'Spooky, scary fun' at the Halloween house

A Christchurch woman went all out for Halloween, with spooky decorations and mechanical puppets to entertain trick-or-treaters last night.

Sammy Dickinson said she loved the "spooky, scary fun" of Halloween and "looking at all the faces of the children when they get scared, and then realise it is actually not real".

Dickinson spent $1500 on house decorations and a smoke machine last year, but had taken it even further this year.

"We've added a few big animatronics ... we've extended our spooky walk-through in the backyard."

Sammy dressed as the voodoo queen and her partner, Jordan, as the ringmaster.

The Dickinson home also featured a neon room, with ghostly decorations that have moving parts, lights and sounds.

She was expecting a few hundred people would show up to see her decorated house last night as they had last year.

They had an overflowing tub of treats on hand, and several neighbours had donated candy to the cause.

"We've got lots of gummy body parts and skull lollipops and a right assortment of everything in between."

Dickinson also did a last-minute push to get all the decorations hung and the lights turned on before the trick-or-treaters arrived.

• This story was first published by RNZ