As we were doing our research on Halloween trends, we kept noticing one phrase popping up time and again: Spirit Halloween. Wait — the costume store we see while froggering through crowds on Broadway? It turns out, the Halloween costume and décor store is something of a sleeper behemoth, ringing up$400 million in sales in 2015.
Owned by Spencer Gifts (your gag-gift HQ), the 34-year-old Halloween costume and décor store operates on a pop-up model — every year, the retail locations open for business from mid-August until November 2 (they’ve recently found opportunities in dying malls). And while there are now 1,300 locations all over North America (and 11 in Manhattan alone), your best bet for finding that pitch-perfect Gaston costume is actually online. “You can find everything in our stores online,” says PR manager Erin Springer, “plus lots of exclusive online-only items.” We asked Springer for a preview of the most popular costumes we can expect come the 31st.
For a touch of realism, add some fake blood to this Eleven costume. If you want to go a cheekier route, you could be Barb, instead.
The cutest (and most surprisingly high-quality) doody costume you’ll ever find.
Grab yourself a packet of Szechuan sauce and make it a double whammy of pop-culture topicality.
If you’re not aware (we weren’t), Rusty Rivets is an engineer known for his inventions, and also the main character of the Nickelodeon show by the same name. He’s huge with kids.
One more point in favor of Halloween in the great The Nightmare Before Christmas debate.
It’s a simple costume, but if you really want to pull off a Slater look, better start hitting the creatine and free weights now.
Millennials who came of age during the ’90s love Hocus Pocus, especially Bette Midler’s put-upon oldest Sanderson sister Winifred. They might be remaking it, but there’s no topping the original.
The Steven Universe costume comes with a built-in party trick and icebreaker — you get to show off your gemstone belly button (it’s a sticker).
The cheapskate’s choice: a Snapchat puppy filter come to life. Let us know if it’s as deceptively flattering as the smartphone version.
Is this costume a commentary on subverting power dynamics? Backbreaking labor made manifest? Simple wish fulfillment? (The piggyback genre — which includes mom and baby, leprechaun, Santa Claus, bear, and gnome — is full of the last one.) We’re dismayed that this costume is this popular. But if you really must.
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