A Halloween-obsessed father and son have spent £1,000 transforming their home into a spooky spectacular – with families travelling from miles around to look at the spine-chilling display.
Toby Whittle, 27, a customer service supervisor at Manchester Airport, and his father, Andy, 55, have transformed their semi-detached house into a Halloween spectacle every year since 2017. They have already spent £100 on creepy decorations and £75 on sweets this year for the hundreds of people who will flock to their front door on October 31, some of whom are willing to drive more than 30 miles.
They are now so invested in the tradition that Toby has obtained a Costco membership card to bulk buy treats and spends weeks making terrifying decorations, including a giant five-foot spider.
The DIY haunted garden in Macclesfield, Cheshire, features skeletons resting in deckchairs, ‘limbs’ scattered across the driveway and flashing pumpkins, and Toby even plays a YouTube soundtrack of growling wolves and cackling witches through a large speaker outside.
Last year, Toby posted videos of his father’s Halloween home on social media, one of which has had more than 12,000 views, and viewers have already confirmed their attendance this year.
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“When you’ve got the kids there, the drive’s full of people and the whole community is there, stood watching, it’s nice to see,” Toby told the Press Association. “We do this out of our own pockets and we would never ask for any money because we’re not bothered about it. For us, it’s one of Britain’s spookiest houses.”
The first time Toby and his father Andy decided to decorate their family home was in 2017. “Prior to that, we had never really done outdoor decorations,” explained Toby. “My dad came up with idea originally. He wanted to do something for the kids in the neighbourhood.”
What “started off small” with just a few decorations has grown year-on-year, as Toby and Andy continue to expand their creepy decoration collection. Some of the most impressive features include a giant homemade spider by the entrance – made using a balloon, an exercise ball, expanding foam, pipes and wires – skeleton dogs and flashing pumpkins.
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Before visitors can reach the boarded-up front door, they are confronted by flashing demons inside the Mercedes and Mini parked on the drive. “The giant spider that I built is my number one,” said Toby.
“That was a few weeks of work and trying to get the balloon and ball to stay still was tricky.”
Toby estimates that around 500 people turned up outside their house last Halloween and anticipates there will be more this year.
“Last year several hundred people came by. There was a bit of a queue on the driveway,” said Toby. “It’s mostly locals, however, I had some parents talking to me one year, saying that they had driven a good 30 minutes.”
Toby now finds himself hunting for Halloween decorations year round, in particular at car boot sales during the summer. “It’s something that’s always on my mind,” he said.
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