to help with the Halloween festivities.

This year’s light show, featuring more than 3,000 lights, will be synchronized to lively music, including the Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson hit "Uptown Funk," as sung by Minions; "Happy," by Pharrell Williams; Michael Jackson’s "Thriller"; and "Fireball," by Pitbull.

"She gets more technical and elaborate each year," said Alan Hong. "The neighborhood kids look forward to bringing their friends. It’s gratifying to see the kids enjoying it so much. We have so much fun doing it."

The Hongs reuse a lot of the materials, masks and props from their haunted houses from year to year, adapting them to fit each theme. The props include battery-operated cockroaches, and Karen Hong makes sure to stop at Halloween stores whenever she travels to the mainland.

She said she is a "crafty" person who likes to sew, employing her talents to create props and characters, including oversized, animatronic bugs a few years ago.

Regardless of the theme, Alan Hong will be lurking in the shadows on Halloween night.

"The neighborhood kids are always looking for me. Some people come up to me and say that I scared them when they were teenagers and now they are bringing their own kids," he said.

"I like scaring the children. It’s like, ‘find Uncle Alan.’"

Last year the Hongs handed out cotton candy, planning for 500 trick-or-treaters. They ended up having to make 100 extra cones out of printer paper to accommodate the crowd. They said they are preparing for more visitors this year.

Enjoy the Hong family’s Halloween display at 321 Hanamaulu St. in Hawaii Kai, Saturday night only.