10th Annual Creep Your Crypt Contest Concludes With Three Winners

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Three winners have been selected in the Palisadian-Post’s 10th annual Creep Your Crypt Halloween home decorating contest: Creepiest Crypt went to Deborah and Randy Nonberg, Best Theme to Chuck Peil, and DIY/Originality to John Trousdale.

Creepiest Crypt winners the Nonbergs, entry #10 on the ballot, entered their Highlands home in the contest for the first time in 2023. They have lived in the neighborhood for 45 years.

“Every year we try to have a different theme for our decorations,” the Nonbergs explained. “This year our theme was ‘Barbie’s Scream House,’ and our favorite feature was the Barbie Box where trick or treaters could have their pictures taken.”

They said they were “delighted to win” the Creepiest Crypt prize.

“We really enjoy Halloween and try every year to bring smiles—and perhaps just a little fright—to our friends and neighbors,” they said. “Events like Creep Your Crypt bring us together as a community and we love being a part of it. Winning was just the icing on the cake.”

The Peil family, whose Marquez Knolls home is a repeat entry in the Creep Your Crypt contest, was entry #7 on this year’s ballot and took home the Best Theme prize.

Chuck explained that for him, the contest is a way to bring the community together for fun, “which is more important than ever” for the kids. He said that it felt “great” to win on behalf of all the other “crypts” on Bollinger that also got involved, creating a “spectacular” street experience for the families.

“There was a moment when it was just getting dark when tons of families were crawling on both sides of the street,” said Peil, who estimated he had 400 people stop by Halloween night to trick or treat and admire the decor. “Smoke machines were cranking, music was pumping, outdoor movies were being projected and our neighbor’s drone ghost flying overhead with the chatter and screams of kids, which seriously felt like a tiny little ’80s Spielberg moment. That’s why we do it.”

The Peils have previously won in the Creepiest Crypt and DIY/Originality categories, most recently being awarded Best Theme in 2021.

Winning the DIY/Originality prize, the Trousdale family, which entered their Via Bluffs home for the second time in 2023, was entry #2 on the ballot. They have lived in the Palisades for about two years.

“Winning the Palisadian-Post’s Creep Your Crypt contest feels better than winning the Super Bowl and the Oscar for Best Picture on the same day the mailman delivers your Nobel Prize,” John said. “We’re lucky to live in a community full of artists and packed with high-octane creativity. It’s stiff competition, so knowing our fellow Palisades chose us for the DIY/Originality prize feels great.”

The main inspiration for the decorations was the Palisades itself.

“We wanted distinctively Palisades Halloween vibes, and surfing skeletons tickled our funny bones,” John explained. “Then our 5-year-old daughter Kennedy insisted that surfing skeletons were ‘not spooky enough,’ and so a giant sea monster was the obvious choice to crank up the spook-o-meter a few notches.”

Another influence, John said, was the “Calvin and Hobbes” comic, where 6-year-old Calvin often builds “elaborate scenes of snowmen bring maimed, eaten by monsters,” etc.: “I wanted our crypt to pay tribute to Calvin’s frozen horrors.”

This year’s winners took home gifts certificates from Hydration Room, McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams, Flour Pizzeria & Café, BE ROSY and Porta Via Palisades. They received tickets to an upcoming Theatre Palisades show, coffee and a gift card to Alfred’s, tequila from The Smoke Label, and soap from LadyBird.

The Post will celebrate its 10th annual Deck Your Halls holiday home decorating contest beginning in December. More details, including how to enter, will be revealed in upcoming editions.