How to Tour the Candler Park and Lake Claire Halloween Decorating Contest After Dark

The Candler Park and Lake Claire Halloween Decorating Contest is in its seventh year, and its tour map goes up on the Candler Park Neighborhood Organization's contest page on Oct. 24. Official judging and neighbor voting run from Oct. 24 through Nov. 1, and winners are announced Nov. 2. That gives the contest nine nights of viewing, and the organizers have said plainly which hours count. Their tip for entrants is that well-lit night displays have historically won the most votes, because most neighbors drive around to see the displays after dark.

The contest has grown into a nighttime event, open to every address in two neighborhoods. The entry fees pay for neighborhood projects, and McLendon Avenue businesses put up the prizes. You don't need a skeleton in your yard to be part of it. A planned route after dark and a vote are enough.

From a Covid-era project to a neighborhood fundraiser

The CPNO describes the contest's start modestly: a small group of neighbors trying to spark joy during Covid, which has since grown into a celebration shared by Candler Park and Lake Claire. The early years show how much the format has changed.

1. 2020, the first contest. Voting ran through a linked online form, limited to one vote per person, across six award categories.
2. 2021. The contest kept the online form and spelled out that vote stacking was not allowed.
3. 2022, the third annual contest. A judging group called the "Boo Crew" picked three winners, and the prizes were Trees for Tuition gift cards.
4. 2026, the seventh annual contest. Official judging now runs alongside neighbor-sponsored voting, every entry carries a $25 registration fee, and prizes come from a group of local sponsors. The CPNO calls that sponsor lineup new this year.

The fee is what turned the contest into a fundraiser. The CPNO says the $25 goes directly to its improvement projects and events, and that all of it stays in the neighborhood. The organization's spring update from the Candler Park Conservancy listed a new pavilion downhill from the pool, which had City approval and was in design, and an active lawn with terraced amphitheater seating that was still in cost estimates and fundraising. That is the kind of park work neighborhood money supports, even though the contest page doesn't tie its fees to any one project.

The 2026 page gives the voting dates but not the ballot method. Check the page again on Oct. 24, when the map goes up, to see how votes are cast this year. The one-vote-per-person rule from 2020 was the first year's rule. It may not be this year's.

Why the map rewards the evening loop

The rules make it a nighttime contest. Entrants can register a house or a business, and anything from a single skeleton to a Stay-Puft-sized figure is welcome as long as it stays G-rated. Since organizers say lit displays have historically pulled the most votes, the strongest entries are the ones you can see from a slow-moving car or a sidewalk at 8 p.m.

The organizers also nudged one stretch in particular. The 2026 page asks neighbors to recruit the whole street for a full block display, adding "looking at you east McLendon." If east McLendon answers, it becomes the natural place to start your loop, and it sits right along the commercial blocks where the sponsors are.

For the route, wait for the official "tour of spooky homes" map on Oct. 24. Registration closes Oct. 22, so the map will show the full field. Because the contest covers both Candler Park and Lake Claire, the route crosses Clifton Road and the neighborhood line. A few practical points for a better tour:

• Go after full dark. The entries built to win are lit for night viewing.
• Spread it over more than one night. Nine nights of voting means you don't have to cover both neighborhoods in one evening.
• Drive slowly or walk. Organizers note that most neighbors drive the route. On residential streets full of other cars doing the same thing, walking a short section can make for a calmer evening.
• Vote before Nov. 1 ends. Winners are announced Nov. 2.

The prize table sits on McLendon

This year's prizes add up to $730 in gift cards and products. In 2022, the prizes were Trees for Tuition gift cards. Now they come from six businesses, and most of them are a short drive from the tour route. In the CPNO's listing order:

• Moog Gallery, $100 toward framing a photo of the winning display.
• Trees for Tuition, $150. The company runs pumpkin patches around Atlanta and delivers porch decor. Entrants who registered by Oct. 10 also got a coupon for a free carving pumpkin at any Trees for Tuition patch.
• Candler Park Market, $50.
• Sean's, $300, the largest single prize.
• Big Softie, $25.
• Wall Crawler Climbing, $105.

Two of the sponsors make an easy start to a tour night. Candler Park Market, at 1642 McLendon Ave. NE, runs a deli and stocks groceries, wine and beer. The contest page pitches it as the stop for anyone who runs out of treats or needs dinner to go. Sean's, at 1394 McLendon Ave., describes its food as scratch-made, seasonal and community-focused. If you're starting from the western end of the neighborhood, it's a sit-down dinner before the loop.

Big Softie is the one sponsor without a McLendon storefront today. Its soft serve, made with organic dairy and local ingredients, is sold in Summerhill, Old Fourth Ward and Poncey-Highland. The Poncey-Highland shop, at 632 N. Highland Ave., is the closest.

What is filling in around the tour route

The commercial strip at McLendon and Clifton has been adding tenants this year. That matters for a contest whose prizes and nearby stops depend on those storefronts.

Rough Draft Atlanta reported in July that Lucille's, a gift and personal-care shop from Kristen Eber, was open at the corner of Clifton Road and McLendon. Eber described the shop as a way to make gift-giving an art. The shop's own site lists its address as 1653E McLendon Ave.

Two more openings are planned a few doors away. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in May that the owners behind Little Tart and Big Softie were planning Midi, a Parisian-style sandwich concept, for the former Kelly's Closet space in Candler Park. What Now Atlanta gives Little Tart Bakeshop's planned address as 1643 McLendon Ave. NE, in the former Dr. Bombay's space. According to the CPNO's August meeting minutes, owner Sarah O'Brien was targeting a Nov. 1 opening. Midi's plans included sandwiches, salads, small bites, wine, cocktails and Big Softie soft serve. Its beer and wine license application was headed to an online neighborhood vote at the time of that meeting.

Nov. 1 is also the last night of contest voting. That date was a target set in August, not a confirmed opening. If it holds, though, Big Softie, already a contest sponsor, would have a counter on McLendon by the night the ballot closes.

Where the contest fits in the CPNO's fall

The contest is the CPNO's second big October event. Candler Park Fall Fest marked its 25th anniversary with a free festival. The event ran Oct. 3 and 4 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the park at 1500 McLendon Ave. NE. The Halloween contest stretches that same neighborhood effort across nine nights on residential streets. The CPNO's Nov. 16 monthly meeting at the Old Stone Church, 470 Candler Park Drive NE, is the first one after winners are announced on Nov. 2. Zoom attendance is also available.

Until then, the plan is simple. Check the map on Oct. 24, eat an early dinner at Sean's or grab takeout from Candler Park Market, go out after dark, and cast your vote by Nov. 1.

The new storefronts going in around McLendon and Clifton are a big part of why these blocks feel the way they do on a busy October night. If you'd like to talk about how the area is changing, from Lucille's to the bakery and sandwich shop planned a few doors down, Michael Kriethe is glad to compare notes. Let's Connect.