Spooky season is upon us and one couple from NSW's Hunter region have a unique way of sharing their passion for panic.
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James and Justine Talevski are known around Clarence Town for their 1964 Cadillac Hearse named Miss Lilly.
Mr Talevski has been interested in the supernatural and the macabre for most of his life so it only made sense that this passion would eventually fuse with his passion for vehicles.
"I wasn't allowed to have an ambulance so I got a hearse," Mr Talevski said.
This sentiment was mirrored by Mrs Talevski.
"He's always wanted a hearse just to go with that theme," she said.
Every year on Halloween night the couple decorate the hearse with skeletons, ghosts and webs to drive around town and hand out lollies to the local trick-or-treaters, according to Mrs Talevski.
"We decorate the hearse, dress it up, we have all these props like a ghostly dude, an old butler whose eyes glow red," she said.
"I make up lolly bags for the kids, I've got 170 made up this year... We ran out last year."
After purchasing the hearse in 2018 the couple decided to dress it up for Halloween for the first time that very year.
The response from the Clarence Town community was incredible, according to Mrs Talevski.
"We started because of the hearse basically," Mrs Talevski said.
"The first year we got it in 2018 we decided to do Halloween... The response we had from the Clarence Town residents was just amazing, so we decided to do it every year."
Mr and Mrs Talevski see Halloween as a great way to help build community in Clarence Town.
Especially during COVID, Halloween gave the town and opportunity to come together especially for those that are new to the community, according to Mr Talevski.
"It [Halloween] was really good back when we had COVID but were out of restrictions," he said.
"At least people can get out and do something, meet each other, chat with each other."
"Last year we had a lovely lady who just moved into town a couple of weeks before Halloween... She loved the experience of us driving casually and honking the horn."
However, the couple are aware that not everyone celebrates Halloween so they only stop at decorated houses, according to Mrs Talevski.
Mr Talevski was driven to buy the hearse by his passion for the supernatural, however this isn't the only car that they've owned with a haunted history.
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The train driver used to own an old police car and loved researching the history of the car, going as far as the National Archives in Canberra for information.
"Vehicles themselves might have a presence about them, even if there's not anything attached to it," Mrs Talevski said.
"The vehicle itself, it's not alive but it has a character to it."
The couple are getting ready to drive their hearse around Clarence Town on Halloween, beginning in the afternoon of Monday, October 31.
Starting at Boatfalls and Riverdowns in the mid-afternoon, the couple and their hearse will travel into Clarence Town stopping at decorated houses and handing out lollies.
