When Kate Armstrong bent down to pick up yet another plastic spider ring left lying around the house, she made a mental note not to buy the little nuisances next Halloween.

The remnants of the bag full of novelty jewellery pieces were turning up everywhere in her Kiama home, this time it was on a towel in her laundry.

Kate Armstrong, with her daughter Lake, got bitten by a funnel web spider after she picked it up off the floor thinking it was a Halloween novelty. Credit:Sylvia Liber

But this black creepy crawly captivating her puppy's attention was no plastic spider.

It was the real thing and the pain it caused was excruciating – even life threatening.