Tim Coochey has been transforming his home for 28 years.
There are skeletons, a spooky pirate ship, some dead relatives — not to mention, his home completely covered in a drape of a haunted castle.
Everything on his property comes to life for one night, probably Coochey’s favourite night of the year.
“Riddle me this: for 20 years, all parents will know, your kids drive you absolutely crazy. One night of the year — legal payback,” he said.
The setup on des Macons Street in Pierrefonds is pretty elaborate.
There are infrared sensors and sound systems. Coochey can control pretty much everything from his cellphone or laptop.
But what you may not see is all the hard work and heart it takes to bring it all to life.
“Some of this stuff, if you look at the guitar guy, it took me a month to make,” he said. “It’s all 3D-printed. It takes time.”
Another Halloweenie putting in the time is Ivan Dow, who has been scaring people for 43 years at his home on Pine Beach in Dorval.
He sets up something of a haunted trail on his two properties — over roughly about 10,000 square feet.
Dow says it can take the average person about 20 minutes to walk through the entire setup, though horror enthusiasts can spend even longer.
“They can expect it to be a lot bigger than they think it is,” said Dow. “‘Cause usually they’re about one-quarter of the way in and they’re like, ‘How come this is so long?’ And they haven’t really even started yet, which is really cool.”
For those who scare easily, you can stop by the haunted trail when it’s still light out.
But Dow says if you’re looking for a good scare, wait until the sun goes down to stop by.
The spooky house is also raising money for charity.
Dow collected donations from visitors on Oct. 30 for West Island Citizen Advocacy (WICA) and is raising money for Sun Youth on Oct. 31.