The voting for semi-finalists ends on Thursday, the 16th of October at 7 p.m.\u00a0PDT.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve been doing this since I can remember,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve never worn the same costume twice. I\u2019ll repurpose pieces, mix them up, but I always go all out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among her most memorable looks? \u201cValak, the demon nun from \u2018The Conjuring\u2019 universe, that one was a good time,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIt was disgusting face paint, painful contacts, tooth paint. Just gnarly.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Another year, she reimagined her never-worn high school prom dress, a beaded black gown, into a Nordic-inspired evil queen. \u201cIt\u2019s all part of the fun,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can make something scary out of anything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For her, the contest isn\u2019t about winning fame or fortune, though the prizes are tempting. The \u201cFace of Halloween\u201d winner receives a photo shoot for\u00a0Rue Morgue\u00a0magazine, a meet-and-greet with Curtis and fellow horror favorite Matthew Lillard, and an \u201cunlucky\u201d $13,000 cash prize. \u201cIf I won, that money would go straight toward my kids\u2019 college tuition debt,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s terrifying in its own way, so it feels on theme.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, Leandra\u2019s favorite reward has already arrived: the support she\u2019s received from her community. Voting in the contest is free, though donors can purchase votes that translate directly into funds for the Starlight Foundation. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been amazing to see people rally behind me \u2014 friends, coworkers, neighbors \u2014 and know that their votes are helping kids who are facing real-life frights,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a frighteningly cool thing to be a part of.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her love of horror goes beyond her front yard. Leandra is also involved with Fort Worth Community Cinema, helping with programming for \u201cWeird Wednesday,\u201d a monthly event at the Near Southside\u2019s Preservation Hall. The evening pairs a night market featuring local artisans, vintage vendors, and macabre crafts with a surprise horror screening. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pay-what-you-can, and all the funds go back into preserving the hall,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe\u2019ve had everything from seventies classics to modern slashers. I\u2019ve been doing the 31 Days of Horror challenge for three years now, and I never miss my favorites \u2014 \u2018A Nightmare on Elm Street\u2019 and \u2018Scream.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At home, Halloween is a full-family affair. Leandra and her four kids take turns choosing candy themes \u2014 chocolate, sour, or bubblegum \u2014 and helping run the trick-or-treat station. \u00a0<\/p>\n
This year, she\u2019s upping the ante with a blacklight tunnel that trick-or-treaters must walk through to reach her front door. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll have to brush past things. It\u2019s sensory, creepy, but fun,\u201d she says. \u201cI promise, we\u2019ll tone it down before dark so we don\u2019t traumatize the little ones.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whether she wins the national title or not, Leandra\u2019s already Fort Worth\u2019s unofficial Queen of Halloween, a title earned not through scares but through heart. Her yard is her canvas, her costumes her art, and her cause, bringing light to others through the season of darkness, her truest expression.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about joy,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s about fantasy, about letting people be whoever or whatever they want for one night. It\u2019s about bringing people together. That\u2019s what Halloween has always been for me, community through the magic of a good scare.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Wedgewood, the Halloween season doesn\u2019t begin with the faint chill of fall or the first pumpkin spice…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":286757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,8067,12043,48703,16289,7371,36789,7372,17810,11090,147553,10763,5921,358,7453,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-286756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-artist","10":"tag-arts-and-culture","11":"tag-charity-event","12":"tag-contest","13":"tag-fort-worth","14":"tag-fort-worthian","15":"tag-fortworth","16":"tag-halloween","17":"tag-holiday","18":"tag-scary","19":"tag-stephen-montoya","20":"tag-style","21":"tag-texas","22":"tag-top-story","23":"tag-tx","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-united-states-of-america","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","28":"tag-us","29":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115339100539594838","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}