The Chronicle’s homemade costume contest returns for 2018 as the Total SF Halloween Costume Contest. We’ll be highlighting the winners in The Chronicle, with a $250 cash prize for the best children’s costume with a San Francisco theme.

More rules and details below.

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Dumping on the local transit system has become an annual — and not fully undeserved — pastime for San Franciscans. You could wallpaper a master bedroom most years with the bad news coming out of Muni.

But this year, like every year, Halloween brings out the greatest positive endorsement of all for the transit agency: Children unconditionally love Muni.

At this point we can call it a scientific conclusion. I’ve hosted a kids homemade Halloween costume contest for more than a decade at The Chronicle — now partnering with San Francisco columnist Heather Knight under our Total SF banner. Along with Thomas the Tank Engine and Minions, public transit has been the most popular costume for Bay Area children.

We’ve seen several BART costumes, a Caltrain engine and one VTA train over the years. But the vast majority come from young children willing to pass on “Star Wars” characters, Iron Man and princesses to dress up as an F-line streetcar or the 22-Fillmore inbound instead.

The specificity is what’s impressive. We’ve seen several detailed Muni transfer tickets over the years. Cable cars with bells that ring. And obscure bus lines. Knight’s 5-year-old son, a Muni fanatic whose passion helped spark our Total Muni 2018 campaign this April to ride every bus line in one day, had a request so specific it is hard to say in one breath.

“The 82x Levi’s Plaza Express inbound to Sansome and Filbert,” Knight said on a recent The Big Event podcast recording. “He asked if Target sells it, and sadly they don’t.”

I suspect some of the reason for so many Muni costumes — I’d guess we’ve seen at least 40 over the years — has to do with accessibility. A Muni bus is shaped like a box. If you’ve purchased a microwave oven, stereo speaker or new patio furniture from Costco in the last few months, your costume is at least one-third of the way done.

But there’s also something intangible about kids and Muni buses. My first encounter with true Muni obsession was Ben Easter, a 4-year-old contest entrant from 2013 who, like many kids, carried his Muni love well beyond Halloween.

He ended up in a City Exposed photo project shot by The Chronicle’s Mike Kepka, following Ben’s travels through the Muni system. He was shy upon meeting the general manager of Muni. But his face lit up with joy whenever he was riding in a bus.

Most of the costume cycles change over the years. We saw one Black Panther costume between 2007 and 2016. You can expect at least five to knock on your door on Wednesday. It seemed as if Harry Potter characters and Captain Jack Sparrow made up half of the costumes during our first year; both are a rarity now.

But Muni keeps on trucking. Per usual, the costume entries began coming in at a trickle this year, before a last-minute flood.

Two of the first three finished costumes? Muni buses.

Total SF Halloween Costume Contest rules

Enter your homemade costume by sending an email to phartlaub@sfchronicle.com and hknight@sfchronicle.com. Please include “Total SF Costumes” in the subject line.

Include photos and a short story about the costume(s). Anything you send or write may be published. Deadline for entry is Friday, Oct. 26.

Costumes must be worn this year and be mostly homemade (although some store-bought elements are OK).

Prizes will be given out to participants, with a $250 grand prize awarded to the top Total SF costume winner. This is a children’s costume contest, although themed family costumes with children and parents will be considered.

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