This Hallowe’en, why not combine trick-or-treating with a donation to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario? There are two homes in Orléans which have gone above and beyond when it comes to providing a spooktacular experience for visitors while raising money for CHEO.

The father and son team of Brian and Patrick Albert have been entertaining trick-or-treaters with their Hallowe’en menagerie on Pintail Terrace in Chatelaine Village for over 20 years now. But it’s only been in the past few years that they’ve have turned their Hallowe’en display into a way to raise money for CHEO.

Last year, they raised over $13,500. So far this year, they’re on target to blow that total out of the water. By last Friday, they had already collected over $4,000. The display – which takes up every inch of both the front and back yards as well as the entire garage – is open every night except Mondays, until Hallowe’en night when they expect close to 1,000 people to pass through.

Hallowe’en falls on a Friday night this year and the Alberts expect to stay open until midnight. “It’s going to be a late night,” says Brian.

The Alberts started setting up the display on Labour Day and it takes over 200 hours to get everything in place. After entering the garage, visitors get to pass through eight differently themed rooms that are filled with animatronic witches, goblins, skeletons, vampires and every sort of creepy character you can imagine. You also have to navigate through severed limbs hanging from the ceiling and skulls...lots and lots of skulls. On Hallowe’en night, volunteers in costume add to the overall experience.

The next day, the Alberts will begin the job of taking their Hallowe’en display down and packing it away, only to begin the task of setting up their equally impressive Christmas display.

But the Pintail Terrace home isn’t the only Hallowe’en house in Orléans that raises money for CHEO.

Martha and Luc Deslauriers have also raised thousands of dollars for CHEO thanks to their Hallowe’en display on Deancourt Crescent in Fallingbrook.

The Deslauriers started decorating their front yard in 1994 when their oldest daughter was just three. Over the years, the display has grown in both scope and size to the point where it now takes up both their own front yard as well as their neighbours’.

“It went from something that was fun to do, to being something for the whole com-munity,” says Luc.

The walk-through display includes a Pirates of the Caribbean section featuring a large pirate ship, a section dedicated to zombies, a witch’s homestead, a creepy corridor, a pumpkin inferno and a 20-foot skeleton that lights up and flashes.

When visitors started offering them money several years ago, the Deslauriers decided to turn their Hallowe’en attraction into a fundraiser for CHEO where one of their daughters works. During the past five years they have raised over $25,000.

Although donations can be made anytime by scanning the QR code displayed at the front of the driveway, the attraction will only be open for viewing this Saturday and Sunday evening as well as next Thursday, night and, of course, Hallowe’en night.

Other Hallowe’en houses worth visiting can be found at 118 Pimprenelle Terrace in Queenswood Heights, 6086 Rivercrest Dr. in Chapel Hill, 407 Doverhaven St. in Chapel Hill South, 490 Princess Louise Dr. in Fallingbrook and 645 Steller St., which is also in Fallingbrook.