Posted on: Sunday, September 16, 2001

Haunted house seeks some Halloween magic

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

Michael Ching is looking for a few good monsters. Apparently, though, they are in short supply as Halloween approaches.

Ching, a professional magician, needs the monsters to fill a haunted house he wants to build for charity.

Seasonal haunted houses have mushroomed around O'ahu in recent years, delightfully scaring youngsters of all ages and, in the process, raising a lot of money for the various charities that sponsor them. Ching has worked as a designer for some of the best haunted houses in the past, including a 1993 version at the Honolulu police headquarters and a 1996 one sponsored by the Honolulu Jaycees.

This year, he wanted to go out on his own. He spent months designing props, assembling his scary ideas and figuring out truly magical ways to put them into action. In a way, it's what he does for a living, so he knows he can do it very well.

"I want to do it really right this time," Ching said. "I don't just plan on having people jump out of dark places and shouting 'Boo!' " he said. "I'd like people to be truly amazed. When they see one of my ghosts, I want them to see right through it. I can make people disappear and then reappear. I want people to walk out truly amazed. I want them to say 'Wow!' "

So with visions of ghosts and goblins dancing in his head, Ching started pitching local charities around town. With enough frights and the right publicity, Ching figured he could make a small profit for himself and still earn $20,000 or more for a charitable organization.

Then he found out something really scary: There might not be enough ghouls, ghosts and kindred spirits to go around.

"In all, it takes about 22 people to run a good haunted house for a month," Ching said. "Some of them are ghosts and spirits, some of them operate the props, others take tickets and some are just backup helpers." And they need to commit to the project for at least three or four weeks, he said.

When Ching started approaching small charities around town with his fund-raising plan, many were frightened away by the work involved; they usually are run by small, overworked staffs with little experience in this type of project. They'd like to help, they said, but didn't think they had what it takes for an undertaking of this kind.

Some Boy Scouts recently volunteered to help, and after this week's terrorist attacks Ching said he'd like to donate his proceeds to the victims through the American Red Cross, but he still needs a sponsor.

With the start of the haunted house season just around the corner, Ching doesn't know if there's time to salvage his plan. If he doesn't find a crew — and a charity — willing to step forward in the next few days, all his work this year will be for naught.

Call Mike Ching at 836-1800.