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Dundee man confronts fear of spiders by installing giant Halloween model outside home

David Alexander Blaney is behind the spectacular display on Downie Park Place.

The giant spider is on display outside David's home in Downie Park Place.  Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson
The giant spider is on display outside David's home in Downie Park Place. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

A Dundee man has confronted his fear of spiders by creating a giant model of one outside his home for Halloween.

David Alexander Blaney, 39, installed the model – made out of expandable foam – in his garden on Downie Park Place, just off the Kingsway.

David Alexander Blaney with the giant spider. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

The fashion designer, who runs LaMode Design Studios in Dundee, says he was inspired by his own fear of spiders to create the display.

He told The Courier: “I actually have a fear of spiders so I wanted to work on that.

Dundee man inspired by fear of spiders to create huge Halloween display

“I have always wanted to do something large, and everyone is scared of spiders.

“You can purchase similar models but they’re not as big and I wanted it to be quite big.

“A lot of people have got involved in sharing it on social media.

The display has attracted interest from neighbours. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson
The giant spider is made from expandable foam. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson
David created the huge spider from scratch. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

“Our neighbours have also been interested in seeing if I had my display up yet as I have done them since 2022.

“I have noticed people taking the long way around the street when they are going past.

“Some of the other neighbours do their own displays but not as extreme.

“It’s all fun and games, it helps that I have a design background.”

David started creating Halloween displays when he moved into the house with his partner, Ross Doig, two years ago.

And while he describes the decoration as “over the top”, he says it is worth it to see people enjoying his creations.

The spectacular display was created by David Alexander Blaney. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson
Some of the other spooky decorations. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson
There are decorations throughout the garden. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson
The display is David’s third Halloween effort. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

He said: “I just started doing these displays when we moved into the house as I used to live in the city centre and nobody really did them then.

“This year’s display only took me half a day to set up but I took time before that to plan it out.

“The spider took about a week to build from scratch, it was a lot of expandable foam.”

Earlier this month, locals in Brechin helped to save a Ghostbusters-themed charity Halloween display that was damaged by Storm Ashley.

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