Essex County Halloween Costume Photos: 2017

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — There was no shortage of cool, funny and eye-catching Halloween costumes in Essex County this year. Check out some of the best that we came across below.

Submit your own Halloween 2017 costume photo to eric.kiefer@patch.com (include your name and town, along with anyone we should credit for the pic).

THE ZUCCHINI KING

April Lehman, the granddaughter of Nutley resident and self-proclaimed “Zucchini King” Charles Adornetto, sent us this smile-inducing photo of his handmade 2017 costume.

“He’s 86-years-old and loves attention as much as he loves gardening,” Lehman said. “His costume features a giant dried out ‘cucuzza’ or zucchini. He cut the zucchinis on his cape out of felt and created flowers to be “zucchini flowers” that they love to fry up with eggs and eat.”

• See related article: Nutley Grandpa's Huge Zucchinis Are Making Him A Star

HALLOWEEN IN THE HOSPITAL

On Halloween, nurses in the Saint Barnabas Medical Center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) helped the babies in their care get into the spirit of the season with handcrafted costumes that included pumpkins, mermaids, candy corns, sunflowers, monsters and super heroes.

Patients at the Clara Maass Medical Center were able to enjoy holiday festivities thanks to support from the Kids Helping Kids Foundation North Jersey, Inc.

STRUT YOUR MUTT

And then there was the annual Essex County “Strut Your Mutt” Halloween costume contest, held at two locations for 2017: Brookdale Dog Park and the Essex County South Mountain Dog Park.

This year’s “Best In Show” winners included Kelly and Aaron Sandler from Maplewood and their pet Daisy, who was dressed as a pineapple, and Dana and Dominique Borzomati from Montclair and their pets Abby and Gracie, who were dressed as a pirate and a terrorizing alligator.

Photos: Glen Frieson / Essex County

More photos from the Essex County “Strut Your Mutt” contest can be seen below.

Not enough cute dogs for you? Here's another, courtesy of the Montclair Animal Shelter.

And here's another, via the Rescue Haven Foundation.

SEEN ACROSS ESSEX COUNTY

Other Essex County residents who scored Halloween costume successes can be seen below.

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Main Photo: April Lehman