THE HAUNTED WOOD Between our home and the road, there is an area of woodland. On the night of Halloween, it became a perfect setting for Halloween adventures.

Charles and Kim have had the event in the planning for ages, and they went to so much trouble that it took more than two weekends to set it up - and the finishing touches were only being made minutes before our first visitors arrived!

Bats flew in the trees.

A whole long fence of guava was erected to seal off the area from unprepared explorers!

Solar powered skeletons spent the day in the sun gathering energy to glow in the dark.

Here is the headless bride.

And here is the ghost who made an appearance as a flying fox last year.

There were pumpkins galore.

Teddy makes an early visit to the witch.

The woodland was a wonderful setting for all the models and effects!

Kim and Tina discuss some last minute touches.

There were ghost and pumpkin biscuits, honeycomb, toffees and popcorn ready for our visitors.

Kim has been transformed as the "head witch" ready to accompany the kids through the woods.

The first arrivals.

Helen has a quick helping of curry and rice before going off to perform her role as the Grim Reaper.

I loved these two glamorous young witches.

We got each group to pose for a photo before setting off on the "Trail of Horror."

Some of the kids looked pretty scary.

Young Theo was content to just sit and eat popcorn.

We had fruit punch for everyone, especially appreciated by those who were thirsty after all the yelling and screaming.

Lots of the parents were dressed up too.

Another group poses for the camera

Some of the younger ones were content to stay on the patio with the grown ups.

Brett and Basil discovered a mutual attraction!

Bernie and I decided to go on the final trip for the evening through the woods. The effects were just wonderful.

At the end of the trail, Charles made a sudden appearance wielding the chainsaw. The chain had been detached, but the sound effects were pretty scary. The kids really screamed as he chased them back onto the lawn. But Cloud the cat was obviously not too concerned!

I think all the grown ups had just as much fun as the kids.

But it was all too much for one tired little witch and a spotty dog!

It was a wonderful evening, and we must have had between 150 and 200 kids, not to mention the parents and adults, many of whom lingered, just enjoying the happy atmosphere and seeing the kids have heaps of fun. It was a great family occasion.