South Essex's best Halloween displays and light shows

From Southend to Rayleigh, residents have been going above and beyond to light up their neighbourhoods and offer a dose of eerie community fun this weekend.

While those behind the impressive displays have said their primary motivation is brining joy to the faces of fellow residents, donations for charities including the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance will also be collected.

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On Rayleigh’s Great Wheatley Road, Mike Holmes, has once again teamed up with street artists from Southend City Jam to create a hyper-detailed haunted house display.

Brilliant - The display has been created with the help of City Jam street artists (Image: Mike Holmes)

He said: “This is something I’ve done for the past couple of years, and do it partly in aid of the Priest Foundation, which helps residents going through difficult times.

“I really enjoy doing it, and it's nice that so many other people get stuck in to help me. The guys from City Jam came to help age the building and also lent a hand last year.

“The whole thing is a bit of fun, and for me, the most important thing is the kids who come to trick or treat.”

Charity - All of the homes will feature opportunities for visitors to make donations (Image: Mike Holmes)

Over in Southend, Mark Sutton’s Eros Avenue home is already lighting up the street with thousands of synchronised lights and spooky decorations.

In recent years, the haunted house experience has become a firm favourite with south Essex residents, and this year is set to be even more frightening thanks to a band of terrifying live actors.

Preparations - Mark Sutton goes all out with his display (Image: Mark Sutton)

Themed to evoke a haunted circus, Mark has previously spoken about the huge effort that goes into creating the much-loved attraction.

 “It takes a huge amount of effort to put this together every year,” said Mark.

“Planning starts early in the year, and it takes up most weekends from mid-summer to get everything ready.”

Like Mike Holme’s Rayleigh display, Mark and his family will also be raising funds for a south Essex charity, although they’re yet to land on a specific recipient for the collected donations.

Spooky - The Eros Avenue light show has previously attracted hundreds of visitors (Image: Mark Sutton)

Julie and Lee Whitehair have been running their Halloween display on Eastwood Old Road for several years and this year’s is harder to miss than ever before.

The display, which features a large-scale pirate ship, not only fills their driveway, but also those of their next-door neighbours.

Eerie - The attraction features a large-scale pirate ship (Image: Julie Whitehair)

Julie said: “This year is bigger and better than ever, as it’s expanding onto two of our neighbours' driveways and into our back garden.

“It includes a life-size pirate boat, megalodon shark, dragon, witch's hut and so much more.

“We love to do it for all the local children to come and enjoy, and are also raising money for the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance again this year.”

Scare - The Whitehair's attraction fills several driveways and a back garden (Image: Julie Whitehair)

Hundreds of residents are expected to visit the attractions over the coming days, with thousands likely to be raised for south Essex charities in the process.