Royal Oak Halloween Home Tour 2026: a free map of about 60 decorated houses to see on foot, by bike or by car

ROYAL OAK, Mich. — About 60 Royal Oak homes decked out for Halloween are pinned on a free, self-guided map this season, and families can tour them on foot, by bike or by car, according to the tour’s creator and WXYZ-TV.

The Royal Oak Halloween Home Tour is the work of Kathleen Spangler, a Royal Oak resident who started it six years ago because her daughter loved Halloween, WXYZ reported. There is no ticket, no judging and no fee to take part. “Everyone knows how expensive things can be and this is just a free community event,” Spangler told the station.

How it started. Spangler wrote on her website that she noticed neighbors posting photos of their decorated houses in a community Facebook group, and her family kept writing the addresses down so they could drive by. Keeping track got messy, so she put the houses on a Google map. The next year she asked people to send a photo and an address. She says she does not turn any house away, but asks for the photo so parents can see whether a display is funny, spooky or too scary for small children before they go.

What’s new this year. The map now has its own Facebook page and yard signs around the city, Spangler wrote, and the homes are sorted by area of the city, with pre-made routes that open in Google Maps with one click. She wrote that the school district has emailed the map to families in past years and that the city shared it on social media last year.

One stop belongs to Bob and Jan Livingston, who have spent decades building their own decorations, including a front-yard graveyard with joke tombstones for guests and relatives, WXYZ reported. Their son has one. “Halloween is our thing. Our house in the neighborhood is called the Halloween house,” Jan Livingston told the station.

How to use the map. Spangler recommends opening it in the Google Maps app rather than a web browser. Each house is marked with a small pumpkin trick-or-treat basket icon; tap one to see a photo of that home, or open the legend for the full list of addresses. Printed signs and flyers carry a QR code: press and hold it on a phone, open it in the browser and it will hand off to Google Maps. The map link is on her website and the tour’s Facebook page.

Want your house on it? Send a photo and the address by Facebook Messenger or to royaloakhalloweentour@gmail.com. Spangler says she usually adds homes within 24 hours, and there are no requirements to join.

Our tips. Pick one of the area routes rather than crisscrossing the city, go around dusk when lights and projections come on, and enjoy the yards from the sidewalk; these are private homes, not attractions.

For more Halloween-season plans, see our Royal Oak page.

Sources:
Kathleen Spangler, “The Royal Oak Halloween Home Map: How It Started and How to Use It,” updated October 2026 (history, how to use and submit), https://www.kathleenspangler.com/post/the-royal-oak-halloween-home-map-how-it-started-and-how-to-use-it
WXYZ-TV, “Royal Oak Halloween Home Tour brings the community together with a free, spooky decorated home showcase,” October 2026, https://www.wxyz.com/news/royal-oak-halloween-home-tour-brings-the-community-together-with-a-free-spooky-decorated-home-showcase
Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans, “Uptown New Orleans LSU House with Halloween Graveyard.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uptown_New_Orleans_LSU_House_with_Halloween_Graveyard.jpg

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Tags: Royal Oak · Halloween · Halloween 2026 · Things to Do · Oakland County · Family