Category: Halloween

Cruft Manor returned to our Halloween traditions and had our busiest year ever. We once again had plenty of full size candies, made a listing of costumes, and made a timelapse movie.

300 Full Size Candies, ready for the trick or treaters!

Our pumpkins looked great this year.

The outside of the house, with our terrifying Dalek guarding the door.

My daughter Mira, as a Kyoshi Warrior from Last Airbender with her boyfriend, Nick.

Best costume of the night: The boy as the Death Star!

Great couple costume of the House & Carl from Up.

Once again, I made a timelapse movie of handing out candy to the kids. Unfortunately, the GoPro camera stopped before the end when it ran out of batteries. I’ll need to rig up a power supply in the future.

Halloween 2013 – Timelapse from Michael Pusateri on Vimeo.

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.
I now have nine years of data to compare, going back though 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.
Here are the top ten costumes for the last nine years compared.

Our biggest amount of visitors in recorded history of Cruft Manor. The same generic costumes like ninja, witch, and cat popped to the top again. A brand new entrant to the top 10 were the Monster High Doll costumes. These are very popular with the young ladies. Lots of homemade costumes for the older kids which is good to see. Since I speak with every trick or treater, I get time to really look at their costumes and talk about them. I’m never in a rush and want each kid to be able to take their time. They are often paralyzed with indecision when faced with the choice of full size candies.
Almost everyone had a costume this year, but we still ran into a few without costumes. We were prepared this year and had masks on hand to hand out. The costumeless only got a candy if they took a mask and put it on. People were kinda excited about this.
After giving out ~300 full size candies, we ran out a little after 9PM and closed up. A few kids came by as I was shutting down and they got microwave popcorn packets.
This year’s complete costume list of 264 people:
3 50s Girl
1 80s Girl
1 80s Witch
1 Accident Victim
1 Airline Pilot
2 Alice
1 Anonymous
1 Apple Juice
1 Army Man
1 Aurora
1 Ballerina Zombie Roadkill
3 Batgirl
2 Batman
2 Belle
1 Black & White Waldo
1 Black Swan
1 Bloody Mary
1 Boo (Monsters, Inc.)
1 Bumblebee
1 Bush
2 Buzz Lightyear
1 Candy Corn
3 Captain America
1 Carl from Up
1 Carlos Beltran
8 Cat
1 CERT Person
1 Cheetah
1 Cholo
1 Chucky
2 Cinderella
1 Clark Kent
1 Clone Trooper
3 Clown
1 Construction Worker
1 Cookie Monster
1 Cowgirl
1 Crash Test Dummy
1 Crayola
1 Creeper
1 Dark Alice
1 Death
1 Demigod
4 Devil
1 Doctor Zombie
1 Dodgers Fan
1 Doll
1 Dragon
1 Easy E (in blackface)
1 Elmo
1 Enderman – Minecraft
2 Evil Jester
1 Ezio of Assassin’s Creed
1 Fairy
2 Finn from Adventuretime
1 Fionna from Adventuretime
1 Fireman
1 Frankenstein
1 Gangster
1 Ghost
2 Giraffee
1 Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
1 Green Lantern
1 Grillin & Chillin
2 Grim Reaper
1 Halo Soldier
1 Hellraiser
1 Hermoinie
1 Hobo
1 Hobo Angel
1 Hockey Player
1 Indian
2 Iron Man
1 Iron Man III
1 Jack Skelington
2 Jailbreaker
2 Jake the Pirate
1 Jasmine
2 Jason Voorhees
1 Jester
1 Joker
1 Katara from Last Airbender
1 Katniss
1 Killer
2 Killer Clown
1 Kyoshi Warrior from Last Airbender
5 Ladybug
2 Leatherface
1 Lightning McQueen
3 Luigi
1 Mad Scientist
1 Masquerade
1 Master Chief (Halo)
1 Matrix Person
1 Medusa
1 Merman
1 Michael Myers
1 Mickey Mouse
1 Mime
1 Minion
4 Minnie Mouse
1 Miss Captain America
1 Monk
1 Monster
7 Monster High Doll
2 Mummy
4 Nerd
11 Ninja
1 Ninja Lord
1 Nun
1 Old Lady
1 Old Man
1 Owl
1 Pink Goth Pirate
1 Pink Power Ranger
6 Pirate
1 Poker Cards
2 Power Ranger
2 Princess
1 Prisoner
1 Raggedy Ann
3 Rapunzel
1 Reaper
1 Red Queen
1 Rick from the Walking Dead
1 Robin
1 Roman Empress
1 Russian Soldier Alien
1 Sailor Venus
1 Saka from Last Airbender
1 Santa
1 Scarecrow
1 Scary Clown
2 Scream
1 Shadow
1 Singer Bumblebee
1 Skateboarder
2 Skeleton
1 Skeleton Motorcycle Rider
1 Snow White
1 Soldier
1 Spidergirl
2 Spiderman
1 Squid
1 Storm Trooper
1 Superman
1 Taco
2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
1 Teenage Zombie
1 The Death Star
1 The Doctor (11th)
1 The Doctor (9th)
1 The House from Up
1 Tinkerbell
1 Transformer
1 USC Student
7 Vampire
1 Vietnam Soldier
1 Warrior’s Girl
2 Wednesday Adams
2 Werewolf
10 Witch
1 Wizard
1 Wonder Woman
1 Woody
1 X-Ray Patient Gone Wrong
4 Zombie
1 Zombie Cheerleader
1 Zombie Skeleton

Halloween was a bit tougher this year due to my recent bike crash, but we did our best to carry out our traditions. This is our eighth year of handing out full size candy. The magic continues to impress. Children are wowed and often shocked at the idea of receiving and full size candy bar when the rest of the night is filled with minis. The cries of ‘awesome’ and ‘look Mom, it’s a big one’ are great. I highly recommend you give it a try.

Michele made a special Cruft Manor pumpkin!

As you Loyal Cruft Readers demand, once again, I made a timelapse movie of all of the trick or treaters as I handed them candy. I have a new GoPro camera, and it made the process pretty simple.

Halloween 2012 Timelapse from Michael Pusateri on Vimeo.

As I have in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. I asked every person what they were dressed as and wrote down the answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see.
I now have eight years of data to compare.
Here are the top ten costumes for the last eight years compared.

It appears that Cat has leaped from the bottom to the top to grab the top honors from Witch. With generic Princess in the top 5 as well, I have to say that many young ladies are taking the easy way out, simply grabbing a hat from the closet and putting on weird make-up. Some of the ladies really stepped up their game though. I like the Weeping Angel from Doctor Who, Zombie Girl Scout, Video Game Console, Bride of Frankenstein, and Pizza Delivery Girl. The boys did OK, with a few flashes of brilliance like Starbucks Cup and Carl from Up.

Starbucks Cup

Two Zombies with mustache

Mexican hat wearing green person
Almost everyone had a costume this year, which is great. Only one person came close to the perilous “nothing” answer. BTW, my shirt is safety pinned together because I have a broken collarbone and can’t lift my right arm. Michele cut the shirt so I can get into it easily.
After giving out ~250 full size candies, we ran out about 8:30PM and closed up. My daughters were still out roaming, as teenagers do.
This year’s complete costume list of 231 people:
10 Cat
9 Witch
8 Spiderman
6 Princess
6 Skeleton
6 Tinkerbell
5 Ninja
5 Vampire
4 Candy Corn
4 Captain America
4 Ladybug
4 Pirate
4 Zombie
3 Buzz Lightyear
3 Cowboy
3 Darth Vader
3 Iron Man
3 Joker
3 Little Red Riding Hood
3 Superman
2 80s Girl
2 Angel
2 Angry Bird (Red)
2 Batman
2 Bumblebee
2 Cop
2 Devil
2 Dracula
2 Frankenstein
2 Ghost
2 GI Joe
2 Harry Potter
2 Hello Kitty
2 Mad Hatter
2 Michael Myers
2 Minnie Mouse
2 Nerd
2 Rapunzel
2 Scream
2 Snow White
2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
2 Transformer
2 Werewolf
2 Zombie with mustache
1 “Robert”
1 Alice in Wonderland
1 Batgirl
1 Bee
1 Belle
1 Bloodsport
1 Bride of Frankenstein
1 Car Accident Victim
1 Carl from Up
1 Chucky
1 Chucky Girl
1 Cowboy Riding Ostrich
1 Cutie (tangerine)
1 Dead Bride
1 Dead Iron Worker
1 Dead Skater
1 Death
1 Diet Coke Can
1 Dinosaur
1 Dragon Ninja
1 Egyptian Princess
1 Elmo
1 Gangster
1 Ghost Guy
1 Greaser
1 Hula Girl
1 Indian
1 Jason Voorhees
1 Karate Zombie
1 Knight
1 Krispy Creme Delivery Person
1 Lalaloopsy
1 Leatherface
1 Little Bo Peep
1 Little Girl
1 Luigi
1 Mario
1 Mater (Cars)
1 Merida
1 Mermaid
1 Mexican Indian
1 Mexican Person
1 Michael Jackson
1 Midnight Witch
1 Mobster
1 Mouse
1 Mummy from Monster High
1 Navy SEAL
1 Ninja Shadow
1 Owl
1 Pinkalicious
1 Pizza Delivery Girl
1 Pokemon Trainer Red
1 Prisoner
1 Psycho Nice Witch
1 Pumpkin Spider Witch
1 Robber
1 Robin Hood (Animated Version)
1 Run Over Victim
1 Sailor
1 Scarecrow
1 Scary DJ
1 Sheep
1 SpongeBob SquarePants
1 Starbucks Cup
1 Supergirl
1 The Grudge
1 Thomas the Tank Engine
1 Tiger
1 Tigger
1 Troll
1 UCLA Student
1 Vampire from Monster High
1 Video Game Console
1 Volleyball Player
1 Warlock
1 Wednesday (Adams Family)
1 Weeping Angel
1 Werewolf from Monster High
1 Wolf
1 Wolf Spirit
1 Wolverine
1 Wonder Woman
1 Zombie Football Player
1 Zombie Girl Scout
1 Zombie Witch
1 Zorro

Tonight was Halloween and we were up to our usual tricks. This makes seven years of handing out full size candy. The magic continues to impress. Children are wowed and often shocked at the idea of receiving and full size candy bar when the rest of the night is filled with minis. The cries of ‘awesome’ and ‘look Mom, it’s a big one’ are great. I highly recommend you give it a try.

We also carved a few pumpkins.

Mira’s Dalek

Zoe’s Frank from Donnie Darko

Michele’s Boo

Once again, I made a timelapse movie of all of the trick or treaters as I handed them candy. This time, I filmed it on my iPhone.

Halloween 2011 from Michael Pusateri on Vimeo.

As I have in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 I asked every person what they were dressed as and wrote down the answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see. I now have seven years of data to compare.
Here are the top ten costumes for the last seven years compared.

Out of nowhere, Zombies grab the crown from Witch. There were also several variations on the zombie theme. Clearly, the zombie meme is growing in American culture. More homemade costume this year. Only Captain America made it to the top ten, it being the only all store bought costume.
Almost everyone had a costume this year. Only a few came close to the perilous “nothing” answer.
We ran out of candy early, going through ~230 full size candies before 9PM when we closed up. After the candy ran out, I shut down the lights and put a bowl of extra single candy we had in the house outside. Michele threw in extra energy gels and bars we get at sports expo. I wonder how much will be left tomorrow.
This year’s complete costume list of 217 people:
12 Zombie
7 Witch
6 Pirate
5 Princess
4 Dorothy
4 Fairy
4 Ladybug
4 Vampire
3 Captain America
3 Cinderella
3 Fireman
3 Ninja
3 Pirate Girl
3 Snow White
2 Alice in Wonderland
2 Ariel
2 Barbie
2 Batman
2 Cat
2 Clown
2 Cowboy
2 Indian
2 Kitty
2 Knight
2 Little Red Riding Hood
2 Monkey
2 Ninja Turtle
2 Power Ranger
2 Rose Court Princess
2 Scream
2 Skeleton
2 SWAT
2 Tiana
2 Wolverine
2 Zombie Ken & Barbie
1 60s Woman
1 80s Girl
1 A Boy
1 A Warbler from Glee
1 Angel
1 Batgirl
1 Bee
1 Beetle
1 Ben Ten
1 Bloody Nurse
1 Britney Spears
1 Bumblebee
1 Bumblebee from Transformers
1 Burger King
1 Candy Corn
1 Candy Corn Witch
1 Cheerleader
1 Cop
1 Corpse Bride
1 Cow
1 Dancer
1 Daphne from Scooby Doo
1 Day of the Dead
1 Deatheater
1 Dementor
1 Devil
1 Devil Witch
1 Disco Lady
1 Dodger Fan
1 Dog
1 Easy-E
1 Every Day I’m Shuffling Robot
1 Evil Jester
1 Fancy Kitty
1 Frankenstein
1 Ghost Person
1 Ghostbuster
1 Ghoul
1 Good Pirate
1 Gorilla
1 Goth Red Riding Hood
1 Graveyard Zombie
1 Grim Reaper
1 Hermoine Granger
1 High Schooler
1 Hippie
1 Hobo
1 Hogwart’s Student
1 Indian Girl
1 Jason Voorhees
1 Jessie
1 Jester
1 Kitty/Beaver
1 Lagoona from Monster High
1 Lion
1 Little Demon
1 Lizard
1 Mario
1 Mermaid
1 Mexican Man
1 Michael Myers
1 Minnie Mouse
1 Miss Wonderland
1 Monster Spiderman
1 Mummy
1 Mustard Bottle
1 Nerdy Zombie Soccer Player
1 Ninja Assassin
1 Nurse
1 Panda
1 Pea in a pod
1 Peacock
1 Penguin
1 Phantom
1 Pikachu
1 Pink Lady
1 Policeman
1 Princess Aurora
1 Princess Mom
1 Pumpkin
1 Robber
1 Rock Star
1 Rorschack
1 Rose Fairy
1 Scarecrow
1 Scary Axe Guy
1 Scary Thing
1 Scorpio Ninja
1 Shadowknight
1 Skull Rider
1 Smurf
1 Smurfette
1 Spidergirl
1 Spiderman
1 Sundrop Girl
1 Superwoman
1 Surfer with Bite
1 The Joker
1 Thomas the Tank Engine
1 Thor
1 Tinkerbell
1 Tooth Fairy
1 Unknown Monster
1 Waldo
1 Warrior
1 Werewolf
1 White Swan
1 Wolf
1 Wonder Woman
1 Zombie Hunter
1 Zombie Soccer Player

Halloween was last night, and we were up to our usual tricks. For year six of handing out full size candy the magic continues. Children are wowed and often shocked at the idea of receiving and full size candy bar when the rest of the night is filled with minis. The cries of ‘awesome’ and ‘look Mom, it’s a big one’ are great.

Due to technical difficulties (the camera could not be found) I was unable to make the timelapse movie of handing out candy. next year, I vow to start preparing to make the movie before 5PM on Halloween.
As I have in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 I asked every person what they were dressed as and wrote down the answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see. I now have six years of data to compare.
Here are the top ten costumes for the last six years compared.

It seems that Witch once again remains in the top spot with a surprising challenge by Minnie Mouse making a run for the crown. I was happy to note that besides the one Grabby Grandma who reached in a grabbed a candy bar without saying a word or even looking at me, everyone was in costume. No one said they were dressed as nothing this year. The nerd costume was new as it involved a shirt buttoned to the neck and large black glasses. The majority of costumes were homemade and a lot of thought went into most of the non-scary ones. The scary ones are basically a mask with a bloody or ripped shirt.
Nate the son of one of my riding buddies came dressed as Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python & the Holy Grail. I forgot to snap a picture, but he had the headgear perfect. I also enjoyed these two homemade Rorschachs.

Well played Gentlemen.
At first we feared it would be a slow night due to Halloween being on Sunday, but by 9PM when we closed up, out of candy, over 200 people had stopped by.
This year’s complete costume list of 212 people:
10 Witch
7 Minnie Mouse
7 Pirate
5 Clone Trooper
5 Princess
4 Nerd
4 Ninja
4 Spiderman
3 Alice in Wonderland
3 Belle
3 Fireman
3 Jessie
3 Jester
3 Ladybug
3 Mario
3 Scream
3 Snow White
3 Woody
2 80s Girl
2 Bumblebee
2 Cat
2 Dracula
2 Freddy Krueger
2 Harry Potter
2 Indian
2 Indian Chief
2 Lightning McQueen
2 Luigi
2 Queen of Hearts
2 Raggedy Ann
2 Rorschach
2 Skeleton
2 Wolfman
1 “Obama is the Anti-Christ”
1 “the Grudge”
1 20s dancer
1 50s Rockabilly Girl
1 Abby (Sesame Street)
1 Angel
1 Ballerina
1 Bear
1 Belly Dancer
1 Bloody Guy
1 Blueberry
1 Buckethead
1 Butterfly
1 Cat in the Hat
1 Cheerleader
1 Child of our Generation
1 Cinderella
1 Concert Master
1 Cookie Monster
1 Cow
1 Crystal Skull
1 Cut Guy
1 Darth Maul
1 Darth Vader
1 Dead Sailor
1 Demon
1 Devil
1 Dinosaur
1 Doctor
1 Doctor Superman
1 Dodger
1 Dragon
1 Elmo
1 Evil Goat
1 Fairy
1 Flying Monkey
1 Football Player
1 Frankenstein
1 Gangster
1 Ghost
1 Ghoul
1 Go Go Girl
1 Grabby Grandma
1 Grampa
1 Guitar
1 Half-Reaver
1 Hippie Girl
1 Hobo Zombie
1 Iron Chef
1 Jailbird
1 Jason Voorhees
1 Joker
1 Ketchup Bottle
1 Kitty Cat
1 Little Red Riding Hood
1 Mad Hatter
1 Masked Person
1 Mickey Mouse
1 Miss South Pasadena
1 Monster
1 Monster Ninja
1 Moose
1 Mummy
1 Optimus Prime
1 Oscar the Grouch
1 Peacock
1 Pirate Lady
1 Pirate Wench
1 Pocahontas
1 Prisoner Clown
1 Prussia from Hetalia
1 Punk
1 Punk Girl
1 Punk Rocker
1 Reaver
1 Referee
1 Robert Plant
1 Russia from Hetalia
1 Sailor
1 Sally
1 Scarecrow
1 Selene from Underworld
1 Sheep Herder
1 Skater
1 Skeleton Boy
1 Skeleton Zombie
1 Slipknot Guy
1 Smurfette
1 Snow Queen
1 Soccer Player
1 Thomas the Tank Engine
1 Tiana
1 Tim the Enchanter
1 Tinkerbell
1 Unicorn
1 Vampire Victim
1 Venom
1 Victorian Queen
1 White Rabbit
1 Winnie the Pooh
1 Witch Vampire
1 Wizard
1 Zodiac Killer
1 Zombie
1 Zombie Princess
1 Zombie Skeleton

Halloween was yesterday. We gave out full size candy again this year much to the delight of all the trick or treaters. This is the fifth year we have given away full size candy. I still enjoy the look on the kids faces when they realize this. Also, I overhear kids saying things like, “I remember this house, it’s the best!” That makes me happy.
I was wearing my Star Trek outfit to hand out candy. After a bit of help in the beginning from the kids and my mother-in-law, the family headed out into the night. Piper, our dog, kept me company and was interested in everyone that stopped by. In between visitors I watch the end of Beverly Hills Chihuahua and then Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. Enter the Dragon was better.
Once again, I set up my timelapse photography gear and made video of the door from 6:35PM to 9:07PM as I sat there handing out candy.

Halloween 2009 Timelapse from Michael Pusateri on Vimeo.

I made a second version of the timelapse that is a full five minutes long. If you want even more of me sitting, handing out candy, go watch it.
As I have in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, I asked every person what they were dressed as and wrote down the answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see. I now have five years of data to compare.
Here are the top ten costumes for the last five years compared.

This year, ‘witch’ rose to the top as the top costume, retaking the crown it had not held since 2006. People not wearing a costume, noted as “nothing”, spike this year. Cruft Manor is seriously considering a “No costume, no candy.” policy in 2010. Seemed to be less commercial costumes this year and more homemade ones. Overall, it was a busy night.
A few costumes stood out that I liked such as Darth Vader Vampire and Hunter from Left 4 Dead. The Left 4 Dead kid was ecstatic when I knew what his costume was from. He pumped his fist and said “Awesome!”
Here is this year’s costume list, with a total of 213 people.
14 Witch
8 “nothing”
7 Fairy
6 Pirate
5 Princess
5 Scream
5 Skeleton
4 Dorothy from Wizard of Oz
4 Spiderman
3 Butterfly
3 Darth Vader
3 Grim Reaper
3 Ladybug
3 Ninja
3 Snow White
3 Vampire
3 Wizard
3 Wrestler
2 “myself”
2 Army Man
2 Bad Sandy from Grease
2 Banana
2 Barbie
2 Boy
2 Bumblebee
2 Bumblebee from Transformers
2 Cat
2 Doctor
2 Dracula
2 Football Player
2 Gangster
2 Gorilla
2 Karate Man
2 Little Red Riding Hood
2 Power Ranger – Red
2 Supergirl
2 Tinkerbell
2 Wolfman
1 Alien in disguise
1 Amy Winehouse
1 Anakin Skywalker
1 Army Girl
1 Ballerina
1 Baseball Player
1 Bee
1 Ben 10
1 Boxer
1 Chicken
1 Chinese Soldier
1 Chuckie (doll)
1 Clone Trooper
1 Cook
1 Cowboy
1 Crossing Guard
1 Darth Vader Vampire
1 Devil
1 Devil Girl
1 Donald Duck
1 Dragon
1 Duke from G.I. Joe
1 Emperor of Evil
1 Erkel
1 Evil Joker
1 Fire Fighter
1 Flower Girl
1 Freddie Krueger
1 Ghoul
1 Glowing Rave Person
1 Go Go Girl
1 Goth Bat
1 Grandpa Mexican
1 Harajuku Girl
1 Harry Potter
1 High School Graduate
1 Hippy
1 Home Depot Guy
1 Homeless Guy
1 Hunter from Left 4 Dead
1 Incredible Hulk
1 Indian Princess
1 Jedi
1 Jigsaw from Saw
1 Joker
1 Ladybug
1 Laker Fan
1 Leopard
1 Mad Cow Disease
1 Mardi Gras Man
1 Mask
1 Max from Wild Things
1 Mermaid
1 Michael Jordan
1 Michael Meyers
1 Minnie Mouse
1 Model
1 Mr. & Mrs. Noodle & Elmo
1 Mrs. Claus
1 Native American
1 Nerd with Mustache
1 Peter Pan
1 Pooka
1 Pumpkin
1 Pumpkin w/ Balloons
1 Race Car Driver
1 Robber with night vision goggles
1 Sailor
1 Scary Clown
1 Sexy Model
1 Skater
1 Skater Nerd
1 Soccer Player
1 Softball Player
1 Spiderella
1 Superman
1 Tara from Teen Titans
1 Tie Dye Person
1 Toxic Avenger
1 Victorian Queen
1 Violin Player
1 Warrior (70s movie)
1 Wig Lady
1 Wolverine
1 Wonder Woman
1 Yellow T-shirt guy
1 Zombie
1 Zombie Punk

Halloween is today. We gave out full size candy again this year much to the delight of all the trick or treaters.

Once again, I set up my timelapse photography gear and made video of the door from 6:15PM to 9:15PM as I sat there handing out candy. We had some friends stop by during the evening I had help with logging costumes and handing out candy.

Halloween 2008 Timelapse from Michael Pusateri on Vimeo.
As I have in 2005, 2006,and 2007 I asked every person what they were dressed as and wrote down the answers.
Here are the top ten costumes for the last four years compared.

Batman makes a triumphant return to the list and the scream mask disappears.
Here is this year’s costume list, with a total of 150 people.
6 Batman
5 Cat
5 Pirate
5 Skeleton
5 Vampire
4 Snow White
4 Witch
3 Bee
3 Devil
3 Fairy
2 50s Girl
2 Angel
2 Ariel, the Little Mermaid
2 Banana
2 Basketball Player, Lakers
2 Buzz Lightyear
2 Cinderella
2 Darth Vader
2 Jason Vorhees
2 Minnie Mouse
2 Sleeping Beauty
2 Spiderman
2 Tinkerbell
2 Werewolf
1 70s Girl
1 80s Girl
1 Alice in Wonderland
1 Baby
1 Bart Simpson
1 Basketball Player
1 BMX Rider
1 Boxer
1 Bunny
1 Captain
1 Chip & Dales
1 Clown
1 Dark Angel
1 Dead Guy
1 Death
1 Death Joker
1 Dinosaur
1 Dragon Warrior
1 Elephant
1 Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West
1 Eyore
1 Fireman on Vacation
1 Frankenstein
1 Ghost Lady
1 Glam Witch
1 Hannah Montana
1 Harry Potter
1 High School Musical Cheerleader
1 Hot Rod
1 Incredible Hulk
1 Injured Skater
1 Insane-o Man
1 Invader Zim
1 IT the Clown
1 John McCain
1 Karate Man
1 Kim Possible
1 Knight
1 Leatherface
1 Little Bo Peep
1 Little Dutch Girl
1 Little Red Riding Hood
1 Luchadore
1 Maid
1 Monk
1 Monster
1 Nerd
1 Ninja
1 Olive Oyl
1 Optimus Prime
1 Pink Poodle
1 Pipi Longstocking
1 Policeman
1 Popeye
1 Power Ranger
1 Power Ranger, Blue
1 Power Ranger, Green
1 Power Ranger, Red
1 Princess
1 Ringo Starr
1 Sailor
1 Sanjaya
1 School Girl
1 Scream Mask
1 Secret Jedi
1 Sharpei from High School Musical
1 Skeleton Punk
1 Skunk
1 Supergirl
1 The Hamburglar
1 The Riddler
1 Tofu
1 Ultraman
1 Vampire Priest
1 Wicked Witch
1 Winnie The Pooh
1 Wonder Bread
1 Zombie
1 Zombie Skate Punk

On a recent trip to 7-Eleven this weekend I spotted some Halloween themed candy.

Obviously, I was intrigued. Did these candies have something new to them? Could it be peanut butter & pumpkin, together at last?

First I tried the Snickers Creme Pumpkin. New mold in a nice jack-o-lantern shape. But the candy itself tasted just like a regular Snickers. Nothing special at all.

Surely the Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkin would be something special. Alas, the mold was lame and the taste no different than a regular Peanut Butter Cup.
We need something more than a new mold folks. Color me unimpressed.

Halloween is here once again. We gave out full size candy again this year much to the delight of all the trick or treaters.

For something new this year, I set up my timelapse photography gear and made video of the door from 6:30PM to 9:30PM as I sat there handing out candy.


As I have in 2005 and 2006, I asked every person what they were dressed as and wrote down the answers. Here is this year’s list, with a total of 187 people.
10 Scream Mask
7 Spiderman
6 Princess
5 Witch
4 Devil
4 Ninja
3 Cheerleader
3 Doctor
3 Fairy
3 Pirate
3 Power Ranger
3 Skeleton
2 “Nothing”
2 Angel
2 Ariel
2 Asian
2 Darth Vader
2 Dracula
2 Fireman
2 Freddy Krueger
2 Gorilla
2 Ladybug
2 Maid
2 Minnie Mouse
2 Mummy
2 Old Man
2 Optimus Prime
2 Referee
2 Snow White
2 Soccer Player
2 Soldier
2 Tiger
2 Zorro
1 “Saul”
1 50s Girl
1 70s Hippie
1 Alice in Wonderland
1 Amy Winehouse
1 Ballerina
1 Basketball Player
1 Bat
1 Bee
1 Biff Ninja Cow
1 Britney Spears
1 Bumblebee
1 Buzz Lightyear
1 Can Can Dancer
1 Cinderella
1 Clone Trooper
1 Dad
1 Dancer
1 Daniel
1 Dead Zombie (as opposed to the live ones)
1 Death
1 Demon Hunter
1 Devil Bride
1 Dinosaur
1 Dionysus
1 Elmo
1 FOB (Fresh Off the Boat)
1 Football Player
1 Friendly Dude
1 George Bush’s Secret Daughter
1 Ghost Buster
1 Goddess
1 Goth
1 Grim Reaper
1 Gypsy (where the child didn’t leave the stroller)
1 Harlequinn
1 Harry Potter
1 Hawaiian Princess
1 High School Musical
1 Hula Girl
1 Indian
1 Jack Skellington
1 Jason Vorhees
1 Joe Ripper
1 Karate Man
1 Laura Wilder
1 Leopard Cat
1 Lion
1 Little Red Riding Hood
1 Mad Hatter
1 Metal Skull Biker
1 Michael Myers
1 Mickey Mouse
1 Midnight Princess
1 Mom
1 Motorcycle Racer
1 Mulan
1 Picasso
1 Pilot
1 Pimp
1 Policeman
1 Pop Star
1 Power Ranger
1 Queen
1 Quidditch Player
1 Robber
1 Robin
1 Rock & Roller
1 Rock Star
1 Scary Clown (all clowns are scary)
1 Shark
1 Sheriff
1 Silverman
1 Sixth Hokage of the Leaf Village
1 Slash (guitarist)
1 Spider
1 Supergirl
1 Superman
1 Taylor
1 The Hulk
1 Tigger
1 Tinkerbell
1 Tourist
1 Trojan Fan
1 Waitress
1 Werewolf
1 Wonder Woman
1 Yankee
1 Yoda
1 Yosagi Yojimbo
1 Zombie Doctor
I made a small table to compare the top ten costumes for the last three years.

The only real consistency I see is the popularity of the Scream Mask…

Having had a good experience with it last year, we again gave away full size candies for Halloween.

This year, Zoe and I got our costumes from China. The world is truly flat that we can reach to the other side of the world to get a specific costume.

Zoe is dressed as Hinata Hyuga, I’m dressed as Kakashi Hatake , both from the Naruto TV show, and Mira is dressed as a 1920s Flapper Dancer.
As has become tradition, we kept a detailed record of all the costumes that appeared at Cruft Manor.
Kids Costume
9 Witch
8 Scream Mask
6 Monster Mask
5 Jason Voorhees
5 Nothing (lame…)
5 Power Ranger
4 Baby
4 Bee
4 Cat
4 Little Red Riding Hood
4 Ninja
4 Samurai
4 Spiderman
4 Superman
3 Devil
3 Evil Jester
3 Fairy
3 Knight
3 Snow White
3 The Devil
3 Trash Bag Head
3 Vampire
2 Darth Vader
2 Fireman
2 Girl Fairy
2 Half Angel/Half Devil
2 Normal Kid
2 Penguin
2 Skeleton
2 Spa Lady
2 Zorro
1 A Girl
1 A Guy
1 Adeliene
1 Alien
1 Angel
1 Barney & Betty Rubble
1 Baseball
1 Batgirl
1 Batman
1 Bee from Mexican TV Show
1 Belle
1 Bionicle
1 Buzz Lightyear
1 Chewbacca
1 Clown
1 Confused
1 Corpse Bride
1 Counter Strike Guy
1 Cousin It
1 Cow
1 Cowgirl
1 Crazy Girl
1 Crybaby
1 Dalmatian
1 Dead Fairy
1 Doctor
1 Dog
1 Dora the Explorer
1 Dorothy Gale
1 Eeyore
1 Egyptian Dancer
1 Executive Lady
1 Extreme Sports Dirt Bike Guy
1 Farmer
1 Female Cop
1 Freddie Kruger
1 Gandolf
1 Gangster
1 Ghost
1 Ghoul
1 GI Joe
1 Gothic Fairy
1 Graduate
1 Grecian Goddess
1 Halloween Business Man
1 Harry Potter
1 He doesn’t know
1 Heavenly Devil
1 Hobo
1 Hula Girl
1 Ice Princess
1 Incredible Hulk
1 Jailbird
1 Jasmine
1 Johnny Storm
1 Ladybug
1 Laker Cheerleader
1 Leatherface & two victims
1 Mad Hatter
1 Mafioso
1 Mark
1 Mexican
1 Mexican Jedi
1 Military Ninja
1 Mom of cat
1 Monkey
1 Monster
1 Mulan
1 Newspaper
1 Not Scared Girl
1 Nurse
1 Nurse walking dogs dressed as witch and dinosaur
1 Old Lady
1 Osama Bin Laden
1 Pajamas
1 Patrick from Spongebob
1 Pebbles & Bam Bam
1 Pierre the Frenchman
1 Pirate
1 Princess
1 Pumpkin
1 Punk Skull Diva
1 Purple Cow
1 Ragdoll
1 Robot
1 Rocker
1 Sally from Nightmare Before Xmas
1 Singer
1 Skeleton Bride
1 Skull Mother
1 Skull Warrior
1 Sleepover Girl
1 Sleepy Girl
1 Snake Handler
1 Solider
1 Stormtrooper
1 Student
1 Superwoman
1 The Black Knight
1 The Reaper
1 The Tooth Fairy
1 Tiger
1 Tinkerbell
1 Tomato
1 Undead Hobo
1 Undertaker
1 Urkel
1 White haired old chinese guy
1 Wings
1 Winnie the Pooh
1 Wolf
1 Woody
1 Zombie
That’s 225 different people that came to our door this year. Compared to 163 last year, that’s a significant increase.
The traditional scary costumes still top the list, but as you can see, pretty much every genre is represented. I found it quite fun to ask each child what they were dressed as and hear their response. That baffled look on their face as I hold a full size candy in front of them, waiting for their answer is great.