Kamloops couple spreads Halloween spirit with zombie passenger

A Kamloops couple is spreading the Halloween spirit, surprising fellow motorists with an undead passenger in the back of their truck.

Edge Kuehne and Mandi Cunningham have been turning heads with their mobile Halloween display, which features fake blood and a zombie named Spike.

"It’s something that we did last year, we got a lot of reaction with kids," Cunningham said. "We always see kids pointing and laughing, it’s awesome."

This year, they kicked things up a notch, adding the removable blood paint on the tailgate.

"We weren't going to decorate our house, just with COVID and everything," she said. "So we just thought, this is something that can make people smile, let's just put him up."

The couple has always loved Halloween, going all-out with gruesome decorations and competing in the Brocklehurst Halloween contest for the past two years.

"We’re big Halloween freaks," she said. "My nine-year-old son, he dresses up and he scares people, he’s right into it too."

Last year, they set up a haunted walk through their backyard, featuring smoke machines, animatronics, skeletons, life-sized zombies and a cemetery.

"We just started off small for the kids," she said. "As the years went by and word got out, more and more people come to see our decor."

The couple love to see how much the kids enjoy their haunted house, and getting encouragement from adults too motivates them to do more and more.

However, with the pandemic putting a bit of a damper on typical Halloween festivities, they had opted not to fully decorate this year.

Fortunately for their neighbourhood fans though, the couple changed their minds a few days ago.

"We got a comment, one of our neighbour's kids looks forward to seeing our house done up and we had a change of heart," she said.

Kuehne has been busy decorating all week, setting up the animatronics in their carport.

"I'm just going to drop candy off the patio and see who's going to come up and be brave enough to grab their candy," Cunningham said. 

If you're near Ponderosa Avenue, go check out their spooky display. 

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