These Are the Spookiest Homes in the Greater Toronto Area This Halloween

By Josh Sherman | 3 minute read

The Thornhill Woods Haunted House is celebrating its 21st anniversary this Halloween.

Homeowners in Canada aren’t afraid to show their love of Halloween. Nearly half of all Canadians say they plan to put up decorations for this year’s spooky season, according to a survey from The Home Depot Canada.

Some may choose minimalist Pinterest-worthy decorations, but the general trend this year seems to be go big or go home. Some 36% of respondents to the Home Depot survey are going for an even more elaborate setup this year, and 58% are totally redoing their setup. 

Among them are Karin Martin and her husband, Trevor Walker. “My husband, Trevor, likes to change it up all the time,” says Martin of her home’s elaborate Halloween display, which has been a fixture in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood every October for the past 20 or so years. 

In the spirit of Halloween, Wahi caught up with homeowners in the GTA who are taking October festivities to another level this year.

1. 27 Glenlake Ave., Toronto: Junction Triangle “Halloween House”

Over the years, Martin says the decorations at 27 Glenlake Ave. have included everything from “rotating baby heads or decapitated witches” to “large spiders eating horses.” Though some elements are more child-friendly, the couple prefers to keep it spooky — so much so that visiting the house around Halloween has become a right of passage for kids in the neighbourhood. “We’ve heard parents say, ‘Our kids are finally brave enough!” says Martin. “We don’t want it cutesy and marketed by Disney characters.

This year, the festivities at 27 Glenlake are culminating with the orange-and-black tent pitched out front of the couple’s home. “When you go by, all you hear are screams,” says Martin, who says what’s inside the tent will be revealed on All Hallows Eve.

Over two decades’ worth of Halloweens, 27 Glenlake has made national headlines, and it continues to attract a steady stream of visitors throughout the month of October.  It’s non-stop, all day,” adds Martin, who says she and Walker recently considered ending the annual tradition. “We were getting a little long in the tooth.”

However, the couple decided to keep going because of all of the charitable donations they’re able to raise for Feed It Forward, which operates a food bank and saves food from landfills. “The only reason we do it is to garnish charitable donations,” says Martin.

2. 1 Krisbury Ave., Thornhill: Thornhill Woods Haunted House

Twenty-one years ago, Chris Ainsworth was looking for a way to give back to Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, where both of his sons had received successful treatment. Remembering the old coin-donation boxes that trick-or-treaters would carry around when he was a kid, Ainsworth decided to use Halloween as a way to raise funds in a different way. “We started with a few tombstones and some pumpkins — and it just grew,” says Ainsworth, a Vaughan city councillor. 

These days, in addition to decking out his front yard with zombies, witches, and creepy crawlers, he erects an entire six-bedroom haunted house on his driveway. Inside, about twenty fully costumed actors — local high school kids looking to rack up some volunteer hours — are lying in wait to give a scare. “The haunted house is more for adults,” Ainsworth explains. “Little kids, if they went through that they’d be freaking out and crying.”

This year, the price of admission to the haunted house is a $10 donation to the Vaughan Food Bank, the latest in a rotating cast of charities Ainsworth has partnered with (the more family-friendly yard display is free for all to enjoy).

It takes about two weeks to set everything up, including reassembling the plywood haunted house and getting the yard’s collection of static, electronic, and even pneumatic (operated by air pressure) props in order. “In my basement, I have an air compressor that pumps out air and makes these [props] all jump up and down and move side to side,” Ainsworth explains.

Anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000 people have shown up at his home on Halloween night in recent years. “I have to hire off-duty paid officers, and they help with crowd control,” says Ainsworth. The Thornhill Woods Haunted House runs the last four days of October, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m

3. 36 Enderby Rd.: “A Community Tradition”

The Halloween decorations outside of 36 Enderby Rd. in the Upper Beach area of Toronto may not be the most elaborate, but the dedication behind them is seriously impressive. John Bettio and his family have been decking out their home since way back in the ‘80s and show no signs of stopping. “The biggest part of it is carving the pumpkins,” Bettio told Beach Metro Community News, in 2012. “I will carve almost until the sun rises on Halloween day. It’s pretty much always an all-nighter as you want them freshly carved.”

Bettio compares his porch to a “black-light theatre” on Halloween night. He uses the effect to make certain elements stand out from the foggy effects he also incorporates. “It’s fun for the kids. We scare them a little bit, but we meet them halfway if they don’t want to come up. We don’t let them get overly scared,” Bettio said in the Beach Metro interview.