Global News Radio 980 CFPL is back for another year with our Halloween houses map!
Use the interactive map below to check out some of the best-decorated yards and homes in the region, based on information sent by listeners and readers.
Zoom in on the map to see homes in the London, Ont., region with fantastic decorations. Each house is marked with an orange ghost and includes photos of the display as well as a short description.
An early entry to this year’s map was Sarah Appleby, who stunned last year with a massive spider on a web.
“We got really, really awesome feedback — in fact, some people were too scared to come up the driveway,” she told Global News.
“So (my husband and I) figure, why don’t we just keep the scale big and stick to something that everyone knows? Everyone knows sharks, some people are afraid of them, let’s put a twist with the zombie and give him a huge mouth and make it glow!”
Appleby adds that the neighbourhood is incredibly supportive, with some kids coming to watch the whole process and some neighbours offering to help.
“In fact, we had someone drop off a thank you card and they actually want us to help them next year.”
She says they’re also collecting canned goods for the London Food Bank and have roughly 400 pounds already.
Ron Jennings has a large display, much of which is in the backyard, at 458 Dorinda St. He told Global News his favourite part of the whole experience is seeing the joy it brings to others.
“Even when I was a little kid, I did like magic shows and stuff like that, had a brief stint as a musician for a while in my younger years, but I’ve just always liked doing stuff to make people happy.”
Jennings has spent at least a decade building up the display and encourages those looking to get into large-scale decorations to think long-term.
“You don’t have to go big, just start with little bits here and there. You know you can accumulate over the years, right? There are a lot of good after-the-event sells, like 50 per cent off, 75. The one witch I got in the store was like 70 per cent off. I would never have bought it full price.”
Jennings says visitors are invited to tour on weekends between 6:30 p.m. and around 10 p.m., weather permitting, but the inflatables run nightly as long as it’s not raining too hard.
–with files from Global News’ Andrew Graham.