By Renee Wood
A spell of spookiness is spreading through the region ahead of Halloween with several houses decorated in fantastically frightening displays.
This will be the second year in a row Healesville resident Narelle Stillwell has decorated her home, something she wanted to do for the kids stuck in lockdown.
“I was trying to think of things that might bring a bit of joy into their lives and so I thought – oh, Halloween is coming up. It’s not something we traditionally celebrate in Australia very much but it was an opportunity to give them something to look forward to,” Narelle Stillwell said.
And after a successful year last year with other families getting on board, Narelle launched a Facebook page this year called ‘Yarra Valley Haunters’ to encourage others to get into the spooky spirit.
“I thought if I created a separate Facebook page just for those that were interested they could just become members of that and get all the information a little bit easier.”
Families are able to find houses to visit with a map to be released closer to the day, until then homes in Chirnside Park, Healesville and Launching Place have all been shared on the page.
Second time decorator Angel Egginton has listed her Launching Place property on the page for families to visit.
“We have people slow down out the front to have a look. The kids get so excited to come see the decorations and we always invite people to come walk around the yard for a bit more of an experience between the different spooky scenes,” Angel Egginton said.
Most of the displays have been made using recycled items and arts and crafts.
“We made our scarecrows, one of our grim reapers and also the blood splatter curtains. Most things though we brought from Lombards and Kmart and of course the Facebook buy, swap and sell bargains that have helped create the spooky scenes,” Angel said.
Narelle has been sharing her decorating tips on the page to help families create cost effective displays.
“We don’t have a lot of options in Australia, in comparison to where it’s bigger overseas and what we can find is usually really expensive, so I put a bit of effort into finding how to make props,” Narelle said.
“On Haunters I tried to demonstrate to others how you could make your own things relatively cheaply.”
Narelle hopes the decorating tips could also be repurposed for other festive occasions.
“Maybe it’ll give them an idea on how to make some things for Christmas holidays if they don’t celebrate Halloween.”
For more information visit the Yarra Valley Haunters Facebook page.
