A fan of all things Halloween who starts getting ready a year in advance has said he is prepared for a “manic” celebration on what locals say is Greater Manchester’s scariest street.
Christopher Ellis said he has “already bagged up 300 bags of sweets” in anticipation of Thursday night’s ghoulish revelries in the Newall Green area of Wythenshawe.
He is one of a group of families on Foxfield Road who go the extra mile to spook their neighbours by decorating homes with a dastardly display of witches, pumpkins, spiders and skeletons.
“Everything is half price on the internet after October, so that’s when I buy them,” he said.
Hannah who lives in one of the homes, said putting up her decorations takes a couple of weeks.
“We just do it over time, putting one decoration up at a time. It’ll take longer to take them all down,” she told Radio Manchester.
She said Halloween was “brilliant” for her three children Maisie, eight, Mylie, seven, and Marnie, three.
“They come out in groups and they all know each other. They all dress up and the parents get involved. It’s like one big party,” she said.
Matthew, 11, and Sophie, eight, also live on the street and have helped decorate their family home.
Sophie said she will dress up as Wednesday Addams from the Addams Family for this year’s macabre gathering.
“My costume is black and white. Last year I got a lot of sweets,” she said.
Matthew said he was going to be a plague doctor and his favourite Halloween treat was “the chewy drumstick bars with sherbet in the middle”.
Mr Ellis added: “The decorations take me about three weeks to put up.
“I’ve done it for the last five years and I do a different theme every year. It’s going to be absolutely manic this year.”