Grab a clipboard. The ghosts are waiting for their reviews.
Your mission
The Best in Street Crown
Walk your loop, score every decorated house you pass, then gather your panel and vote on one champion. Finish the night by quietly leaving your handmade Best in Street award at the winner's door.
Bonus challenge: Add silly runner-up titles called out on the walk home, like Most Likely to Haunt a Mailbox or Best Use of Fake Cobwebs.
Grab your favorite people and a printed scorecard, then walk your neighborhood after dark judging every Halloween display you pass. Who has the creepiest skeleton? The best fog machine? At the end, your crew picks a winner and sneaks a handmade Best in Street award onto their doorstep.
Somewhere on your block, a neighbor spent all weekend wiring up a cackling witch and stringing orange lights across the porch. Tonight, they finally get the judges they deserve. You'll walk a loop of nearby streets with flashlights and scorecards, rating each display for spookiness, creativity and wow factor. You don't need to know anything about decorating, just which porch makes you gasp. Then your panel argues it out and crowns one house the champion.
Your neighbors put up all those spiders and tombstones hoping somebody would notice. Walking the street with friends, pointing and shrieking at the good ones, turns their hard work into a real show. And when the winner opens the door to find a handmade award, the whole street gets a little friendlier. Somebody out there is about to feel like a Halloween legend.
Top gear to make this quest great.
Pull it off
Lights up your scorecard and helps drivers see your group in the dark.
Makes your Best in Street award sturdy enough to survive a doorstep overnight.
Gives you a steady surface for scoring and makes you look like a real critic.
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Your judging panel is about to become the most important critics on the block. Essentials: a printed scorecard for each judge, a pen or pencil, a flashlight or headlamp, and card stock plus markers for the award. Handy extras: a clipboard so scoring is easy on the move, a reflective vest or armband so drivers see you, and a ribbon or gold star stickers to make the award look official. Pick a route on sidewalks and stay off private lawns.
A good quest stays a good story. These are general notes; your gear's manual, the venue's rules and local law come first.
Every critic needs credentials. Print a scorecard for each judge with spots for spookiness, creativity and wow factor, each scored out of 5. Clip it to a metal clipboard with a latch that snaps shut by itself, so your scores stay put even on a windy night. Hand out pens, check flashlights, and agree on a loop of streets about 20 to 40 minutes long. Give your panel a name, like the Pumpkin Patrol or the Ghoul Guild, so it feels official.
Time to walk the beat. At each decorated house, stop on the sidewalk, take a good look, and score it quietly so nobody sways your vote. Switch your headlamp to its red light so you can read your scorecard without washing out the spooky glow of the decorations. Listen for spooky sound effects, look for flickering lights, and hunt for little surprises tucked into bushes. Point out the details you love so everyone gets to see them.
Here comes the twist. Before you finish your loop, each judge picks one house they think everyone underrated and leads the panel back to defend it. Can you talk your crew into bumping up a score? Bring the drama. A good speech about a lonely glowing jack-o'-lantern can change everything.
Huddle up under a streetlight and add up your scores. Read out your top three houses in reverse order to build suspense. Close call? Settle it with a quick show of hands. Then draw your Best in Street award on card stock with the date, a doodle of the winning display, and a kind note from the panel. Finish it with a shiny gold foil star sticker or two so it sparkles like a real trophy.
This is the best part. Walk back to the winning house, tuck the award under the door mat or tape it to the door, and hurry back to the sidewalk. Want to knock and hand it over in person instead? Go for it, and watch their face light up. Then cheer your panel on the walk home.
You just gave your street its very own Halloween awards show. Snap a photo of the winning house with its award, then plan next year's rematch to see if they can defend the crown.
You bring the curiosity. We've found the tools.
Pull it off
Lights up your scorecard and helps drivers see your group in the dark.
Makes your Best in Street award sturdy enough to survive a doorstep overnight.
Thick, sturdy paper in bright colors.
Get on Amazon · $17.85 — Card stockwhat to look for & our pick →
Gives you a steady surface for scoring and makes you look like a real critic.
A flat board with a clip to hold your scorecard.
Get on Amazon · $25.99 — Clipboardwhat to look for & our pick →
Helps cars spot your panel from far away on darker streets.
A lightweight vest with shiny strips that glow in headlights.
Get on Amazon · $38.99 — Reflective safety vestwhat to look for & our pick →
Make your handmade award look like a real prize.
Shiny foil star stickers.
Get on Amazon · $5.39 — Gold star stickerswhat to look for & our pick →RELATED GEAR GUIDE
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