B.C. man spends weeks inspiring spooky smiles for Halloween

“Some of the smiles I get are bigger than what Santa gives you.” Adam finds out the story behind a man who’s been inspiring spooky smiles for years.

VANCOUVER, B.C. — After happening upon a deceased duo — a pair of plastic skeletons sitting on a bench on a grassy boulevard — the first living person to walk past is Wee Wong.

“Oh!” Wee laughs. “Just random guys!”

Wee says skeletons start congregating around his house the day after Labour Day.

“This is nothing compared to what’s coming,” Wee says before pointing to another two skeletons sitting in the front seats of his truck, and another behind the wheel of a boat.

“Every day some stuff trickles out of my garage and basement,” Wee says before showing how both spaces are filled with dozens of boxes and bags full of spooky stuff.

After working a full day as a mechanic, Wee will spend a couple hours every night, before the big night, suspending spiders, arranging amputated limbs, and adjusting giant skeletons.

“People will watch the progress,” Wee says. “They’re walking by every day (pointing at the latest additions), ‘Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!’”

“You want a happy story?” Wee laughs, pulling a decapitated head out of a box, and referencing my initial comment that I was searching for happy stories.

Wee’s happy Halloween story began when his family moved to Canada when he was six.

“When I was a kid, I used the same costume for years and years and years,” Wee smiles.

So, when he had kids of his own, Wee ensured that they could get new costumes and experience new thrills every year.

“Basically, I had kids that are now grown up,” Wee says before laughing. “And I’m stuck with the Halloween stuff and they’re gone.”

But because Wee made so many happy memories with them, his kids will come back to help their dad on Halloween night make memorable moments for the thousands of kids in the neighbourhood who tour his display every year.

“Some of the smiles I get are bigger than what Santa gives you,” Wee laughs.

While the skeletons are showing their age, Wee has found that giving back to the community keeps him young at heart.

“I’m 63 now, just an old kid,” Wee laughs. “Everybody’s good at something and I guess this is just what I do.”