Royal Palm Beach family builds elaborate ‘Florida swamp’ Halloween display

By Jade Jarvis

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    ROYAL PALM BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — Halloween is here and one family in Palm Beach County is making it extra spooky with their walk-through Florida swamp decorations.

Beth Townsend is the mastermind behind the spooky Florida swamp creating nearly everything by hand, from the alligator mouth, to scarecrows, and a swamp shack all inside her and her husband Andrew’s home.

She said they get many of the materials either secondhand or just from digging around in the woods, and it took them only two weeks to put all of it together.

They built their first indoor display last year, transforming their home into a haunted carnival theme, and they plan to make it bigger and better every year.

“I think we just had a vision, and we want to see it come together. And as each piece was built, and each character was made, it made us more excited to keep going. So, I think it kind of grew. It wasn’t going to be this big, but it just kept growing,” Townsend said.

After Halloween the props and decorations won’t go to waste, Townsend said friends will come and choose what they want. Also, the big alligator mouth is going to be donated to Zoo Miami.

“I think people should be excited and ready to build their own decorations instead of going to the department stores and buying what everybody else has, like be excited and unique and make your own things, and you’d be excited [with] what you can do,” Townsend said.

If you live in Royal Palm Beach and want to come out and walk through the haunted Florida swamp, Townsend said they’ll be ready to go by 4 p.m. on Halloween for all the trick-or-treaters.

They also already have themes for the next two years planned: “Game of Thrones” and aliens.

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