Scott Cook appears to be in perfect health, yet the 44-year-old North Albany resident keeps a coffin handy in his home's garage - plus several grim reapers, giant bats, tombstones, a cemetery entrance and a mausoleum.

There are even a couple flying ghost heads.

Cook's macabre collection has a purpose. From 6 to 9 p.m. tonight and on Halloween Saturday, the public is invited to drop by 2233 Cluster Oak Drive in North Albany to view his impressive Halloween display and donate to the Jackson Street Youth Shelter in Corvallis, which serves homeless children in Benton and Linn counties.

"I've been doing this for about eight years," explained Cook, who is a maintenance supervisor for ATI Wah Chang. "It all started when one of my daughters asked me to cut out a haunted house. It has progressed from there. I'm one of those people who just can't stop once I get started."

Cook's aptitude with tools and machinery is evident. He uses thin plywood, foam and every-day household items to craft his scary props.

"The black metal gates on the cemetery entrance were the headboard and footboard of my daughter's bed that she was throwing away," Cook said. Handles on a casket that contains a skeleton - nicknamed Bucky Bones - once held paper towels.

One of Cook's favorite creatures is a ghoul wearing a dark-brown robe that shoots 11 feet into the air with assistance from a hidden plastic air cylinder. A small electric motor pulls a thin cable to cause a couple of ghost heads to prance across the home's front yard.

Black lights and rotating colored lights lend the appropriate eerie mood, as does a thunder and lightning soundtrack played over speakers.

"I start in July," Cook said. "Then, it takes only a couple days to set it up."

Cook and his wife, Tammee - an Astoria native he met while serving in the Navy - had a similar display in Medford and once gave out 80 pounds of candy in a single evening.

Cook enjoys the challenge of making something useful out of virtually nothing. He created a fog machine for about $50 instead of paying $1,800 for a professional model. He calls it "Franken Chiller."

He is already planning another prop for Halloween 2010 - a horse-drawn hearse.

"I enjoy doing this," the Dayton, Ohio, native and Cleveland Indians fan said. "I get to utilize my skills to create things not everybody is going to do. Plus, the donations will go toward a good cause."