OPEN Friday 30th and Saturday 31st October from 5.30pm till late. Address 27 Howick park avenue Penwortham preston PR1 0LS

A family have spent £20,000 transforming their home into a real-life haunted house for a huge public Halloween party. The Waltons are expecting more than 1,000 people to attend their two-day extravaganza this weekend, and hope to raise over £2,000 for Cancer Research. They have built five extra temporary rooms in their driveway, converted their garage and turned their garden into a 'Zombie Apocalypse' zone with 11 themed areas. Now in its fifth year, the Howick House of Terror party makes their home in Preston, Lancashire, the most decorated in Britain. It takes the dedicated family 10 months of planning, and includes a Zombie's House, Dracula's Lair and a Haunted Carnival, with animatronics and video screens.

Dad Chris Walton, 48, is so dedicated to his spooky house, he and his girlfriend even went to a convention in the US to source the best props.

"I am definitely a big kid," he said. "I love dressing up and having parties, and it's escalated from there.

"Every year we decorated the house a little bit more to the point where passers-by asked to come and have a look.

"Over the last few years we have probably spent between £15,000-£20,000.

"People can come in for free but we ask for donations, and our chosen charity this year is Cancer Research.

"This year is the first time we're using pneumatic props rather than electric ones, so we can control the speed and ferocity.

"Strangely it is tends to be the clowns that scare people most of all.