A Coulsdon dad has turned his family home into a Victorian graveyard for Halloween, complete with a woman “burning at the stake” in the front garden.
Alix Ramsier, who lives on Caterham Drive with his family, has dressed the house up for the spooky season every year since 2019, and this year’s display is his most elaborate yet.
“We’ve tried to create a Victorian graveyard this year,” he said. “We’ve got a seven-foot cross with a woman on it and a little bonfire underneath her, which sounds a bit grim, doesn’t it?”
The graveyard scene is joined by clowns, familiar characters brought back from previous years, and a crop of decapitated mannequin heads. “We’ve also got lots of decapitated mannequin heads donated by local hairdressers, which they use to practise on,” Alix said. “They’re really good fun, and we’ve made them look a little bit sorry for themselves.”
Perhaps the most eye-catching addition of all is an eight-foot pumpkin head, made at home by Alix and his children from expanding foam and spray paint. It towers over the rest of the display and took shape in the family kitchen and garden over the build-up to Halloween.
Almost everything on show has either been made by hand or picked up cheaply. Many of the decorations were built by Alix and his children, while others came from car boot sales, were bought second hand, or were donated by neighbours. “I don’t particularly like spending lots of money on it,” he said. “I’ve used Vinted a little this year.”
What began as a few decorations put out when his children were younger has grown steadily over the past five or six years. Previous themes have included a creepy circus and a spooky asylum, and the annual transformation has earned Alix a reputation in the neighbourhood. He jokes that he is now the local “Halloween man”.
But the display is about more than scaring the neighbours. Each year it is tied to a charity fundraiser, and this year the cause is ADA – All Dance Abilities, a charity providing inclusive dance opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, including children and adults with special educational needs and disabilities.
Alix chose the charity through his running club, where he is a coach, after discovering that one of the members’ daughters runs it. “I’ve always enjoyed trying to raise money for people,” he said. “Life can be so miserable, and people can be so miserable. If it makes a few people smile every year, then it’s worth doing.”
The fundraising centrepiece is the annual Halloween Haunted Woods Walk, which returns on Thursday 29 October. Billed as a “zombie breakout”, it runs from 6pm to 9pm, with volunteers hiding in the nearby woods to give walkers a fright. The event has been opened up to more people this year, so a bigger crowd than ever is expected to brave the dark.
The walk itself is a family affair with a fright built in. Volunteers will be hiding in the nearby woods along the route, ready to jump out at walkers as they make their way through the dark, and the event has been opened up to more people this year so that a wider crowd can take part. Every penny raised goes to ADA, which runs inclusive dance sessions for people of all ages and abilities, including children and adults with special educational needs and disabilities – a cause Alix came to through his running club, where he coaches and where one member’s daughter runs the charity.
For families looking for more seasonal days out across the capital, Hampton Court’s ice rink is also returning for Christmas 2026, while two new community-designed murals have just been unveiled at Finsbury Park. And for those planning further ahead, Phoebe Bridgers will headline All Points East in Victoria Park next summer.
For now, though, all eyes in Coulsdon are on Caterham Drive – and on the seven-foot cross standing guard in the front garden.
