It doesn’t matter if you’re Lady Gaga or Lady Liberty for Halloween—if you have an awesome costume, showcase your creation in our Best Halloween Costume in America Contest.

Last year, the headless boy from Wyckoff, NJ, won. This year, it could be you. Enter our contest for a chance to win the $5,000 grand prize!

Adults and children are eligible to enter. Parents can post costume photos of themselves and their families from this Halloween or from years past.

Here’s how to enter:

• Simply click the green "Upload Your Photos and Videos" button above and upload your image (but first make sure you’re a registered Patch user).
• Then add a caption with the name of the person in the photo and a description of the costume. To add a caption, click “Edit Photo” after uploading the image and fill in the caption line. Then click “Finished Editing.”

The contest runs from Oct. 15 to Nov. 5.

Locally, we'll choose winners from the Southland in three categories: kids, adults and pets. The three local champs will each receive a "treat": a $25 gift card to The Sweet Company in Mokena.

National judges will choose 21 finalists from each Patch state and select one grand prize winner based on who has the most creative and innovative costume (we've combined North Carolina & South Carolina for this contest, as well as Washington D.C. and Virginia). Each state finalist will receive $250 and one grand prize winner will receive $5,000.

If your costume is the best in Illinois and will put all others to shame, enter our contest now for the chance to win $5,000.

For official contest rules, please click here.