As October came to Toluca Lake, front yards once quiet and familiar transformed into eerie realms of laughter, lights and ghoulish imagination. The neighborhood’s ninth annual Halloween House-Decorating Contest, sponsored by Tina Smith Homes, once again turned the community into a stage for fright and delight, celebrating the creativity and camaraderie that make this tradition a seasonal favorite.
Each year, the contest invites residents to conjure up their most creative, spooky and spectacular home displays — and 2025’s entries did not disappoint. From tongue-in-cheek horror scenes to movie-inspired artistry, the results were a neighborhood-wide celebration of creativity and community spirit.
On Forman Avenue, first-time entrant Charles Haid and his family claimed the Rookie of the Year award for their original display, “Haunted Hospice.” Their front yard became a macabre nursing home where skeleton patients lounged in wheelchairs and walkers, one reading an AARP magazine while another waited for “treatment” from a ghoulishly grinning attendant. With its morbid humor and clever detail, the display proved that even first-timers can make a bone-chilling impression.
Just a few blocks away on Biloxi Avenue, Priscilla Torres and her family took home the Master of Cuteness award for a bright, family-friendly spectacle featuring a towering inflatable clown archway that welcomed visitors into an inflatable world of pumpkins, smiling ghosts and spooky cats. Bathed in colorful lights and drifting fog, Torres’ yard was pure Halloween whimsy and an irresistible stop for trick-or-treaters of all ages.
Meanwhile, Valerie, Chris, Theresa and Trenton Ofstad of Ledge Avenue won the Most Spine-Tingling prize for their jaw-dropping “Courtside Killers” display. Their yard was an immersive fright zone, populated by glowing skeletons, horror-movie villains — from Freddy Krueger to Michael Myers — evil jack-o-lanterns and red-lit terror. Every section of the front yard revealed another gruesome surprise, earning the display its well-deserved reputation as the block’s biggest scream.
After winning last year’s Best Craftsmanship award, Gregg Birkhimer and Evan Mitchell continued their reign of creativity with this year’s Most Imaginative Theme award. Their “Nightmare on Clybourn” display re-created the eerie magic of The Nightmare Before Christmas with swirling lights, hanging pumpkins, mischievous characters and glowing backdrops that felt straight out of a Tim Burton dreamscape.
Rounding out the winners, Haig Youredjian, Greg Weaver and their children, Giana and Jack, captured the Most Masterful Execution award with a Navajo Avenue display that could rival a movie set. Towering figures, luminous tombstones and a radiant angel poised above the home brought drama and elegance in equal measure, turning his property into a glowing gothic masterpiece that enchanted visitors.
Whether whimsical or wicked, each display reflected the creativity and camaraderie that define Toluca Lake, a community where Halloween combines fright with fun, friendship and the shared joy of imagination.