The Santa Rosa couple transforms their Hogwarts home for a Harry Potter themed Halloween

Harry Potter faces the basilisk that Steffany Magid and Bobby Beck created from hula hoops, chicken wire and trash bags for Halloween at their Skyhawk home in Santa Rosa on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)

For Steffany Magid and Bobby Beck, the countdown to Halloween begins around Easter, when the couple begins planning their next fall production.

While the rest of the world goes through the Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day celebrations, Magid and Beck focus on the night of terror. It will take them a good six months to design, build and install the sets for their own neighborhood blockbuster in time for the October 1st premiere.

Each year, visitors to her home on Marsh Hawk Drive in the Skyhawk neighborhood of Santa Rosa's Rincon Valley are treated to an immersive experience based on a major Hollywood film.

Her X-rated home visits are elaborately staged with vignettes that may raise a few goosebumps and a pinch of astonishment, but rarely provoke blood-curdling screams.

This year they're transporting trick-or-treaters to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to unravel the mysteries of the Chamber of Secrets alongside Harry Potter and his friends.

Amidst impressive creatures like a giant basilisk – a giant snake with venomous fangs and a murderous gaze – many quirky “Easter eggs” from the film are worked into the experience.

Trick-or-treating can begin in the front right corner of the lawn, where the story begins with a flying Ford Anglia, headlights still glowing, stuck in the branches of a Whomping Willow.

You can run through the courtyard or approach it linearly, moving to the left as the action progresses, past Aragog and his offspring. He is Hagrid's giant Acromantula who lives in the Forbidden Forest and has a taste for human flesh. (Its extended legs are made from Dollar Tree pool noodles, a popular building material.)

Then it moves on to the classroom and passes the front of Magid and Beck's garage, where the narcissistic Professor Gilderoy Lockhart with his fabulous hair is holding court.

For Halloween, Magid and Beck have conjured up many details from the world of Harry Potter, including a copy of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class quiz on Lockhart that Harry, Hermione, Ron Weasely, and the other underage wizards in training must pass.

Even the candy, stacked in a cauldron, is Hershey's bars and kisses with a Harry Potter theme.

“It gives us great joy to share with people the creations we've worked so hard on,” said Beck, a retired film animator and entrepreneur who brings years of experience in home improvement projects, such as tackling the challenge of building a castle facade , which is large enough to cover the front of his house.

Halloween attraction a selling point for real estate

Magid and Beck have been Halloween fans for years. When they were looking for a new home somewhere in Sonoma County in 2020, attending Halloween was at the top of their wish list.

“We lived in Oakland before moving here,” said Magid, who graduated from Santa Rosa High School. “But we didn’t have much of a garden, so we planted it in our house every year. When we were looking for houses and the agent said, 'Oh, this neighborhood is a big hit on Halloween,' we thought, 'Yeah!' Add that to the list of pluses.”

With its safe, sidewalked streets and high Halloween turnout, their part of Skyhawk is a magnet for trick-or-treaters.

Magid and Beck estimate that there are 300 to 400 children each year who are drawn not only to the candy, but also to the cinematic magic they create using common building materials and clever repurposing of everyday objects.

During her first year in the neighborhood, her theme was “Beetlejuice.” In the second year it was “Ghostbusters.” Last year they chose Pirates of the Caribbean, complete with a pirate ship.

“We make everything from scratch every year,” explains Beck, who takes care of the set construction, while Magid is responsible for props, creatures and costumes.