MOLAR MANOR SCARES UP BUSINESS IN NEW SPOT.

Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY -- Cheerleaders waving carwash signs weren't sure what they were seeing Saturday when a truck carrying a giant ghoul turned the corner on Camp Plenty Road.

``They totally stopped what they were doing,'' said Denise Larson Kivett, standing near the reclining monster in its new home at the Canyon Center shopping center. ``It took us 25 trips to bring everything over and by the time we were done, we got a lot of attention.''

After losing their lease on a Valencia industrial center space, Kivett and her partner in slime, Ralph Esacoff, had to scramble and find a new location for Molar Manor, their enormous collection of eerie creatures and special-effects equipment.

With deadline looming dangerously close, the pair found Jason Turchin, who rented the space formerly used by Factory 2U and Howard and Phil's Western Wear to expand his family's party store. The nearly 17,000-square-foot space, on Soledad Canyon Road, was perfect for scaring up business.

``Everybody loves Halloween,'' he said. ``And I was thinking of putting a maze into the store, anyway.''

After their rushed move, Kivett and Esacoff were busy building walls and painting them black to separate the maze-in-progress from the store.

``We can't have light leak in, so our walls have to go all the way to the ceiling,'' she said, pointing to exposed duct work. ``As soon as we can isolate our area, we can start putting things together again.''

The storefront is somewhat organized with costumes and Halloween decorations in the front, but toward the store's former dressing rooms, visitors step over massive pieces of Styrofoam trees, body parts and leering creatures awaiting installation.

A bright pink kitchenette, spattered with blood from a cleaver-wielding pig in the corner is in pieces; the old church, once the conclusion of the haunted maze in its old location, is being positioned as an entry portal to another world.

``We had to take off the storefront to get the elevator (part of the church effect) in. It took us 3 1/2 hours with 12 guys working on it,'' Esacoff said.

``We've got double the space, so we'll be able to expand,'' Kivett said. Designer Jim Thompson, who works in the film and TV industry as a set designer and decorator, is the mastermind behind the reconstruction.

Monday afternoon, he walked through the rubble with a thoughtful face, making mental notes as he traveled.

``They've ordered a vortex tunnel, so once I have those dimensions, I'll be able to design around that,'' he said. ``Molar Manor was my first. I've been scaring people all my life and I have to look after my baby. When you don't have a real child, you have to look after your Styrofoam ones.''

Turchin's Halloween store is scheduled to open Sept. 1, the bangs and crashes and occasional groan coming from the construction area adding to the ghoulish atmosphere. Kivett plans on having Molar Manor open by Sept. 30, keeping a fundraising promise to community charities including the autism/Asperger's charity Community and Law Enforcement Aware Response program and the Foundation for Children's Dental Health.

``We get no funding from any major benefactor,'' said CLEAR founder Emily Iland. ``This is our only fundraiser; over the last two years, we've been able to raise $9,000 for our programs.''

Kivett's future plans include holding group functions year-round in the maze, which she will ``decorate'' for various holidays.

For information on Molar Manor, visit the Web site at www.molarmanor.com or call [phone].

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Denise Larson Kivett and Lindsay Norris help re-create Molar Manor in Canyon Country.

David Crane/Staff Photographer