Business Monday: Hilo car dealership taps into Halloween holiday to host spooky event

Over the weekend, employees at Island Wide Motors started transforming the pre-owned vehicle lot into a hotspot for all things creepy and fun, with trick-or-treating, games, a funhouse for the keiki and a haunted house for the “brave souls.”

It is the car dealership’s first Halloween event and haunted house for the spooky holiday.

“We’re going all out,” said Porsha Deguair, who took over ownership of the business in July. “I like to be scared. It gives you adrenaline.”

Staff will relocate 70 to 80 vehicles to their lot on Kīlauea Avenue to create the haunted site at the dealership’s Kamehameha Avenue location.

Deguair said the company has spent $20,000 to put the event on, hiring makeup artists and buying costumes and tents to ensure the Hilo rain doesn’t spoil the fun. All money made that night will go toward covering the cost of putting on the event.

There also will be food vendors, live music and tarot readings.

The Island Wide Motors team got inspiration for their haunted house during a team-building trip to Las Vegas, where they stopped at six different creepy attractions.

Raven Decambra, office administrator for Island Wide Motors, was among the eight employees who traveled to Vegas. She said she’s a fan of the horror genre and enjoyed her tour through the mainland haunted houses.

The two that stuck out to her were attractions that mirrored movies like “The Exorcist,” a 1973 horror film that follows the story of a young girl possessed and her mother’s efforts to save her, and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

“They had a chainsaw guy that chased us out of the haunted house,” Decambra said.

In another house, Decambra said the group was following a path to get out, but hit a wall. While trapped, the actors performed an exorcism.

Decambra will be playing a witch the night of the dealership’s event, while offering tarot readings.

“Hilo is a small town and we don’t have a lot of big events,” Decambra said. “We’re not here just to sell cars, but we’re here for community and to establish our roots.”

Cost to enter the haunted house is $10 and will be open on Oct. 31 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the dealership’s lot on 1672 Kamehameha Ave. Not wanting to reveal what spectators might encounter in the haunted house, Decambra said: “If you like Red Riding Hood, you’re in for a scary twist.”

Island Motors will not be alone in offering a haunted attraction. GiGi Napoleon, founder of the GiGi Foundation, also will have a haunted house that will be set up at the Butler Building, 201 Manono St., on Oct. 24-26 from 6 to 10 p.m.

Cost is $23.18 per person. Click here to buy a ticket.

Napoleon has been partnering with Hawai‘i County for the past three years to put on a haunted house at the Palace Theater. This is the fourth year he is organizing the Halloween event, this time as a nonprofit and moved to the Butler Building.

Napoleon enlists the help of student athletes as the money raised from the haunted attraction goes toward travel costs for the kids competing in different events off island or out of state.

“I’m the biggest scaredy cat,” Napoleon said. “I’m the person collecting tickets at the door.”

Napoleon admitted, however, he likes watching those going through the haunted house getting scared.

Napoleon didn’t want to give anything away, but said there will be a lot of clowns coming to Hilo.