Scot Harvest is talking a mile a minute. Check that. Make it 26 miles, 285 yards a minute. That would be a marathon. But the 60-year-old Vallejo plumber can’t help himself.
It’s Halloween. And Harvest — and his wife, Sherri — transform as a seemingly harmless couple at Russell and Steffan streets and become the neighborhood’s celebrated gruesome twosome.
An 8-foot mother spider, pet cemetery, pirate bludgeoned with a sword, skeleton in a coffin, and — new this year — babies carrying a corpse. And that’s just the front yard. Then there’s the backyard of a rotting body covered in roaches, witch’s kitchen, American Gothic pair of skeletons, skulls galore, and, thank-you COVID-19, a long “candy slide” delivery system.
And to frighten any fowl-a-phobe, 14 live chickens. But they’re only around for the eggs.
It’s all up for scrutiny Halloween night when the Harvests give a guided tour from 5 to 9 p.m., maintaining pandemic protocols of social distancing which could be challenging when in previous years, “people were lined up like at the bank,” Sherri said.
With limited Halloween competition this year, the Harvests expect their ghoulish exhibit to expand from the usual 300 visitors to 500. Gone are the days of costly “family size” candy bars. There are bills to pay, though Scot insists when it comes to financing his house of horrors, he’s mister frugal.
“It can be expensive, but I am the king of cheap,” Scot said.
“Because he married me,” Sherri noted. “I don’t buy anything before Halloween. I got to the after-Halloween sales and get everything for half off.”
There’s nothing half-anything about the display of the dead at the Harvest home. It’s a frolic that begins in November with the basement converted into a ghoulish workshop.
“We both love it .. but he’s like me on steroids” when it comes to Halloween passion, Sherri said.
“I’m just a kid at heart,” Scot acknowledged. “And I love costumes … Pirate Festival .. Renaissance Faire … any chance to put on a costume, I’m a happy camper.”
It’s not about the fear factor, Scot insisted.
“I’m not a horror fan. Horror is not my thing,” he said. “I don’t consider this horror. This is just creepy fun.”
The decorating had been so impressive in previous years, the Harvests were asked to work on Nightmare Island, formerly at the Mare Island Preserve. Proudly, Scot hinted that the only team in Team Harvest is the couple.
“She’s one of the prop builders. I’m one of the prop builders. There’s no one else,” smiled Scot.
There’s some original stuff happening — the PVC pipe “candy slide” debuts — and yes, Scot said, some ideas are “borrowed.” When he drives around Vallejo and elsewhere, he can’t help but feel the ghoulish grip of inspiration by someone’s Halloween yard.
“I come in there pretending I’m being nice and giving them kudos. But I’m spying,” grins Scot, taking pleasure when an adult gets shaken by something on the Harvest tour.
For Sherri, the plaudits happened recently as she worked on the front yard of black painted PVC pipe that comes off as a pretty darn real fence.
“I’m out putting it up and a lady comes by and says, ‘Don’t fix your fence yet … keep it for Halloween.’ She thought it was a broken down wrought iron fence. That was a compliment,” Sherri said.
The Harvests obviously delight in explaining each decaying corpse; each method of their mirthful madness.
“A strobe light makes it look like roaches are moving,” Sherri said. “It’s creepy.”
The Harvests weren’t going to be deterred this year, COVID-19 or not. While some cities have banned trick-or-treating entirely or eliminated community-sponsored events, the Harvests merely adapt.
“You can’t cancel Halloween. To me, there’s always an acceptable level,” Scot said.
The level of acceptability appears by the public seems to be high this year — perhaps more than the Harvests imagined.
“My daughter lives in Vallejo and says, ‘Mom, you need to buy more candy.’ We just really spread the word,” said Sherri, formerly with the Greater Vallejo Recreation Department.
Halloween will be a family affair for the Harvests, with three generations in costumes taking part as the skeleton crew.
“We’ll have family members cackling, but nobody is jumping out at anybody,” Sherri assured.
Scot said he does need to challenge himself every year.
“We move things, change things, do alterations. Every once in a while, I’ll come up with a brand new thing. Like babies carrying corpses. Little creepy, scary things,” Scot said. “You always shoot for the instinctual primordial scare: heights … spiders … dark … apparently babies doing creepy things is primordial.”
It’s no surprise to anyone that getting into costume and turning the yard into a Halloween attraction has become Scot’s annual obsessions.
“Oh my God, no. This is right on the trajectory for me,” he said. “The older I get, the more eccentric I get and the more I’m able to afford kid toys I couldn’t afford when I was 20.”
Halloween has likewise been fun for Sherri, fondly remembering dressing up as a child for her trick-or-treating.
“When I was in sixth grade, I dressed up as Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies,” Sherri smiled.
Now that’s frightening.
Local Halloween happenings:
• Friday, “Boo! Dash & Drive,” GVRD, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., 395 Amador St.
• Halloween, 5 to 9 p.m., Scot and Sherri Harvest host a socially distanced backyard tour, Russell and Steffan streets, Vallejo.
• Halloween, 11 to 1 p.m., Calvalcade Carnival, The Hill, 210 Locust Dr., Vallejo. Drive-through, costumes and car decoration suggested, games, candy, prizes, thehill.com.
• Halloween, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Six Flags Boo 2020 Marine World Experience.
• Halloween, 2 to 4 p.m., Mira Theatre Guild presents the film, “Night of the Living Dead,” free admission, free parking. Concessions available, COVID-19 protocols, 51 Daniels Ave., Vallejo, (707) 552-400.
• Halloween, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., Halloween Sip & Shop, Vendor Party, Chris’ Club, 656 Benicia Road, Vallejo, $20, 21 and older, (707) 552-2916.