Meet the York gran with a ‘Halloween house’

A Halloween-loving grandmother who has been decorating her house and garden with pumpkins, spiders and ghosts for 40 years said she has no plans to end the tradition.

Trick-or-treaters have been making a beeline for Lynda Starkey’s displays since 1984 and she now creates an annual attraction at her bungalow in Acomb, near York.

The 74-year-old spends months planning and preparing her decorations and transforms her garden into themed “dens” where children can play.

This Halloween she has designed a Barbie bat cave alongside her dragons’ dungeon and stinking spider shack, and said the display was a “bit like Disney”.

Although Ms Starkey has maintained her spooky activities over four decades, she has actually moved house several times and decorated properties in Buxton and Blackpool before moving to York.

“I start preparing this for two solid months, and each den takes one to two days to create,” she said.

“The witch’s den takes seven hours to set up, the dragons’ dungeon, that can take two days to prepare and get created.

“New this year is a Barbie bat cave. There is lots and lots of pink, lots of Barbies hanging down. The kids get to walk through it, and the grown-ups too.”

Last year she managed a queue of a “few hundred” visitors waiting for entry, and she opens her attraction for 12 hours each day.

“It’s something for children to look forward to – and I never make mine scary, it’s fun,” she said.

Ms Starkey, who also hands out treats from two tables, said: “I open from nine in the morning until nine at night, because the tiny tots, I don’t want them to get trampled on. I just want them to be in awe at what there is – it’s a bit like Disney really!”

The display costs around £1,000 to set up, but the sweets are donated by the community and a local food bank.

“Sometimes I open the door in the morning and there are sweets waiting for me, which is wonderful because people want to have some fun in their lives and this creates fun,” she said.

“I am trying to create a feeling for children that it’s not all about shops making a profit, it is just about sharing.”

She said she has no plans to give up, despite suffering from arthritis in her hands.

Ms Starkey herself has three children and four grandchildren. Before retirement, she ran a cleaning business.

“I will be doing this as long as I’m alive. If this brings a little bit of happiness, that’s what it’s all about,” she said.

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