Florida family builds 35-foot pirate ship for Halloween display

LAKE MARY, Fla. - An elaborate Halloween display is the talk of one neighborhood in Lake Mary, Florida. The family who lives there has been putting up big Halloween displays for years.

This year, the Akus family put together a pirate theme, including a 35-foot-long ship, music, props, and even a smoke machine at their home on Lakeshore Drive.

"We typically get a lot of people that come around. We got a lot of repeat people coming from other neighborhoods who know that we usually put on a pretty good display," Sherri Akus said.

The whole family dresses up to play the part, including Sherri, her husband Brian, and their four adult children. Brian started building the ship just last week. He worked on it every night to finish in time.

"My sister-in-law has access to pallets, so we brought home about 17 and started. The next thing you know it changed to bringing an extra 24 and an extra 22," Brian Akus said.

The family has been decking out their home with Halloween displays for seven years now.

"Zombies was the first one, then following that was scary clowns. We had Purge," Brian said.

The family started the tradition when their kids got too old to trick-or-treat, as a way to keep the family together.

"My kids are all grown and moved out and they come for guaranteed Halloween that they are going to do this with us," Sherri said.

The family already has ideas for next year, but would not share them in case they don’t pan out.