Category: Halloween

Halloween 2025

Cruft Manor has Halloween traditions every year:

1. We give out full size candies
2. Make a listing of all costumes
3. Make a timelapse movie

This year marks the 20th year of keeping stats on the children’s costumes.

Our life was quite different 20 years ago. Hard to believe so much time has past yet it feels like just yesterday our kids were children.

Back to the important stuff, handing out candy!

I let the kids choose their candy themselves. This can sometimes lead to a prolonged choosing process and debate. The moments of “OMG” and “wow” are wonderful as they realize the candies are full size.

The excitement upon seeing full size candies makes it all worth it.

When people come to the door, I ask every person what they were dressed as and wrote down their answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see.

You can see the clipboard I use to write down what the kids tell me they are dressed as.

The time-lapse takes place over about four hours that is reduced to under two minutes for your viewing pleasure.

I just had back surgery, so we didn’t put up decorations and the setup was so I didn’t have to bend or lift much.

Here is the timelapse of Halloween this year.

Halloween Timelapse 2025

Handing out full size candy to trick or treaters. The full story and stats are here:

A few of the costumes I liked this year.

KPop Demon Hunters was everywhere tonight. Here are a couple of Rumi.

Jinu from KPop Demon Hunters. The Honmoon was at risk.

Pumpkin from Dandy’s World Roblox (a video game)

I liked these LED masks. I need one.

Sid Wilson from Slipknot wins for originality.

There was a large group of boys all wearing M&Ms costumes. Someone must have gotten a deal on them. KPop Demon Hunters was clearly popping to the top of the list. The old standbys like witches, cats, Spiderman, and vampires all rise up the list as well.

This Halloween makes it 20 years of data to compare, though 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, & 2024.

We did not give out candy in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Here are the top costumes over the last 20 years.

As AIs are in vogue in 2025, I asked six different LLMs to predict the visitor turnout based on trends, day of the week, and anything else. I gave them the stat comparisons for the last 19 years.

Halloween Candy predictions by AI:

Claude: My Prediction: 175-195 visitors
ChatGPT: Estimated visitors for 2025: 185–200 kids.
Gemini: 165 – 190 Visitors
Meta: Around 150-180 people might stop by the house.
Le Chat: You can reasonably expect 170–190 visitors
Deepseek: Maybe 120–125 range.

The number of people stopping by was 163, on the low end of most predictions.

This year’s complete costume list of 163 people:

Number Costume
8 M&Ms
6 Rumi – K Pop Demon Hunters
5 Zoey – K Pop Demon Hunters
4 Witch
3 Cat
3 Dinosaur
3 Ghost Face
3 Jinu – K Pop Demon Hunters
3 Spiderman
3 Vampire
3 Zombie
2 Alvin of the Chipmunks
2 Barbie from the Movie
2 Carebear
2 Chickalla
2 Chuckie
2 Grim Reaper
2 LED Mask
2 Mira – K Pop Demon Hunters
2 No Face
2 Saja Boy – K Pop Demon Hunters
2 Scream
2 Snow White
2 Superman
2 The Birds
1 “I don’t know”
1 “My own character”
1 “My own costume”
1 2hollis
1 Abby – Saja Boy
1 Air Force Pilot
1 Alice
1 Alien
1 Archimoria
1 Ariel
1 Ash Ketchum
1 Bad Case of Stripes
1 Barney
1 Boo from Monsters Inc.
1 Cartman
1 Charizard
1 Chase from Paw Patrol
1 Cheshire Cat
1 Cowboy
1 Daft Punk
1 Deer
1 Demon
1 Disgust from Inside Out
1 Dog biting my butt
1 Doug from Liberty Mutual
1 Dragon
1 Dragon Slayer
1 Eagle
1 Elsa
1 Figurine
1 Fireman
1 Fish
1 Freddie Krueger
1 Glinda
1 Handy Manny
1 Hedgy Wedgy
1 Iron Man
1 Jellyfish
1 Kiki’s Delivery Service
1 LED Dude
1 Lilo
1 Louve Thief
1 Marie from Book of Time
1 Mario
1 Meme from Minions
1 Michael Austin
1 Michael meyers
1 Mike Wazowski
1 Mime
1 Minion
1 Minnie Mouse
1 Moses
1 Nerd
1 Nick from Zootropia
1 Ninja
1 Normal Person
1 Nurse
1 Paw Patrol
1 Pokemon Trainer Scarlet and Velvet
1 Pumpkin from Dandy’s World Roblox
1 Pumpkin King
1 Queen of Hearts
1 Rapper
1 Red
1 Rigby
1 Roblox
1 Ryan Ross
1 Sam from Trick or Treat
1 Shark
1 Shark Boy
1 Shohei Ohtani
1 Sid Wilson from Slipknot
1 Singer
1 Skeleton
1 Sonic the Hedgehog
1 Squishmallow
1 Stan from South Park
1 Stitch
1 Stranger Things
1 Strawberry Shortcake
1 Student
1 T-Rex
1 Ted Wiggins from The Lorax
1 Toad
1 Usagi
1 Veronica Sawyer
1 Violet from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
1 Wednesday
1 White Queen
1 Winnie the Pooh
1 Wonder Woman

163 Costumed Visitors




Halloween 2016

Cruft Manor has once again returned to our Halloween traditions. Every year, we give out full size candies, made a listing of all costumes, and make a timelapse movie.



~300 Full Size Candies, ready for the trick or treaters! This year I had sugar-free, gluten-free, and vegan options just in case.

I let the kids choose their favorite candy themselves. This can sometimes lead to a prolonged choosing process and discussion. It’s awesome to hear them debate the pro and cons of various candies.
As has become tradition, I made a timelapse movie of handing out candy to the kids. This year, I started when the first trick or treaters appeared around 5:30 PM. Former Nanny Rachel was here to help in the beginning.
Early on I ordered a pizza for dinner but it took a long time to arrive. Once it was here, I was so busy with kids, I couldn’t get up to eat. Syd arrived around 7:30 and spelled me for a bit while I wolfed down a pizza slice. To our Halloween horror, we realized that I was out of Rye and we could not make our regular Manhattans. We cracked open a bottle of Glenfiddich and enjoyed some scotch on the rocks.
I had wired up the GoPro camera to make the timelapse movie and had have power full time. Unfortunately, in my haste I forgot to flip the power strip on, so the camera ran out of battery before the evening was over. The video captures just over 2.5 hours of the 3 hours we were handing our candy.

When people come to the door, I ask every person what they were dressed as and wrote down their answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see.
This Halloween makes it 12 years of data to compare, going back though 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Here are the top ten costumes for the last eleven years compared.



This year, Dwarves take the top spot. A bit of an outlier, a family showed up with a toddler dressed as Snow White accompanied by 7 adult dwarves. Each dwarf had a custom and correctly colored costume made of felt. They put a lot of work into the effort, all for a toddler that seemed bewildered by the whole thing. I considered not counting the Dwarves, but considering the time they took, decided to count them all.
The rest of the list are perennial favorites with Witch easily taking second place. I was pleased to see Zombie Adam Sandler make a return visit from last year. Amazingly, there was not a single politics themed costume. It seems children aren’t into the nonsense.
Our total number of visitors was up significantly, into 200s easily. Getting back to a weeknight for Halloween has seemed to improve the numbers.
This year’s complete costume list of 211 people:
7 Dwarves
6 Witch
4 Batgirl
4 Captain America
4 Death
4 Días de Muertos
4 Elsa
4 Minnie Mouse
4 Princess
4 Vampire
4 Zombie
3 Batman
3 Iron Man
3 Spiderman
3 Superman
2 Animaniacs
2 Bumblebee
2 Cat
2 Devil
2 Dorothy
2 Elena
2 Fairy
2 Harley Quinn
2 Indian
2 James P. Sullivan
2 Jason Voorhees
2 Minion
2 Monkey
2 Ninja
2 Police Officer
2 Skeleton Boy
2 Snow White
2 The Flash
2 Wonder Woman
1 $100 Dollar Bill
1 50s Girl
1 Alice in Wonderland
1 Amelia Earhart
1 Andy Biersack
1 Angel
1 Anna
1 Anonymous
1 Assassin
1 Astronaut
1 Baby
1 Baseball Card
1 Bear
1 Bela Legosi
1 Belle
1 Black Panther
1 Bunny Hopper
1 Butterfly
1 Buzz Lightyear
1 Candy Corn Fairy
1 Charizard
1 Cheeky Chocolate
1 Cleopatra
1 Cloud
1 Darth Vader
1 David Beckham
1 Deadpool
1 Doctor
1 Dora the Explorer
1 Dracula
1 Eastwood
1 Elmo
1 Evie of Descendants
1 Ghost
1 Ghostbuster
1 Halo Soldier
1 Hot Dog
1 Hulk
1 Ice Cream Cone
1 Insane Asylum Inmate
1 Irish Dancer
1 Jabberwocky Dancer
1 Jack Skellington
1 Jasmine
1 Jedi
1 Jeffrey
1 Jester
1 Joker
1 Josh Dun
1 Katniss
1 Killer Clown
1 Kings Hockey Player
1 Kubo
1 Kylo Ren
1 Leo – TMNT
1 Lifeguard
1 Light Up Pumpkin
1 Little Red Riding Hood
1 Mad Scientist
1 Mass Murderer
1 Mickey Mouse
1 Monster High Skeleton
1 Monster Hunter
1 Mr. Grimm
1 Negan
1 Noah Syndergaard
1 Obi Wan Kenobi
1 Optimus Prime
1 Ostrich Rider
1 Panda
1 Party Animal
1 Piggy
1 Pikachu
1 Pirate
1 Princess Leia
1 Queen of Hearts
1 Rafael TMNT
1 Reaper
1 Rey
1 Robin
1 Ryu – Street Fighter
1 Saint
1 Samantha
1 Scarecrow
1 Scary Skeleton
1 Scream
1 Sheriff Kelly
1 Skeleton
1 Skull Man
1 Slinky the Dog
1 Soldier
1 Spider Cat
1 Squirtle
1 Stitch
1 Supergirl
1 Surgeon
1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
1 Thing 1
1 Thing 2
1 Tokyo Ghoul
1 Transformer
1 Turtle
1 Tyler Joseph
1 U of Wisconsin Fan
1 Viking
1 Waldo
1 Yoda
1 Yokai
1 Zombie Adam Sandler
1 Zombie Cheerleader
1 Zombie Prom Queen
1 Zombie Skeleton
211 Costumed Visitors

Halloween 2015

Cruft Manor has once again returned to our Halloween traditions. Every year, we give out full size candies, made a listing of all costumes, and made a timelapse movie.



~250 Full Size Candies, ready for the trick or treaters! This year I had sugar-free, gluten-free, and vegan options just in case.

Our happy Halloween pumpkins.

The night view of the decorated Cruft Manor.

Michele scaring children in her No-Face costume from Spirited Away.

I let the kids choose their favorite candy themselves. This can sometimes lead to a prolonged choosing process and discussion. It’s awesome to hear them debate the pro and cons of various candies.
As has become tradition, I made a timelapse movie of handing out candy to the kids. This year, I started when the first trick or treaters appeared around 6:25 PM. Michele was here, as was our friends Kate & Syd to help. Piper & Lulu the dogs were supervising.
Children arrived in clumps, as usual. We had a great dinner of steak, salad, and corn to help prevent eating only candy. Syd made me a few delicious Manhattans to drink. We watched John Wick and the beginning of Inside Out.

When people come to the door, I ask every person what they were dressed as and wrote down their answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see.
This Halloween makes it 11 years of data to compare, going back though 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Here are the top ten costumes for the last eleven years compared.

Surprisingly, perennial costumes like Cat & Witch were fairly low on the list compared to previous years. The Purge masks arrived in full force, surrounded by other common costumes.
Our total number of visitors was up a little, but not into the 200s as in previous years. Many kids in our neighborhood are growing up and out at parties and college now.
This year’s complete costume list of 185 people:
6 Ninja
6 Skeleton
6 The Purge
5 Batman
5 Spiderman
4 Jason Voorhees
4 Minnie Mouse
3 Elsa
3 Princess
3 Scream
3 Superman
3 Witch
2 Angel
2 Bee
2 Belle
2 Chuckie
2 Clown
2 Construction Worker
2 Day of the Dead
2 Devil
2 Grapes
2 Grim Reaper
2 Indian
2 Iron Man
2 Kitten
2 Little Red Riding Hood
2 Pirate
2 Storm Trooper
2 Supergirl
2 The Joker
2 Vampire
2 Walker (Walking Dead)
2 Zombie
1 A Bush
1 Akatsuki from Naruto
1 Angry Bird
1 Anonymous
1 Ariel
1 Army Guy
1 Assassin
1 Bat Fairy
1 Baymax
1 Beta Pig
1 Blue Man
1 Blue Man Superhero
1 Boba Fett
1 Boogieman
1 Bunny
1 Buzz Lightyear
1 Cat
1 Cat in the Hat
1 Cavegirl
1 Charlie Brown in Costume
1 Cheetah
1 Cher from Clueless
1 Cheshire Cat
1 Chewbacca
1 Cinderella
1 Color Runner
1 Cop
1 Cowgirl
1 Creeper from Minecraft
1 Dead Basketball Player
1 Dead Clown
1 Dead Schoolgirl
1 Deadpool
1 Demon
1 Destructive Monster
1 Dinosaur
1 Doll
1 Elementary School Teacher
1 Emoji
1 Flash
1 Frankenstein
1 Friar
1 Gypsy
1 Half Reptile Half Woman
1 Harley Quinn
1 Harry Potter
1 Hippie
1 Hulk
1 Indiana Jones
1 Inmate
1 Invisible Man
1 Killjoy
1 Kung Fu Panda
1 La Muerta
1 Ladybug
1 Little Flower
1 Manga Character
1 Mardi Gras
1 Mary Lennox from the Secret Garden
1 Masquerade
1 Maybelle from Gravity Falls
1 Messi (football)
1 Minion
1 Napolean Dynamite
1 Nerd
1 Neymar (football)
1 Ninja Turtle
1 Ninja Turtle – Leonardo
1 Ninja Turtle – Michelangelo
1 Penguin
1 Phantom
1 Pin-up Girl
1 Police
1 Rapunzel
1 Ren
1 Ruby from Steven Universe
1 Sally (Nightmare Before Christmas)
1 Scorpion
1 Sinister Jester
1 Skeleton with red mowhawk
1 Soul Taker
1 Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
1 Supervillian
1 SWAT
1 Timmy Turner
1 Tony Esposito (Blackhawks)
1 Unicorn with wings
1 Waldo
1 Wanda from Fairly Odd Parents
1 Wild Kratz
1 Wizard
1 Zombie Adam Sandler
185 Costumed Visitors