( CNN ) -- What kind of people spend thousands of dollars transforming their front yard into a landscape of tombstones and singing skeletons , complete with a haunted maze and `` Bone Yard Band , '' in the name of Halloween ? A retired kindergarten teacher and his cooperative wife , of course . At this time of year , however , Gary and Mary Server are known to neighbors as `` Scary Gary '' and `` Bloody Mary . '' Now in its eighth year , Haunted Hollow is a local attraction in Clarence Center , New York , making it one of many homegrown spooky houses to pop up across the country this Halloween season . With professional haunts costing more than $ 20 per person in some places , proprietors of homemade affairs say they are hosting more and more visitors each year . `` Scary Gary '' and `` Bloody Mary '' do n't ask for money to enter Haunted Hollow , but they accept donations , which they give in full to the Women and Children 's Hospital of Buffalo . Two years ago , they raised more than $ 5,000 , Gary Server said . `` My wife and I love Halloween . Also , since I enjoy children so much and they have been such a large part of my life as a teacher , it makes Halloween even more enjoyable to do something for them , '' he said . `` We call it 'family frightful . ' We do n't do gore or blood . It 's a chance for families to spend old-fashioned , quality time together . What 's better than that ? '' It 's not unusual for families to spend hours exploring Haunted Hollow , because there 's so much to see , he said . There 's an hourly light show and a graveyard of 100 tombstones , ghouls and monsters named for their grandson , Josh . A homemade hearse contains a `` Bone Yard Band '' of animatronic singing skulls . A crowd favorite , Victor the Talking Skeleton , communicates to visitors from his cage with the help of a remote microphone and an infrared camera monitored by one of Server 's buddies from his living room . Do-it-yourself Halloween decorating 101 . A maze in the four-car garage leads you to a caged `` insane asylum '' of fright flick favorites including Michael Myers , Freddie Kruger and Jason . CNN iReporter Deanna Rodrigues visited Haunted Hollow last Saturday with her 4-year-old son and spent nearly two hours exploring . Her son 's favorite attraction was the garage maze , which has an electric chair that rattles and groans and lets off smoke when you sit on it , she said . `` He had a good time . He did n't want to leave , '' she said . `` Real live ghouls roam around the stand behind bushes and 'boo ' you . '' It 's a large undertaking to set the scene for thousands of visitors each year . Dozens of friends pitch in and they get a little help from students who volunteer for high school credit , which is why they do it every other year , Server said . `` It 's really a lot of fun but we do it every two years because it 's much work . It takes us three months to get ready , '' he said . Kimberly Stegman and Andrew Adkins of Springdale , Ohio , also take several months to prepare their House of Hell , a graveyard of zombies and monsters that has grow in size over the past eight years . Each year brings more visitors , Adkins said . About 300 visitors came by last weekend , not including the retirement home bus and hayride that passed by . The house on Glen Sharon Road has also become a local legend . iReporter Greg Reese made a point of visiting Saturday after missing it last year . As he pulled his car up to the house , he was greeted by a chainsaw-wielding Jason from the movie `` Halloween . '' `` Others down the street are starting to dress up their house because of the response , '' Reese said . `` He obviously takes a lot of time on the creatures . '' The couple do n't charge visitors a fee to view the collection of 17 zombies and monsters , each of which Adkins makes by hand . This year 's new addition : the infamous scene from `` The Exorcist '' of the possessed young girl strapped to a bed . It was simple , really , he said . A nurse friend gave him a gown and scrubs for clothes , and he made the body out of packing foam and the bed from wood left over at work . `` The thing that cost the most was the mask of her face , which I found online . But I did n't like how it looked so I painted over it to make it look better , '' he said . It 's a true labor of love that goes back to childhood , when he 'd construct his own tombstone decorations of cardboard for his mother 's home . `` I love Halloween , it 's just like Christmas , '' he said . `` As much as I like Halloween and horror movies , I 'll keep doing it until I ca n't anymore . I have more space in the backyard so I 'll probably end up there next year . ''
Homeowners take joy in transforming property into Halloween attractions . Haunted Hollow in upstate New York hosts thousands of visitors each year for free . Andrew Adkins made each of the 17 creatures on his lawn in Ohio by hand . `` I love Halloween . It 's just like Christmas , '' he says .