What was an ordinary York home has been transformed – just in time for the witching hour.
Halloween queen Lynda Starkey loves the spooky season so much that she turns her home – Camellia Cottage, Kingsway West, Acomb – into a frighteningly fun place with more treats than tricks.
This year, it features a Witches Den, Dragons Dungeon and Stinking Spider Shack.
And new for 2023 is a Wizard and Witches Wonderland – “where chocolates really do grow on trees”.
Lynda channels the world of the spirits, but community spirit above all. She has been putting a smile on children’s faces since 1984 with her world of magic.
“It’s once a year when they can dress up,” she told YorkMix. “My Halloween is one where it’s a happy Halloween with no nasties. It’s just treats, treats, treats all the time.”
Lynda took YorkMix on a tour. The Stinking Spider Shack “will smell lovely with a floral freshener. It’s surrounded with spiders: big spiders, small spiders, any type of spiders. The children can collect a glitter ghost.”
“The children absolutely adore the witch’s den,” she told us. “The children enter and collect a wild animal.”
Fear not, the wild animal is a cuddly toy which is returned to Lynda – then the children “choose a treat from either the coffin, the tin, or the pirate’s chest”.
There will be “rats tails in a popcorn box, slimy slugs, a plant pot, mice droppings, eyeball sludge, Barbie balls, wizard sticks” and much more.
Although Lynda has many magic powers she could do with some help with those treats. She is expecting more than 200 children and would welcome the donation of wrapped sweets.
If you can donate then please knock on Lynda’s door, leave the sweets on the door handle, or push them through the letterbox.
Don’t worry about finding the address, head to Kingsway West, Acomb and you’ll soon find her spooky fun world.
Lynda will be open all day, and late into the evening on Halloween, 31 October. So, if you are in the area, pop along and have some spooky fun.