New York might have perfected the art of Halloween, with skeletons scaling Upper East Side townhouses and pumpkins spilling down West Village steps, but Auckland is beginning to give the Americans some competition. And frankly, we couldn’t be happier about it.

Across the city, Halloween decorations are becoming increasingly elaborate, with beautiful homes transformed into haunted mansions, enormous cobwebs draped across façades and front lawns taken over by skeletons, ghosts and giant spiders. For those looking for a little inspiration, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite ways to embrace the occasion, whether your approach is elegantly eerie or completely outrageous.

And for anyone keen to see the festivities in full swing, Herne Bay’s leafy avenues are particularly good territory, with Marine Parade and the surrounding streets popular among trick-or-treaters. Elsewhere, Mt Eden’s Landscape Road, Marsden Avenue and Burnley Terrace have earned reputations for embracing the occasion, while Arney Road in Remuera and Norman Road in Takapuna are also worth exploring. Across the Harbour Bridge, Church Street in Northcote Point, Hinemoa Street in Birkenhead and the surrounding neighbourhoods offer a few more places to seek out the Halloween spirit, alongside the Spooky Sheds at Northcote & Birkenhead Rugby Union Club.

With Halloween falling on Saturday, 31st October this year, there’s every reason to make an occasion of it. Think oversized ghosts suspended from trees, pumpkins lining the driveway, flickering lanterns and skeletons assuming increasingly questionable positions on the lawn. This is one occasion when good taste can take the evening off, and a little theatrical excess is wholeheartedly encouraged.

One important rule, however: if you’re going to decorate, you’d better have the lollies to back it up.