Leeds residents flock to incredible "Halloween House" in Gildersome - complete with 400,000 lights and unique Ghostbusters show

Mechanic Stephen Audsley, 51, has become well known in Gildersome for his amazing Halloween and Christmas displays which are visited by thousands of residents each year.

However, lockdown spurred Stephen into taking on the monumental task of creating a brand new Ghostbusters themed extravaganza of a show on the side of his home on Churchgate.

The 15-minute show - which retells the story through an array of music and lights - has already been seen by hundreds of visitors to the street.

Many Leeds residents have dubbed it the "Halloween House" and posts of pictures and videos have gone viral on local forum Leedsplace and across social media.

Stephen has chosen to support the British Heart Foundation this year - after the tragic death of his neighbour's husband from a heart attack where an available defibrillator could have helped.

He now hopes to raise thousands of pounds to purchase new defibrillators for Gildersome while also donating to the charity through a GoFundMe page.

Speaking to the YEP, Stephen said: "I think we have had around two and a half thousand people come and see the show since it started last Friday.

"My neighbour approached me after the sad death of her husband and asked if there was any chance I could help with a bit of sponsorship towards funding new defibrillators.

"I told her I could go one better and dedicate this show and my upcoming Christmas show to the cause.

"People can chose to donate towards the defibrillator fund or the British Heart Foundation.

"They are very worthy causes."

The show on the side of Stephen's home starts at 7pm each evening.

The 15-minute tale uses handmade props including a Slimer to tell the story of the hit film through music and lights.

Incredibly, the show is controlled and programmed using nine Raspberry Pi devices.

Stephen explained: "I have always been creative electronically.

"It took about five weeks to put the lights up on the side of the house.

"During lockdown, I realised I wanted to take on a new challenge and did the show this year for the first time.

"It is a storyboard about the 1984 film."

Stephen has even got 100kg of sweets ready to give out to visitors on Halloween night this year.

He said: "I don't give sweets out on any of the other nights, but we are ready.

"We have bagged up sweets for the kids and have enough for the adults too.

"It is worth it to see their faces."

Stacey Nelson was one of the first visitors to the display with her family.

She said she had just moved to the area and had "never seen anything like" the home.

Speaking to the YEP to laud the efforts of Stephen, she said: "The effort this family puts in to there house and shows is amazing.

"The house puts a lot of smiles on people’s faces when walking or driving past, it really does get you into the spirit!

"We first watched the show on the opening night and we was blown away.

"Our autistic son was amazed and asks to go every night or to watch the lights out of his bedroom window.

"The charity chosen is very close to my heart and many others as we all know someone who has been affected by the heart, for me, my dad passed away at the age of 44 due to a heart attack and I also have on going troubles with my own heart.

"The show brought many emotions for me, what a great way to support a charity as well as helping the village get defibrillators.

"Fantastic."

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