Irvington Halloween: the 2026 winners

Happy Halloween, and welcome to Historic Irvington, on the east side of Indianapolis. This neighborhood has held a Halloween festival since 1927, and every October its neighbors turn their yards into haunts. This year the festival's judges visited the top houses in person and crowned three winners in each of six categories: Legends, for past champions; Rookie, for first-timers; Classic Halloween; Scary; Most Creative; and Best Theme. That's eighteen winning homes, and we'll visit all eighteen, in about forty-five minutes.

I'll tell you what each display looked like this season, so you may spot something new. These are people's homes, so please stay on the street or the sidewalk, and keep it friendly. And if one of these is your home and you'd rather it weren't on the tour, there's an email address on the tour page, and it comes off the same day. Now, let's go find some skeletons.

This yard took third place in the Scary category, and it comes with a motto: welcome to the Good Time Graveyard, where the dead never sleep.

First, the warning signs. Yellow Do Not Enter tape crisscrosses the lawn in big X's, strung between skulls on stakes. Message received. We'll look from here.

Behind the tape, skeletons are everywhere. One waves hello with glowing blue eyes. A crowd of little ones gathers by a row of jack-o'-lanterns that glow orange after dark. Look for the wooden platform on the grass with bony hands reaching up between the boards, and a hanging cage with a skeleton crammed inside and a pink spider for company.

Then find the band. On a hay bale, a skeleton in a black top hat is shredding on a white electric guitar. Next to him, a bony hand pokes out of the grass, throwing the rock-on sign. At his feet sit three potion bottles: crow's feet, spider legs and vampire ashes.

The dead never sleep here. With a guitar like that, the neighbors might not either.

Step right up. This one took first place in the Legends category, the division where past first-place winners go head to head. So this is the champion of champions, and it's a circus: Circus Diabolique.

The ringmaster's welcome sets the tone. It promises terrifying sights that will haunt you till the day you die. No pressure.

Look for the giant clown face. It has one huge yellow eye, a round red nose, and a grin full of teeth so wide that the mouth becomes a doorway, hung with a shimmering curtain. Beside it stands a tall clown in a ruffled collar and a polka-dot suit, one hand raised high, like he's announcing the next act. Or waving you in. With clowns, it's hard to tell.

The winning photo was taken after dark, with everything glowing purple and blue and strings of little lights all around. Down low, a sign reads Danger, Restricted Area. Good advice. We'll admire it from here.

Every circus makes a big promise out front. This one keeps it.

This one took second place in the Classic Halloween category, and its own description is just two words: spooky, inviting. That's about right. Welcome to Bob and Dan's Haughty Haunt.

Start with the iron gate under the big tree. Gold letters across the top spell Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, with little skulls on the spikes. Skeletons climb the gateposts, and a giant purple spider with red eyes clings to the trunk. Down in front, look for a stone figure with no head. In Sleepy Hollow, that's practically a celebrity.

Behind the gate, the headstones include Ichabod Crane and Washington Irving, the author who wrote him. Nice touch, since this whole neighborhood is named for Washington Irving.

Then take in the rest of the bright green house: a witch in purple sailing on her broom, a pumpkin-headed monster with long, grabby claws, a cauldron of green bubbles, and inflatable jack-o'-lanterns all along the brick walk. Look up, and even the roof has a stack.

Classic Halloween, done big, and done with a wink.

This one took third place in the Legends category, the division for past first-place winners. Welcome to Weatherford and McDermott's House of the Dead.

Start with the graveyard out front, and read the headstones. They're the best part. There's Washington Irving again, and in front of him, Ichabod Crane, carved with a galloping horse and rider. There's the poet John Clare, with a line about how words are poor receipts for what time hath stole away. And then the puns. Look for Myra Remains, and Willy B. Bach. Say them out loud. You'll get it.

Up on the porch, a hooded reaper with a silver medallion leans on the railing like he's keeping score, while skeletons in white shrouds drift among the stones. After dark, the whole yard glows red.

Elsewhere in the yard, look for a three-headed dog with glowing eyes, guarding a tree marked Hades in Greek letters. And a headstone for Prince Prospero, straight out of Edgar Allan Poe.

A graveyard with a reading list. In Irvington, that feels just right.

This one took first place for Best Theme, and the theme is the board game Clue. Who killed Mr. Boddy? You're the detective.

Look at the porch first. That big gold-framed portrait of a gentleman in a black suit is our victim, Mr. Boddy. The label credits the Indiana Repertory Theatre's production of Clue.

Now line up the suspects across the yard. They're all skeletons, dressed in their colors. A yellow blazer and a sun hat: that's Colonel Mustard. A wild white wig and a black dress with a lace collar: Mrs. White. Then teal for Mrs. Peacock, green for Mr. Green, red for Miss Scarlet, and purple for Professor Plum.

The display promises Irvington-themed weapons and locations, so keep your eyes open. Look for a cutout of a steam locomotive, a skeleton ram tangled in ivy, and a historical marker that reads, On this day in sixteen eighty-nine, stuff happened.

The display asks you to help Wadsworth the butler crack the case and submit your verdict. Make your accusation. Just not about anyone in the car.

This one took third place in the Rookie category, for first-year decorators. Not bad for a maiden voyage. Welcome to the Spooky Seas.

Look for the pirate ship run aground on the front lawn. A skeleton captain in a tricorn hat and a red coat stands at the wheel, a cannon pokes out over the bow, and a dark mermaid figurehead leads the way. Above it all, a tattered pirate flag flies, with a skull and crossed swords.

But the ship is in trouble. Giant purple tentacles, covered in bright green spots, are rising out of the grass on both sides. Something big lives under this lawn.

Now look at the porch, where we've gone deep underwater. A net of blue lights is strung across the front, and see-through jellyfish shimmer from the ceiling. Look for the skeleton anglerfish with a little lantern dangling in front of its teeth, and a few bony fish swimming past the door.

For a first year, that's a whole ocean. Imagine what washes up next October.

This one took first place in the Classic Halloween category, and every piece here is a flat cutout, painted by hand in that bright, old-fashioned style, like the paper decorations that used to hang in classroom windows.

Start up high. The two little windows in the roof have become a pair of giant green cat eyes, glowing down at the street. Below them, a huge black cat head grins from the porch post, with a row of very pointy white teeth.

Now take the tour. A green-faced witch peeks around the corner of the porch. A purple bat hangs upside down. An owl perches on the railing, and a little arched-back cat balances on a jack-o'-lantern. Three more pumpkins stack into a tower, and a tiny haunted house stands by the walk. And on the far side of the lawn, purple tentacles are rising out of the grass. Nobody knows what they're attached to. Nobody wants to.

The house calls this a celebration of eighty years of Halloween in Irvington. Happy birthday, indeed.

This one took second place in the Legends category, the division for past champions. Its motto: even in death, animals are our friends.

Look for the archway over the front walk, studded with dozens of glowing orange eyes. Two red-winged gargoyles guard the steps from stone pedestals, with candles at their feet. And by the porch stands a giant skeleton in sunglasses, keeping an eye on things. Or at least an eye socket.

Now go animal hunting. Skeleton dogs on leashes are out for a walk with their skeleton owners. A skeleton in a cowboy hat rides a bony horse. Skeleton flamingos stand around the tombstones, next to a barrel marked toxic waste. On the other side of the walk, a red car is loaded with skeleton passengers, and a couple of skeleton dinosaurs are sniffing around it.

Look up, too. Bat-winged skeletons are climbing the house, and a giant green winged creature hangs in the air above the tree.

Every pet in this yard is perfectly behaved. It helps that none of them need to be fed.

This one took third place in the Best Theme category, and the theme is the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Welcome to Hogsmeade.

Look for the castle archway over the front walk and a smiling little Harry holding a jack-o'-lantern by the entrance. Behind it, a row of hand-painted shopfronts lines the porch: The Three Broomsticks, with a little Butterbeer sign, Zonko's, Gladrags Wizardwear, and Honeydukes, the sweet shop. A signpost points the way to Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, Gringotts and, for the brave, Knockturn Alley.

On the lawn, tall Quidditch hoops glow with string lights, a broomstick flies past, and a giant purple web climbs the corner of the house. Then check the grass for wanted posters. Death Eaters are among us, and one of them has already been caught.

The display invites little wizards to stroll in past Harry, catch the Quidditch match and grab a Butterbeer, free. If it's open when you come by, go on in, and say hello to the little sign for Dobby. A good village remembers its friends.

This one took third place in the Most Creative category, and it's just across the street from the house we just heard. Welcome to the Tiki Boo Bar, where the party never ends, because nobody here has anywhere else to be.

Start with the limbo. A skeleton is stretched out under the limbo bar between two glowing lanterns. It's easier without muscles. Below it, a little campfire flickers in the grass.

Next to that, a skeleton in a glowing blue grass skirt has both arms in the air, dancing. Another one is kicked back in a camp chair with a lei around its neck, and more partygoers hang out on the porch.

Now find the tiki bar, wrapped in a grass skirt of its own. A skeleton in a flowered dress stands at the counter. Behind it, a huge orange-winged dragon looms over the bar, with fire glowing at its feet. That's the bartender. Don't order anything on the rocks.

It might be the most relaxed crowd in town.

This one won first place in the Rookie category, the division for first-year contestants. The idea: an abandoned drive-in that comes alive.

Look for the tall sign by the walk. Its two letter panels are shaped like coffins, and they spell out Drop Top Drive-In, with a marquee board underneath for the features. A drop top, by the way, is a convertible. Fitting, since none of these cars have roofs anymore, and the passengers have lost a lot more than that.

Now look at the lot. Rusty old cars and a pickup are parked across the lawn, all facing the house, and every seat is taken by a skeleton. A couple shares the front seat. Others watch from green and white lawn chairs, and a few have spread out on a blanket. The screen is the front of the house itself, and if the projector is running when you come by, there's a movie on.

Up front sits a junk pile of tires and bowling pins. Every drive-in has its regulars. These ones never leave.

This one took second place in the Scary category. It's called East Side 'Til I Die, because even the dead have east side pride.

Meet the gravedigger first. He's standing in the middle of the lawn with a lantern held high and a shovel in his other hand, surrounded by tombstones and scattered bones. Judging by his face, his work isn't staying buried.

And look at the house. One skeleton is climbing a tall pole. Others climb up the brick gables and over a ladder made of wooden pallets. In the arched doorway stands a tall, shaggy-haired ghoul, and a skeleton in a mail carrier's cap waits by the steps. Neither snow nor rain nor death, apparently.

Up on the porch, a pale ghost spreads its arms over a row of clowns, next to a witch with a broom. Below them, a pallet fence is lined with skulls and a sign that says Keep Out. A skeleton in a straw hat lounges right in front of it, ignoring the sign completely.

On this side of town, nobody really moves away.

This one took first place in the Scary category. Welcome to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Start with the fog, rolling across the whole yard in green and white. Near the house stands a tall, thin gentleman in a tricorn hat and a long brown coat. That's Ichabod Crane, the nervous schoolteacher, and he does not look ready for tonight.

Look for the little wooden structure with a lantern on each side. The owners call it a covered bridge. Then find the horse: a skeleton horse rearing up on its back legs, one red eye glowing, smoke pouring from its mouth. Its rider is a skeleton in a tricorn hat, head still attached. For now.

Behind a black iron fence is the graveyard: a gargoyle, a stone cross, and a tall cloaked figure in a beaked mask, holding up a lantern. Three jack-o'-lanterns grin from a bench, and the owners say the pumpkins talk.

And a little sign reads: Welcome to Sleepy Hollow Inn. Dead and Breakfast. Please call a head. Good advice. Keep yours close.

This one took first place in the Most Creative category. Welcome to The Shock-o-late Factory, where, in the owners' words, Skelly Wonka invites you to try to survive his factory tour and win the Grand Prize.

Your host waits by the iron garden arch: a skeleton in a purple coat, a flowered vest and a brown top hat, leaning on a cane. The porch has turned into a candy shop, with a Wonka Bar sign.

Now, the tour guests. One is stuck in a tall chocolate pipe, sealed in a clear tube. One in a red dress stands beside a Good Egg, Bad Egg scale, with golden eggs and a white goose. One has shrunk down to a tiny figure on a TV screen. Two in dark suits are floating up toward a giant fan in a cloud of bubbles. Someone drank the fizzy stuff.

All around: little helpers with bright green hair, giant gummy bears hanging from the tree, and candy-colored balls across the lawn.

Five guests on the tour, and so far only the candy is doing fine.

This one took second place in the Most Creative category. Welcome to Spooktoberfest, a graveyard Biergarten, as the owners put it.

Look for the blue-and-white diamond pennants strung across the yard with glowing string lights, and a sign that says Welcome to Oktoberfest. Someone has stuck the letters S, P, O on the front, so now it reads Spooktoberfest.

Find the band first: a skeleton in a green hat and leather shorts, eyes glowing red, squeezing a homemade green-and-red accordion.

Then find the party table, dressed in blue-and-white diamond cloth. Skeletons in lawn chairs raise their beer steins. One wears lederhosen. One has blonde braids and glowing red eyes. Giant pretzels are everywhere: on the table, leaning on the tombstones, even hanging from a bony wrist. A big black spider has climbed right onto the table to join the feast.

And down in the grass, a pair of bony arms is reaching for the table. Somebody never made it to their seat.

This party has clearly been going a while. Some guests are down to the bone. Prost!

This one took second place in the Rookie category. The display is Stranger Things, Hawkins, Indiana. As the owners put it, it's a Stranger Things display in its natural habitat, which was in fact Indiana.

Start at the sidewalk. Police sawhorses stand guard, one glowing red and one glowing blue, with caution tape, a Welcome to Hawkins sign and a Danger, Restricted Area sign. Huge white webs and black vines creep across the yard and up the walls, and two upstairs windows glow red.

Now look above the porch roof. The whole alphabet is painted there, strung with colorful holiday lights. And above that, by the attic windows, a figure floats in midair, sneakers dangling. Don't worry. Just a regular Indiana night.

Back on the ground, find the bicycle tangled in vines and red lights, a ghost in a white sheet hugging a box of frozen waffles, a grandfather clock on the porch, and missing-person posters along the railing.

The owners say there will be lots of candy and treats on Halloween night. And they add: come say hi.

This one took third place in the Classic Halloween category. It's called The Headless Horseman's Closet, and the owners explain it in one line: plenty of pumpkin heads for the horseman to choose.

So think of the yard as his wardrobe. On the lawn sits a giant inflatable jack-o'-lantern, taller than the bushes beside it, with a green stem and a wide, jagged grin. That one's for special occasions.

Now follow the curving walkway. Both sides are lined with little glowing jack-o'-lanterns on stakes, like runway lights leading up to the house. Orange lights trim the porch, and along the porch ledge sits a whole row of glowing pumpkins: tall ones, round ones, and towers stacked three high, every one with a different face. Some grin, some scowl, and one looks completely surprised.

On the front steps, orange and white pumpkins are piled up with pots of mums, and even the flower pots are jack-o'-lanterns.

No big scares here. Just a warm orange glow, and a lot of good choices for a rider who has lost his head.

This one took second place in the Best Theme category. Welcome to Pokémon and Pumpkins.

Start with the giants. A twelve-foot skeleton stands in the yard dressed as Ash Ketchum, in a red-and-white cap and a blue vest. Nearby is a fifteen-foot jack-o'-lantern with a curly green stem. And over the walkway rises an archway of stacked, snarling jack-o'-lanterns.

Now look closer. The owners hand painted life-sized Pokémon, and they're everywhere. A grinning purple ghost peeks out of the tree, which is wrapped in giant webbing with little green spiders. A cream-colored cat with a gold coin on its forehead dances on the lawn. Red-and-white Poké Balls sit in the grass, and one of them is actually a painted pumpkin. A sign says: Let's have a gourd time.

By the house, find the blacklight corner, where Koffing and Weezing glow purple among the jack-o'-lanterns, with fog machine bubbles.

And that's our tour. Thanks for riding along through eighteen winning houses in Historic Irvington, and thank you to every family who built one. If you had a favorite, vote for it on the tour page for Riders' Choice. Happy Halloween!