Halloween park grown at home

Brooke McGowan-Grills with her Goosebumps-inspired Halloween set. 254875_06 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS

By Cam Lucadou-Wells

The horrors of lockdown have been turned into a home garden Halloween treat in Narre Warren North.

Over months, Brooke McGowan-Grills has toiled on her macabre art park that sprawls across the Fontaine Terrace front yard.

A playground/graveyard, a haunted dollhouse, a lit-up spider, witches, giant pumpkins, gnomes and a skeleton cooking on a barbecue are among the head-turning attractions.

She has been inspired by her childhood passion for the Goosebumps series, as well as the need to give neighbours a “pick up”.

“It gave me something to focus on rather than wondering what to do.

“I watched the old movies and the series, and just got carried away.”

A visual-arts graduate, Ms McGowan-Grills has made good use of everyday materials.

Making a witch out of trash bags and a tomato-growing cage, or a fence out of an old cot.

“People love it. I get lots of people do really slow drive-bys – they drive here because they see it online.

“I let the kids run amongst it. I made it to be enjoyed.”

On Halloween, Ms McGowan-Grills will don a costume, face-paint and hand out lolly-bags for trick-or-treaters from her Goosebumps park.

“I might have to make a few extra this year.”