By Keziah Rutschow

Arcata Plaza echoed with sinister laughter and roared with cheers, filling the night air with Halloween spirit on the eve of the spookiest day of the year.

Prospective competitors spread out around the plaza, practicing their laughs with friends before gathering in a giant circle in the center. Dressed as Shaggy ‘big naturals’ from the Scooby-Doo live action film, the event’s host and organizer, CPH art alumni Cash Fry called the scattered crowd together through a mini megaphone and introduced the competition. They stepped into the center one at a time, gave their evil laugh through the megaphone, then passed it to the next person. There was a panel of costumed judges: from a scary Joker to a cute angel, each one shined with excitement. Each laugher competed for the special prize of a polo t-shirt with a laughing green monster printed on the front, along with “Evil” and “2026.”

Dressed in a witch costume, ‘Cunty Evil Lesbian’ introduced themself and stepped forward as the first laugher, starting the night off with a high-pitched and witchy laugh. Following it up was a deep, gruff, evil laugh from someone dressed in an array of different mismatched garments.

Charlotte Leonard, a first-year grad student at Cal Poly Humboldt, learned about the event from a teammate on both the cross-country and track & field teams. Leonard said all her friends were super hyped leading up to it, excited to hear the evilest laughs and see the most creative costumes.

“It’s pretty good, and I’m having a great time,” Leonard said. “And I wish I dressed up because the costumes are fire.”

Spectators pushed through the overflowing plaza for a good view, while others stood on benches overlooking the buzzing crowd. Then, suddenly, the Green Goblin emerged from the crowd into the center for a second time – not to laugh again, but to call upon Spider-Man and challenge them in a 1v1 battle. Spider-Man was pushed through the crowd and into the center, quickly jumping into the fake brawl. Just when everyone thought it was over, a second Spider-Man came forward from the audience to team up against the Green Goblin.

Alexis Sarmiento, a senior journalism and philosophy major, judged the competition. Her roommate Fry launched the first evil laugh competition last Halloween. This year, he advertised more and again recruited his roommates to help host.

“For a while, we kept it a secret about who was hosting and that I was helping judging,” Sarmiento said. “I kind of knew it was going to be a little bigger than last year just because he’s been putting so much work into making it big. Every design that he made for this was like made by himself.”

Despite all the action and boastful laughs, the competition was far from over. After nearly 30 people laughed it up, the judges picked 10 of the best laughers to come forward.

“You are going to laugh off for the grand prize.” Fry said.

After the 10 finalists unleashed their most evil, loudest laughs, the judges picked the final two. The pair stood face to face and dueled with their voices. Jigsaw cackled, flexing both voice and suit for the audience. A low roar answered from their opponent in intriguing, caveman-like attire. The crowd then chose the winner, cheering as the hosts called each name one by one.

Peyton, a Humboldt community organizer, won the 2026 Evil Laugh Competition dressed as Jigsaw. They came excited to watch, and maybe compete, but their friends pushed them through the horde to rival.

“I was content with just participating at all,” Peyton said. “End result, I’m walking away with a T-shirt.”

Fame and glory isn’t what Peyton was looking for. They appreciated the experience shared with their community and will forever reminisce about it together. During a season that can bring spooky gloom, it’s important for all ghouls and goblins to share communal fun and experiences.

“That’s what Halloween is,” Sarmiento said. “Everyone’s getting like crazy, and we just want an event where everyone can come together.”

Keziah is the science editor with an interest in crime & justice and politics. Contact her at kfr19@humboldt.edu