Halloween Photo Contest

Ah, the crisp, cool nights of autumn mean it’s time to curl up next to a crackling fire, sip warm tea and maybe dig into a favorite book.

Or rub fake blood on your face, dress the kids like zombies and run door-to-door collecting enough candy to keep the dentist busy for the next 20 years.

Yes, Halloween is almost here, and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate than by asking readers to share their favorite Halloween photos with others at SouthCoastToday.com. And we’re going to be all-inclusive this year.

We’ll accept cute photos of children dressed in Halloween costumes. Or pictures of giant jack-o-lanterns carved up and glimmering like orange ghouls. Or pictures of houses festooned with cobwebs, headstones and hanging skeletons. Heck, we’ll even allow pictures of your favorite pets done up like little monsters, if that’s what you like. Anything goes!

Just register online, upload your photo and fill out the form so we can contact you if you win. It’s that easy. Photos will be judged by readers at SouthCoastToday.com and by a panel of judges from SouthCoastToday.com. Here’s what you could win:

• Grand Prize (top online vote-getter): A behind-the-scenes tour of Buttonwood Park Zoo for 10 participants ($500 value), plus a $25 gift card to Bittersweet Farm/The Galley Grille at White’s of Westport.
• Spirit of Halloween (judges’ choice):  A family four-pack of passes to the Museum of Science in Boston with additional tickets to a show at the Omni Theater ($128 value), plus a $30 gift certificate to the Texas Road House in Dartmouth.
• Cutest Costume (judges’ choice): Two tickets to Real Housewives of the Mob dinner theater show on Nov. 16  at White’s of Westport ($80 value), plus a gift basket and Family Membership to the Buttonwood Park Zoo, compliments of the Buttonwood Park Zoological Society and the North Woods Gift Store ($100 value).

We’ll accept photos until noon on Wednesday, Oct. 24. Voting will run from noon, Oct. 24, until noon on Halloween. Winners will be announced on Friday, Nov. 2.