By Ava Cashmore
Lynbrook couple, David and Emily Polites transformed their garage into a semi-permanent haunted Halloween display, attracting children and families to enjoy a “spooky, but not too over-the-top” experience in their neighbourhood.
The couple’s Halloween fascination started over a decade ago when they opted for a Halloween-themed wedding instead of a destination wedding at Disneyland, with David dressing in a rabbit suit.
“We got married, and we were thinking of travelling, but we had a lot of family members that were sick and couldn’t travel.
“Then we started thinking, how do we bring a themed experience home for the wedding, rather than going to it?”
Since then, Halloween has become a tradition for the couple. Each year, they add to their collection of props, some of which can cost “in the ballpark of about 1000 bucks”.
Their setup draws crowds each year, and they enjoy seeing the reactions from children, including their own four-year-old daughter.
“To her, this stuff’s pretty normal, because we’re always bringing home something, or building it,” David said.
Though Halloween remains their primary focus, they haven’t ruled out expanding into other holidays.
“I have ambitions one day to do Christmas,” David said.
“But Christmas is our break,” Emily said.
“Every year we try and do something better than the year before, and we’ve been getting more and more kids every year.“
