I visited New York’s largest Halloween festival at a historic mansion with over 7,000 jack-o’-lanterns. Here are the coolest things I saw.

• The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze in New York is the tri-state area’s largest Halloween festival.
• Artists decorate the grounds of Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson with 7,000 jack-o’-lanterns.
• The jaw-dropping displays include a pumpkin planetarium, a 200-foot Kraken, and optical illusions.

When the Van Cortlandt family acquired their sprawling Hudson Valley estate in the late 1600s, they couldn’t have imagined that it would one day host a jack-o’-lantern festival with pumpkin sculptures including a Kraken, moving windmill, and Statue of Liberty.

Dutch trader Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who served as mayor of New York City, bought the land and built the first version of Van Cortlandt Manor between 1665 and 1681, according to the National Park Service . His grandson, Pierre Van Cortlandt, was New York’s first Lieutenant Gov. and added the manor’s top stories and porches in 1749.

Today, Van Cortlandt Manor is best known as the site of The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, an annual festival featuring elaborate pumpkin carvings and sculptures…

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