SUBURBAN garages the length and breadth of the country are cluttered with the detritus left behind by grown-up children.
But while many exasperated parents gingerly step over abandoned drum kits, grease-encrusted motorcycle parts, or damp boxes of childhood toys, Mark Lumsden’s mum faced more macabre obstacles.
Her garage, in the Fife town of Lochgelly, was clogged with coffins, many of them stained with fake blood.
Until recently, Mark raced hearses for a hobby and decided to buy a job lot of coffins – which he stored in his mother’s garage.
When she finally put her foot down and ordered Mark, 31, to remove the caskets, he decided, more in desperation than expectation, to put them up for sale on Facebook, charging £45 with a lid and £40 without.
So the lorry mechanic was stunned when more than 1,500 people tried to buy the caskets. The demand from ghoulish Scots was so strong, Mark was forced to turn his mobile off.
Some buyers wanted to use the coffins as props or for upcoming Halloween festivities, while one woman intended to turn hers into a book case.
The dad-of-two bought the coffins from a retired funeral director while he was negotiating the price of a hearse for his bizarre racing hobby.
Mark captioned his advert: “Selection of around 12 coffins, some have matching lids. Been used for various Halloween parties so some have fake blood stains on them.
“Mostly quite shabby condition as they rattle about in the shed from year to year, perfect for Halloween parties or just for a laugh.
“£40 for ones without a lid, £45 with a lid. Can also deliver at extra cost if you don’t have a car big enough.”
Mark told his local paper: “I put them up for sale mainly because I was getting a bit of stick off my mum as they had been stored at her house for the last 12 months.
“I only thought I’d sell two or three, but since putting them online the whole thing has gone mental.
“I’ve had to switch my mobile off, it’s just not stopped bleeping with messages, I’ve had over 1500 since the weekend.”
Mark added that the buyers had a wide range of ideas of how they would use their new coffins. He said: “Never in a million years did I expect this level of interest, but people want them for Halloween parties.
“One lady wanted one to be made into a book case, and I sold three to a Dundee tour company who wanted them as props.”
Mark also offered to deliver coffins due to their size, and gave one buyer more than she bargained for. He said: “As they are bigger than people think I offered to deliver and took one to a lady in Methil, however she and the neighbours got a bit of a fright when I rolled up outside her house with the hearse and started off loading the coffin.”
Mark said today: “When I turned the phone back on on Sunday it was pinging constantly for an hour. It was absolutely mental, I couldn’t believe I’d got that much of a response.
“I’d posted saying I’d be away over the weekend, but people were commenting asking where I was or if anyone had heard back from me, it was crazy.
“Thankfully they’re all sold now, but I’m still getting messages about them because I forgot to take it down.”
The HGV-mechanic used to take part in banger racing at Cowdenbeath Racewall, Fife, and he always used hearses as his vehicle of choice. At one point, he had a collection of nine hearses.
Mark said he gave up his racing career to settle down. He added: “I was getting married, and saving up for a house, so something had to give. It had to be the racing.”
Mark made the news earlier this year when it emerged he was selling a batman themed hearse for sale on the social media site in September.
He posted the advert after his wife ordered him to get rid of it. Mark decided he also wanted to create his own spiderman van – and he wasn’t allowed both.
The show car, which was up for sale for £2,000, contained a spooky skeleton inside, a batman logo and a smoke machine.
