For a fifth consecutive year a Halloween haunted house will welcome the people of Suffolk, all in the name of charity.
Lorrie Thackeray will once again be turning his Woodbridge home into the scariest house in the county as he attempts to raise money for the Tiffers bus shelter.
The homeless shelter has a special place in Mr Thackeray’s heart as his brother David, a heroin user, was able to find a new life there.
Mr Thackeray said: “The shelter gave him a place to stay, got him clean and helped him get a job.
“He relapsed and sadly died two months ago, so this year is really raising for a very special cause.”
The tragedy of his brother’s death has not stopped this Halloween enthusiast from doing what he has done for most of his life: create the ultimate haunted house to raise money for charity.
“I’ve been doing this sort of thing since I was about seven-years-old,” said Mr Thackeray.
“I started putting up cobwebs and trying to dress everything up when I was still living at my mum’s house.”
Mr Thackeray continued with his obsession which only grew as he got older.
He said: “When I did it for the first time I remember loads of people coming through.
“Some people asked me if I was charging and at the time I wasn’t, it was all free.
“They called it the ‘scariest house in Suffolk.’
“The next time I did it I thought that I would ask people to donate to charity if they want to.”
Last year Mr Thackeray raised hundreds of pounds for Save the Children and hopes that he can repeat the feat in what is now the fifth year of his famous haunted house.
He said: “Everyone comes from miles around - people will pull up their cars, just get out and come in to see this and then go.
“Everyone in the community will come out and see it. I even got people from as far away as Colchester and Felixstowe coming to see me.
“I’ve had dad leave their kids outside because they were too scared to come in.
“I think that we are all built to feel fear, when we do get scared we get a release of tadrenaline and it’s the rush of those chemicals that’s so good.
Mr Thackeray’s haunted house, at 54 Peterhouse Crescent, Woodbridge, will be open between 5.30pm and 9pm on Halloween night, Wednesday, October 31.
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