Couple Spent $26K, Hired Actors to Turn Home Into a Halloween Attraction That Left ‘Kids Screaming’

A couple in the U.K. reportedly splashed out £20,000, or more than $26,000, to deck out their home for Halloween.

According to The U.S. Sun, which published a report on Wednesday, October 21, Darren Mackenzie, a 56-year-old father of four from Birmingham, went all out to transform his home into a spooky haunted house.

Mackenzie’s partner, 54-year-old Karen Pearce, also helped bring the frightening haunted house to life. The couple reportedly spent six weeks working on the elaborate Halloween display.

The spooky attraction features 12-foot-tall skeletons, an 8-foot pirate ship, an 8-foot dragon perched on the garage roof, and 50 animatronics. The couple also hired actors to make the experience even more terrifying for visitors.

According to the outlet, the couple’s illuminated horror attraction has already welcomed more than 1,100 visitors in just two nights, raising around £1,000 (over $1,000) for charity. The funds raised will go to CALM, a charity dedicated to mental health support and suicide prevention.

“This is only the second year but I’ve gone a bit mad this time and decided to go all out,” Mackenzie told The U.S. Sun. “We actually weren’t big Halloween fans until a couple of years ago. We used to be the sort of people who closed the curtains and turned off the lights so nobody would knock on the door for trick-or-treating. Now we love Halloween.”

However, Mackenzie has a word of warning for anyone planning to visit their spooky home.

“Families come along and children are welcome, although we do warn people that some parts are quite scary and we’ve had some children in tears,” he added. “I do the door and can hear the kid’s screaming inside but it’s all part of the fun.”