ANYONE who goes down to Westbrook Way this Halloween will be in for a big fright.

With gravestones rising from the garden and skeletons crawling the walls, Rose Thompson’s home in Southwick is the scariest of all.

The 53-year-old mother could rightfully call herself the Queen of Halloween having ghoulishly decked out her home every October 31 for about 17 years.

She invites all friends and neighbours round for spooky apple bobbing, vodka jelly (for the adults) and even wrapping each other up in toilet roll.

She said: “It just gets bigger every year. We have a party for the whole estate. I black out the house and front room.

“We put up a lot of hanging ghosts and ghouls and we have a big gazebo out the back.

“We will make the front garden into a big graveyard, with zombie hands coming out of the ground.

“We are trying to get skeletons to be crawling up the house but at the moment that’s proving difficult - I cannot find skeletons.

“One of our games is mummy wrap - where we pair people up and one has to wrap their partner in toilet roll.

“The roll usually breaks off pretty quickly - my house gets pretty messy.”

Ms Thompson hosts the party alongside her children who live with her: 17-year-old twins Ross and Ricki Thompson and 22-year-old Kayleigh McCarthy.

She added: “We do best-dressed costume competitions for the adults and apple-bobbing and things for the children.

“One of my neighbours once came as a flesh-melting monster - the costumes get better every year. Latex has become very popular.

“This year I am going as a zombie - my daughter is going to do my makeup for me. I will have zips on my face so it looks like the skin has been ripped open, and lots of blood and gore.”

Ms Thompson says she cannot remember the exact origins of the Halloween tradition at her house, but doesn’t plan to stop it anytime soon.

“All the adults bring sweets for the kids and it’s really great,” she added. “Everyone is so busy and it’s the one time of year everyone just seems to get together and have a good time.”

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