Halloween in Kailua has a new tradition, and it smells faintly of tempera paint and dry ice. Hauntopia, the guided family Halloween tour staged by Da Dream Lab, returns for its third year in 2026, running October 23 through 25 and again October 28 through 31. It is not a haunted house. It is something stranger and more specific to this island town: a haunted art-and-science class.
Da Dream Lab sits at 905 Kalanianaʻole Highway, Suite 3304, in Kailua. Inside, the space normally runs classes, camps, and workshops under two banners, KidzArt Hawaii and Club Scientific, teaching art and science to kids. For a week and a half each October, the classrooms become themed rooms, and families walk through them in small groups.
The event's origin story is a local one. Da Dream Lab is owned by Asia Marie Di Antonio, a Kailua native and Kailua High School graduate from the class of 2012 who says she wanted to be an art teacher from the time she was young. She studied drawing, painting, sculpture, and printmaking in college, showed work in local art shows, ran a nonprofit dedicated to art education, and now serves on the board of the Kailua Chamber of Commerce. She runs the business with her husband, Daniel Stock. When Hauntopia launched in 2024, KHON2's WakeUp2Day sent Chris Latronic to Kailua for a live sneak peek, and Di Antonio described the concept plainly: "We've designed each room to be highly interactive, so families can explore the spooky magic of Halloween together. This isn't just a walk-through event—it's an immersive experience where everyone gets involved."
That first year set the template. Hauntopia 2024 ran six days, October 24 through 30, with time slots beginning at 5 p.m. and the last at 8 p.m. Tickets were $15 per person, with walk-ins at the door for $20. The tour was built in partnership with Kailua Dance Academy and Kailua Music School, and trick-or-treating stops were set up in every classroom between the two neighboring businesses. Hawaiʻi Public Radio's community calendar carried the listing, describing a guided walking tour through themed rooms where each stop revealed a new theme, with art and science activities and parents invited to participate in every room.
What has stayed constant is the scare calibration. Da Dream Lab rates Hauntopia at two ghosts out of ten. The organizers are explicit that it is not meant to be frightening, and they have built the whole experience around that promise: dim spaces and spooky decorations, yes, but nothing that jumps out at a four-year-old. The 2026 edition is designed especially for keiki ages three through twelve, and costumes are encouraged.
The format has grown. What began as a 90-minute walk-through is now billed as a 60-to-90-minute guided adventure, depending on group size and how long families linger in each activity room. Along the route, guests trick-or-treat, solve puzzles, run spooky science experiments, make Halloween-themed art, play games, take photos, and collect take-home creations and giveaways. Music and movement are woven in through the Kailua Music School and Kailua Dance Academy partnership, and other local businesses appear as activity partners along the way. For families who came in 2024 or 2025, the organizers promise brand-new themes, activities, and surprises for 2026 rather than a repeat of last year's rooms.
Practical details matter for anyone planning around a school night. Every adult entering the tour needs a ticket, and to keep groups kid-focused, Da Dream Lab limits bookings to three adult tickets per child, with extras sometimes available at the door or by emailing the studio. Teens are welcome but buy adult tickets. Children two and under are free, though most activities are geared toward preschool and elementary ages. The event is described as mostly wheelchair accessible, with families encouraged to email ahead for special arrangements, and strollers are best left outside, since hallways and activity rooms get crowded. Tickets are sold through Eventbrite, and the studio asks that adults attend only with children.
There is a small irony worth noting in the listings. The event circulates online under a Kaneʻohe location tag on some community calendars, and the studio's own page lists a Uluniu Street address in one spot, but the tour itself happens at the Kalanianaʻole Highway suite in Kailua where Da Dream Lab has always operated. Families should confirm the address on their ticket before driving.
For a town with plenty of pumpkin patches and mall trick-or-treating, Hauntopia's appeal is that it is handmade by people who teach art and science for a living. The rooms are built by the same staff who run the classes, the partners are neighboring small businesses, and the whole thing is scaled to the attention span and nerve of a second grader. Two ghosts out of ten, thirty-one days before Halloween proper, in a warehouse in Kailua.