Halloween Haunt in Wallasey comes to an end after 20 years

Frankii Collins, 53, and his husband Dave Langley, 72, are both from Liverpool but met and settled in Wallasey.

In 2002, the pair had just come back from a holiday at Disneyland and after being in the haunted mansion, they wanted to celebrate Halloween with their family by hosting a party in the style of the mansion they had just visited.

Speaking to the Globe, Frankii said: "We spent a small fortune on props and decorations which was hard to do back then as Halloween wasn’t as popular in the shops but we managed to source some scary items and I started to make my own props.  

"They were simple tombstones which I made from polystyrene and a cardboard coffin that I got the idea to make from a YouTube tutorial."

The beginning of Halloween Haunts

The following year, in 2003, Frankii and Dave moved to Serpentine Road in Wallasey and decided to "elaborate" on their Halloween mansion. 

The Halloween Haunt has got bigger every year (Image: Frankii Collins)

Frankii added: "I set to work making a cemetery in the garden with some more skeleton props that we had found on the Internet.

"It was great to watch the first three young witches terrified to come up the path and knock on the door.  When they finally did, the door opened and the fog machine was set off.  

"It took them nearly 20 minutes to and get their sweets as they wouldn’t come back up the path and I eventually had to go to the bottom of the garden to give the witches their sweets, it was great.

"That night we never expected it to be popular but neighbours and their kids were delighted at our efforts. The following day, there was a knock at the door and we found three teenagers standing there and another few more at the front gate.

Previous Halloween Haunts (Image: Frankii Collins)  

"They shouted trick or treat and we told them that they were too late. They told us that they visited last night and wanted to thank us for making their Halloween the best one they’ve had and no one around here had done anything like this before.

"We were delighted at their response but it wasn’t until we closed the door after they left that we found a letter on the floor. It said 'To the Halloween House, thank you for making my Halloween the best ever, lots of love Jessica aged three' with a beautiful drawing of a witch.

"Our hearts melted and it was a sign to say that we have to continue and make it even better next year for the kids in the neighbourhood."

Every year, the couple changed up the display as much as they could and added more props.

The 'Halloween Haunt' consisted of many animated displays, a large spider hanging over the front door with his prey spinning in the web below. An animated witch stirring her cauldron, a skeleton grave digger and a moving grave.

There were reapers, skeletons, gravestones, singing pumpkins and numerous other props and attractions. 

Closing the curtain...

After 20 years of hosting their Halloween Haunt, the couple confirmed last week that they would no longer be doing them due to the cost of living and the pair getting older.

"We didn’t think in any way that it would be as successful as it has been", Frankii said.

"We enjoyed seeing all the kids, their families and friends making such an effort on the night that it was such a pleasure hearing their praises.  

"We were regularly visited by a young guy called Dylan who has cerebral palsy and relied on his wheelchair to get around. Every year he blew us away with his costume creations made by his aunt.

The Halloween Haunts had hundreds of visitors (Image: Frankii Collins)

"For the past eight years our friend Paul Warrington has helped us in setting up the haunt and dressing up as a scary character for the older kids in the neighbourhood to scare.

"We also had a mysterious visitor who would come every year dressed in a mask and help scare the kids and get his photo taken with them but we never found out who he was."

Reflecting on the past 20 years, the couple said they "owe a debt of gratitude to all the many people who have helped and visited them over the past 20 years".

Frankii said: "It's them that have made it as successful as it was, so successful, we were giving out nearly 1000 bags of sweets every year.

Inside the home (Image: Frankii Collins)

"However, we feel it’s time to close the curtain on Halloween due to getting older and getting harder and exhausting every year.  The cost of living has also paid its part.

"We will always have the memories from the first time those teenagers knocked on the door, the letter from Jessica and even seeing Dylan’s face light up will be the best memories we’ll take with us. 

"We want to thank all of you who that have supported us, those that have travelled from as far away as Wales and to those who visited when they were younger and are now bringing their own kids, you are the ones that have made our Halloween so special."