Halloween superfan turns semi into haunted house

As the sun sets on Hob Moor Road in Yardley, the monsters, skeletons, vampires and werewolves have woken up and a long queue has started to form.

Thrill seekers are all here to see Darren Mackenzie and Karen Pearce's semi-detached home, which has been transformed into a Halloween haunted house.

Karen said it all started at last October when her partner, Darren, decorated the outside of their house, and "it's gone crazy ever since".

This year, the attraction fills their front driveway, garage, downstairs toilet and entire garden with dozens of spooky animatronics, decorations and live volunteer actors.

One of those is family friend, Mark Rotherham, who was dressed as Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street.

He said: "Darren asked if I'd come along, and I said 'course I will!'"

Mark added that most people think he's a statue, and when they pose for a photograph, he comes alive and scares them.

"They want to be scared, but they don't want to be petrified, so after I've scared them, I give them a fist pump so they leave happy."

Outside the house, another friend of the family, Tia Smith, was busy welcoming guests to the house and making sure the queue moved smoothly.

"It's obviously quite crazy, but you just remember you are doing it for the cause", she said.

"Just seeing all the live actors and everyone come to help is really amazing and even seeing the adults get scared as well, it's quite thrilling!

"I've done every day so far, and I'm going to try and do as much as I can, I love it here." Tia added.

Those who have come to see the house, have described it as a great way for children to celebrate Halloween without normal day-out costs.

One local mum who had come with her young daughter said: "It's really expensive if you go to another place, but it's nice that you can just give a good contribution to do something like this."

Another visitor described the attraction as "absolutely insane, it's brilliant."

The family started decorating the house six weeks ago during August, and Darren has funded it all with his own money.

There's no entry fee for visitors, just an optional donation to the mental health charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).

"Everybody asks, what does it cost? It doesn't matter what it costs.

"It's all my own money, but it doesn't matter to me, as long as everybody smiles and gives a little to charity, that's all we care about."

"It's all for CALM. I suffer a lot with my mental health, as a lot of people do.

"I thought it's a great charity to save money for and for everyone to just dig deep, put a few pounds, 50 pence, whatever you can afford and just support the charity.

"The feeling we get, the happiness we get, everybody supporting it, we feel so good, everybody comes out all smiling and screaming all for a good reason and it just makes us feel that we've really achieved something." Darren added.

Hob Moor Road haunted house will be open every Friday and Saturday night from 19:00-21:00 until 31st October.

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