What a wicked web they weave. Wicked, as in cool. And icky.
Kevin and Traci Penner are responsible for what may well be the largest spider youāll see anywhere. Itās suspended in a massive web in front of the house the couple bought in Cloverdale in 1984, at 6223 184th Street.
Kevin, 62, made his creepy crawly masterpiece from scratch.
āItās all scrap material and salvaged material that Iāve come across, and sort of built onto it year after year.ā
The autumn weather appears to be arachnophobic ā the wind storms have not been kind.
āIāve put it up three times this year now,ā Kevin says of his macabre Halloween display. āIt tears it apart. The web is a backing rod, the foam rod that they put between concrete slabs when theyāre building, so itās not terribly strong. Itās a lot stronger than youād think, but the wind does take a toll on it.ā
People are always dropping by, snapping photos. The giant spider display lights up at night, with fluid traveling up a cable to the big black bugās mouth-parts, like itās sucking the juices out of its victim.
By day, Kevin works at a testing lab for building products while wife Traci, 57, runs a geocaching business out of their home. They also run a Scouts group in Cloverdale.
Their Halloween display also features a cemetery, a skeleton lounging in a tree, a big dangly bat, skull heads and more.
āThe graveyard is fun,ā Traci says.
She bought the bat in Gastown, and recalls getting some quizzical stares from people as she cradled the furry thing in her arms downtown.
āThe spider house is what weāre referred to,ā Traci says. āAnd because itās old and set back, at other times of the year itās a āhaunted house.āā
Why do they do it?
āBecause heās crazy,ā Traci chuckles.
āItās fun,ā Kevin replies.
Interestingly, Traci admits sheās āterrifiedā of spiders.
āThe big hairy ones that wear the army boots. The roof up inside the porch, thereās a big one that lives there. Iāll leave him there because heās eating bugs. I respect them, what they do. But heās only there this time of the year. When itās colder heāll move into the house, Iām sure.ā
āThe basement is giant hairy spiders, so I donāt go in the basement.ā
When the eight-legged star of their Halloween display ā itās probably about nine feet long, or more ā is not scaring the pants off of passersby, Kevin folds it up and stores it between the washer and dryer in their basement, until the next Halloween.
āHeās stores it beside the washer and the dryer, so I donāt wear my glasses when I go into the basement,ā Traci says.
Sheās pretty sure there are no other spiders of like size down there.
āIf there are, I donāt want to know about them.ā
And we had to ask, does their giant display spider have a name?
Kevin and Traci look at one another. Nope.
±į³¾³¾ā¦
How about, āScary Gary?ā
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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