It is a monster bash

NEWPORT BEACH — Al Hensling likes monsters.

He speaks fondly of the jumping Dracula and the barfing guy that appears to vomit toxic waste, but the one he’s most proud of is Sparky, the zombie-headed figure in an orange prison jumpsuit.

Sparky is strapped into an electric chair, and he jolts and shakes as the chair goes through a mock-electrocution cycle. Smoke wafts from his wrists and ankles where they’re bound.

While he may stand out as the most elaborate in Hensling’s collection, Sparky is far from alone. He’s one of 27 characters that will startle and frighten visitors to the monster maze Hensling and friends are creating this weekend.

It’s the sixth year they’ve turned the clubhouse in Harbor View into a haunted house. They started building the maze Friday and expected to wrap it up Sunday, in time to open the maze to the public Monday and Tuesday night.

“It actually started as a garage haunt,” Hensling said. “We lived in the neighborhood and our four children are into Halloween…. And then it just kind of evolved.”

Other families in the neighborhood wanted to help out, and the event grew. Last year about 30 volunteers worked to put the haunted house together.

Hensling builds the monsters himself. His wife, Debbi, said he got inspired by a visit to Knott’s Scary Farm and started constructing monsters in the garage.

“People would come over for a play date and they’re walking over corpse pieces,” she said.

The Henslings’ youngest daughter — whose friends got scared on play dates — is now 8, just old enough to go through the haunted house without too much panic. She hands out candy, and the other three kids get made up to look scary and escort guests through the maze.

Creating the maze is an elaborate affair. What started at noon Friday as a framework of metal bars in the clubhouse’s common room is getting walls, electrical wiring and a number of scenes with monsters, such as a fanged clown whose head spins around and Barely Alive, who is emerging from a barrel of toxic waste.

Hensling records his own sounds for the maze — thunder and lightning, screams, etc. — and he adds strobe lights and fog for good measure. Computers run the electronics and lights, but live people hide in the maze to jump out and shock visitors.

It takes months to prepare the animatronic monsters, but the final product is worth it. Hensling said about 2,000 people visited the haunted house last year, and he expects at least as many this year because he’ll have it open for an extra night.

The Henslings no longer live in Harbor View, though they’re still in Newport. But the haunted house was so popular, people wanted them back to put it on.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s done with good humor. The Henslings joke about Debbi Hensling’s cooking by calling the barfing guy scene Debbi’s diner.

And monster building gives Al Hensling a change of pace from his work as the owner of a mortgage company.

“It’s a lot different from my day job,” he said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Monster-filled Haunted house

WHEN: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday

WHERE: Harbor View Clubhouse 1, 1854 Port Westbourne Place, Newport Beach

COST: Free, but donations are accepted for charity. This year the money goes to the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Orange County.

INFO: www.ochauntedhouse.com