Family’s creeptastic Halloween house returns for its 20th year

By Elizabeth Hunter

A family has opened its Halloween-themed home for 20 years - spending 40,000 hours decorating to entertain over 2,000 visitors.

William Howson, 71, and wife Roslyn, 64, have spent two decades inviting people into their spooky house in Motherwell, Scotland.

The tradition began in 2006, when the couple put up elaborate decorations for their grandson’s Halloween-themed birthday party.

Each year since, William, Roslyn, their 17 grandchildren, and their ever-growing band of great-grandchildren, welcome hundreds of guests into their home for free, spending up to six hours in costume to scare guests.

Over the past 20 years, the family has opened its doors to over 2,000 people, spending nearly 40,000 hours setting up their displays.

“It started with our grandson’s fourth birthday on Nov. 1, 2006, when we had a small display and Halloween party,” said William.

“People came to the door, we let them in – and it’s just grown from there. It’s really good fun.

“It doesn’t actually cost us that much to run as we have accumulated the decorations over the years.

“The only expense is the treats my wife gives out.

“We’ve got hundreds of decorations - they fill our garage and attic.”

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The set-up takes between 12 and seven weeks each year, and the whole family gets involved.

In recent years, the couple’s daughter Nicola, 32, has taken a leading role in the set-up - planning the scene and helping William decorate the inside and garden.

“We have to start setting up in September; there are hundreds of decorations to get out, so it takes us about seven weeks,” said William.

“All the family gets involved – the grandkids love it.

“We all get together every couple of weeks before Halloween and plan things out.

“All the kids – and even the adults – have a good laugh.

“Some of the adults get more scared than the kids!”

Daughter Nicola says the whole family loves the experience - especially the children - but says none of it would be possible without her dad.

“The whole family gets together for Halloween, whereas on Christmas, we’ve got too many people to all sit down and have a meal together - we’ve got a big family,” she said.

“It’s our yearly family get-together.

“We love it - it’s better than Christmas!

“I want to say a big thank you to my dad for all the effort he goes to.”