What’s scarier? Marriage or Halloween?
For Frank and Dawn Lott, both 48, “neither” is the answer. They were married in August, and are celebrating Halloween with a passion usually reserved for a significant other.
The interesting twist for the Lotts is how their marriage is connected to Halloween.
The couple got married under a black arch that now hangs over their sidewalk entryway, splattered with fake blood, and surrounded by their spooky front yard at 918 N.E. Fourth Ave., Camas. The arch was covered with flowers in August for their wedding. Now, it holds skeleton skulls and black drapes.
“Til death do us part,” Dawn Lott joked.
The couple is part of the October contingent who like to dress up their house for Halloween. It’s difficult to say how many people go all out on decorations in Clark County, but it’s hard to go a few blocks without encountering some spook-filled front yard.
The Lotts, who were childhood friends before reconnecting romantically about four years ago, have created “his” and “hers” sides of the lawn. Frank Lott has the right side, and Dawn Lott has the left — true matrimony.
Dawn Lott is generally the most enthusiastic about decorating for Halloween, but she recruited her husband to do his own side this year. While she wants everything up by Oct. 1, Frank Lott admitted to dragging his feet a bit this year.
He still built a wood coffin in about a week — perhaps, in a morbid manner, as he used his own body’s dimensions — that contains a Wild West-looking skeleton, with a rat perched on its shoulder, a cigar tucked in its mouth and a fake bottle of booze by its feet. He also built tombstones from scratch. He said it’s hard to keep up with his competitive wife.
“I really wanted to get involved with it this year for her,” Frank Lott said. “She inspires me. She pushes me to take it to the next level.”
On Dawn Lott’s side she has an “It” setup in honor of the Stephen King book that has been remade into movies. Pennywise the Dancing Clown is stuck under some grates, resembling a sewer with the signature slogan, “We all float,” above the grates.
“In my house, it’s not a holiday. It’s a lifestyle,” said Dawn Lott, who along with her husband are part of the Northwest Haunters Association, a group of folks who decorate their driveways or front yards for Halloween.
Peggy Moore of Vancouver has been decorating her house for about 30 years, and seems to add more and more each year.
It takes her more than 120 batteries to fully power her setup at 9702 N.E. 81st St., Vancouver. She puts everything up on Halloween and takes it down the same day. She transforms her carport and the area around it into a haunted house. She also has multiple inflatables, including an 8-foot-tall witch.
“You can’t go two steps without someone screaming at you,” Moore joked.
Moore and her husband, John, dress up as Mickey and Minnie Mouse each year. One year they tried to be wizards, but it disappointed the neighborhood kids too much.
Lindsay Yousey, who lives at 1823 N.W. 43rd Ave., Camas, with her husband Marc and two kids, said one of the best things about having her own home is that she can decorate it however she sees fit for Halloween. The Youseys built a 75-foot-long graveyard fence for their decorations. They also board up their windows, turn out the lights and put a single orange candle in each window.
Yousey said she likes bringing an element of spookiness to the neighborhood — Halloween means “it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have a little fear.” When the Youseys first moved to Camas about six years ago, they only had seven trick-or-treaters. Last year, they had around 135 kids.
“I love that it brings people to your house,” she said.
Jim Mains, who lives at 4616 N.W. Franklin St., Vancouver, knows the feeling all too well.
Mains has become a staple in Clark County for his Halloween decorations. Even when he was a kid, Mains said he enjoyed scaring trick-or-treaters more than trick-or-treating himself. This year, his decorations were in jeopardy due to home renovations.
Mains nearly had a construction route in front of his house, which would have killed the festivities. Instead, the crew built a makeshift road behind his house so that it wouldn’t affect his Halloween routine — a bullet dodged for Mains. The show must go on.
“It’s fun getting kids out in the neighborhood,” Mains said. “In our neighborhood, we have so many people who get involved because we have so many trick-or-treaters. Everybody is out meeting their neighbors.”
The Lotts have become similarly known in Camas for their decorations.
Little kids from a nearby church day care will stop to watch them put up decorations. And when things weren’t quite running on schedule earlier this month, one neighborhood kid asked: “How come you’re not decorated?”
The Lotts are planning even bigger things next year. They want an apocalyptic-themed setup, with zombies crawling up the house, and will add a realistic culvert for Pennywise.
“It will be better next year,” Frank Lott said. “I can’t wait until next year.”
“Look at you getting excited,” Dawn Lott replied. “My little black heart is sharing with you.”
