'My wife loves the Psycho house I built for her'

A bald man wearing a grey shirt and blue jeans is standing in a green garden. Behind him, there is a large 12ft grey wooden Halloween house, with sloped roofs and small arched windows
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The model has been built from old roof and recycled bedroom doors, among other items

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A man has spent four months building a 12ft-high (3.6m) haunted house model, based on the classic horror movie Psycho.

Dave, from Church Stretton, in Shropshire, has developed a tradition of making his wife Samantha - a self-confessed fan of Halloween - a unique decoration each year.

The structure, which is on wheels in their garden, has been mostly made of recycled timber.

Samantha said she was "absolutely delighted" with the model, adding that her husband had "put his heart and soul into making something spectacular".

Dave said the pair of them had worked together on painting it and aging the timber.

"It all started a few years ago when we lived next to some young children, and I made them a Halloween house because they were at the age where they really loved the fun side of Halloween," he said.

"But I always thought it would be nice to make a really big one... so that it was more impressive and I could add all the detail to it."

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Samantha said the model was her husband's most impressive creation so far

He said the long build time was largely due to his reliance on recycled timber, adding that the main frame came from an old roof.

"The cladding on the outside of the house was actually our bedroom doors which we didn't really like. So, we took them down, cut them up, and used them to make the side of the house," Dave said.

A large 12ft grey wooden Halloween house, with sloped roofs and small arched windows. There is a grey staircase leading up to a wooden porch and white front door. There is a circular window on the roof at the front
Image caption,

The house is on wheels, so it can be moved and stored

"As it's just a Halloween decoration, I decided to put it on wheels so we can actually just push it into a barn and store it there over winter, all through next year, and bring it out again when it's Halloween," Dave said.

When asked about plans for next year, and whether he could match this year's effort, he said there was "always room for more".

"I don't think my wife would be too disappointed at that, so maybe next year I'll make another outdoor ornament of some kind, perhaps along the graveyard theme," he added.

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