The Dean family decorated their home on East Grand Avenue like this in 2017 for the annual Riverside Neighborhood Halloween contest.
Kaitlyn Price
EVERETT — If you find yourself in the Riverside Neighborhood in north Everett, you will probably notice some residents have went above and beyond with Halloween decorations.
This is because for the past 13 years, Riverside neighbors have held an annual Halloween decoration contest.
The community takes this event seriously and three volunteer judges are selected to drive around the neighborhood and rate each house. The winner of the contest usually gets a plaque as well as Halloween-themed items.
“We like to pick winners who are maybe new to the community or have maybe never won before,” said neighborhood copntest organizer Pamela Lynn.
Judging begins on Oct. 24 and ends on Oct. 31, with the winners being decided shortly after.
The judges score the houses based on seven categories: best theme, best day time display, best night time display, best harvest themed, best creativity, best scariest and best block.
The winner is picked by the judges but is also guided by nominations from community members. In order to win, a candidate must have not won in the same category within the past three years.
Every year a theme for the contest is decided , with this year’s theme being “Cats and Bats.”
The community keeps the decorations family friendly so the entire neighborhood can enjoy the event.
According to Lynn, the community had a record number of participants. Lynn expects a massive turn out from the neighborhood this year, and is excited to see what ideas community members have come up with.
