A Hanwell resident received an estimated 3,000 visitors to his home and raised £2,000 for charity last month after transforming his garden into a haunted house.
This year marked the third time Angat Khaneja, 34, who moved to the Hanwell area with his wife and daughter three years ago, had transformed his home with eye-catching Halloween decor, much of which he made from scratch.
While he never intended to become a point of public interest, it quickly snowballed after more than 100 trick or treaters turned up the first year.
Khaneja said: “Once I saw people’s response and reaction to it, it encouraged me to do a bit more, and I just realised I liked doing it.
“So it kind of just grew from there.”
This year, he opened his front garden up for walkthroughs for six nights across the month of October, and residents flocked to the house in droves for the chance to walk around and view his spooky installations.
The attraction, titled Ghoul’s Den Manor, started as a personal creative outlet for retail worker Khaneja, and something for his daughter to enjoy.
But the scale of the installation, which involved projections, sculptures and lights, took over a month for Khaneja and his family to pull together.
Given those efforts, just one night to exhibit the display did not feel like enough.
He said: “I realised I did all that work and then took it down the next day, which is a lot of effort.
“So, I thought, next year I’ll put it up for the whole month so everybody can enjoy it for longer.”
Interest grew year on year and, based on the 1,000 bags of sweets distributed, it was estimated he had over 3,000 visitors this year.
Lifelong Hanwell resident Nina Mayall, 26, visited Ghoul’s Den Manor with her 14-month-old son Tane on Halloween, and recalled seeing huge queues up to 20 metres long, and lots of children.
She said: “The decorations were really cool, they had tentacles coming out of the roof of the house and they had huge witches and blow-up ghosts.”
With so many visitors, the estimated amount raised through optional donations to animal welfare charity the RSCPA topped £2,000.
As of Saturday 9 November, the Justgiving page for the attraction had reached a total of £1,045 alone, and grateful donors posted their experiences of the visit.
One donor said: “Thanks for creating an epic display!
“Really enjoyed seeing this with our friends and family. Fantastic cause, well done guys.”
In addition to the money raised for the RSPCA, Khaneja offered private walkthroughs for students of St Ann’s School in Hanwell, a school for students with severe learning difficulties.
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Despite the event’s success, Khaneja revealed it almost didn’t happen this year.
Just a week before Halloween, his wife gave birth to their second daughter, Bella.
He said: “I didn’t plan on doing it, my wife was due right around Halloween.
“Then when I found out my mother-in-law was coming to stay with us and help out, I realised I’ll have an extra pair of hands.
“I didn’t want to let everybody down, so I decided, okay, I’ll go ahead with it.”
The show went on, and everyone got involved, his eldest daughter included.
Khaneja said: “She’s not afraid of anything now anymore because she’s seen me build everything and she sees it in the house, she’ll have a six foot skeleton in her playroom.
“When we do those walkthroughs, she loves putting glow in the dark tattoos on all the kids.”
The response from the community in Hanwell has been overwhelmingly positive, and Khaneja and his family have become local celebrities.
He said: “Everyone knows now in Hanwell, everybody knows that we’re the Halloween house.”
Residents expressed their desire for the tradition to continue.
Mayall, who added relatively few houses in the area decorated for Halloween this year, agreed she would definitely go back with her son if the event was to run again.
Khaneja said: “As long as I can keep going, I’ll do it.
“If we’re not too busy, I’ll definitely try my best.”
Though the attraction has now closed for the year, the family have also produced Christmas installations.
Those wishing to make a donation to the RSCPA can still visit their Justgiving page.
Featured image credit Beccy Bollard
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