LEAGUE CITY — A love of Halloween is helping one League City resident bring neighbors together through a new decorating competition, while also raising awareness for a cause inspired by his own childhood hospital experience.

Caiden Navarro helped bring the idea for League City’s Fright Fight to city leaders, hoping to give Halloween enthusiasts an opportunity to showcase their decorations, similar to the city’s Christmas light competition.

“I wanted to see what League City has to offer for Halloween this year because I just love Halloween,” Navarro said.

This year, Navarro will serve as a judge for the competition, visiting participating homes and evaluating their displays. He said he is excited to be part of the experience and looks forward to selecting a winner.

The competition also brings attention to a Halloween tradition at Navarro’s own home, where his family has spent years building an elaborate clown display for the community to enjoy.

A growing Halloween tradition

Caiden’s mother, Stephanie Bravo, said the family began decorating for Halloween in 2020. What started as a way to celebrate Caiden’s October birthday has gradually grown into a large display featuring more than 40 clowns.

Bravo said she and her husband typically spend two to three weeks setting up the decorations, working throughout the day to install the lights, animatronics and interactive features.

The collection began after Caiden spotted a Pennywise animatronic at a Spirit Halloween store. The family purchased it, and the display grew from there as they added more scary clowns each year.

Now, the family welcomes visitors from the surrounding community to stop by, view the decorations and take pictures.

The display is open from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Bravo said the family enjoys sharing the display with others and hopes it brings the same excitement to visiting children that her own family experiences when viewing holiday decorations.

Turning a hospital experience into a mission to help others

Beyond the Halloween decorations, the family is using the display to raise awareness for Caiden Cares, an initiative created by Caiden to bring joy to children receiving hospital care.

Caiden said the idea began during a six-week hospital stay, when he experienced significant medical challenges, including difficulty walking. During that time, building Legos became one of his primary sources of entertainment.

After receiving Lego sets during his hospital stay, Caiden wanted to share that experience with other children.

He donated four Lego sets to Texas Children’s Hospital. The hospital kept one set for children to rebuild and distributed the other three.

That donation inspired him to continue helping children facing similar circumstances.

Bravo said Caiden recognized how much the Lego sets had helped him during his recovery and wanted to offer other hospitalized children an opportunity to experience that same enjoyment.

“And Caiden one day just said, Mom, you know, I want to help. Like, I want a foundation,” Bravo said.

The family now incorporates QR codes into its Halloween display to help visitors learn more about Caiden Cares.

“We kind of feel like the clown house has a bigger purpose now,” Bravo said.

For Caiden, the Fright Fight is an opportunity to celebrate his favorite holiday while encouraging community participation and bringing attention to a cause that grew out of his own experience.

As League City residents showcase their Halloween decorations, Caiden hopes the competition will become a memorable way for the community to share its creativity and Halloween spirit.

For those interested in visiting the attraction, the address is 2308 Tacoma Court.