By Aimee Ortiz
On Nov. 1, 1876, The New York Times proclaimed Halloween as “gone,” consigned to history.
In 2024, it’s projected that consumers will spend $11.6 billion celebrating the occasion, an increase from $3.3 billion in 2005. Perhaps it’s time to admit a mistake.
Halloween, rich in heritage, has evolved from a pagan festival featuring homemade attire and sweets to one of the largest consumer spending occasions in the United States. Each October—or sooner—millions of Americans invest in costumes, adorn their homes and yards with flashy skeletons and spiders, and hand out candy to tiny superheroes and witches. How did this holiday, with its modest beginnings, turn into an economic powerhouse with increasing global fascination?
Halloween is a marketer’s paradise, according to Tom Arnold, a finance professor and retail authority at the University of Richmond. Its fixed date each year, the perishable nature of Halloween goods (candy requires annual restocking, and children quickly outgrow costumes), along with pop culture influences that can forecast which costumes will be in demand every season, all contribute to its success.
Arnold noted that the 1970s ushered in mass-produced costumes and individually packaged candies, which catalyzed the holiday’s surge in popularity. This period also marked a transition from a more sacred observance to a secular celebration.
Even when financial worries loom, consumers tend to splurge on holidays like Halloween and Christmas, Arnold stated, because “it offers a unique experience during a certain time of the year.”
“Even throughout the pandemic, consumers made considerable efforts to maintain these two holidays,” he remarked.
A celebration with Catholic and Celtic origins finds a home in America
Halloween represents a fusion of two celebrations: All Saints’ Day, a Catholic observance shifted to Nov. 1, and Samhain, an ancient Celtic pagan festival, explained Lisa Morton, author of “Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween.” Notably, the holiday’s name is an abbreviation of “All Hallows’ Eve,” where “hallow” signifies saint.
Samhain (pronounced saa-wn) marked the New Year for Irish Celtic tribes who welcomed their prolonged, chilly winter. Celebrated with a three-day festival rich in eerie tales, this likely influenced the ominous aspects of Halloween.
The cultural tradition of Halloween arrived in the United States during the 1840s, carried by Scottish and Irish immigrants fleeing famine. At that time, magazines began to publish stories about “charming Irish and Scottish festivities,” which piqued the interest of American mothers, leading them to throw Halloween parties for their children.
Trick-or-treating emerged as a means to engage children who, by the year 1900, had essentially taken control of the holiday. Kids engaged in playful but mischievous antics, such as disassembling a farmer’s carriage and placing it atop a barn. However, as urbanization progressed, these pranks became “quite destructive,” Morton stated. Communities had to devise ways to “placate” unruly groups of children terrorizing neighbors by breaking lamps, igniting tires, and pranking pedestrians.
Neighborhood “house-to-house parties” were organized for kids, Morton noted, highlighting that this origin of trick-or-treating also paved the way for today’s haunted attractions (consider haunted houses and mazes) as individuals would create “trails of terror” in their basements or local parks. Haunted houses have now formed a seven-figure industry on their own.
Commercialization of candy and costumes
As trick-or-treating gained popularity, so too did the demand for costumes. Costumes had been part of the holiday fun since the 19th century, Morton shared, but they truly flourished in the 1950s when larger retailers and costume shops entered the mix.
“If you’re a kid, who wouldn’t prefer to be Superman for Halloween instead of wearing an old version of a thief made from your dad’s old clothes?” she observed.
Candy, currently the leading spending category during the holiday, also boomed in the ’50s, Morton noted, as post-World War II brought a resurgence of sugar supply.
The National Retail Federation’s annual report indicates that 47% of consumers begin their Halloween shopping before October, with 48% of those early purchasers motivated by their desire for autumn. This year, candy expenditure is expected to reach $3.5 billion; spending on costumes and decorations is anticipated to hit $3.8 billion each. Greeting cards (yes, some people send Halloween cards) represent $500 million. Consumers are projected to shell out an average of $103.63 per person this year.
Young adults embrace the celebration
Halloween spending has been on the rise for several years, a pattern largely attributed to millennials and Generation Z, who are incredibly fond of the occasion, remarked Katherine Cullen, vice president of industry and consumer insights at the National Retail Federation.
“We’ve reached a stage where nearly three-quarters of adults participate in Halloween festivities, which is quite significant,” she noted.
Interestingly, Halloween is not the second-largest retail holiday after Christmas, Cullen highlighted. Individual spending on gift-giving holidays such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Valentine’s Day surpasses it, but Halloween still ranks in the top 10.
Spirit Halloween and major retailers take the lead
Spirit Halloween represents more than just a temporary pop-up store that appears for a few months each year; it’s an experience of retail entertainment.
“Entering a Spirit store immerses you in a Halloween environment where you can see, smell, hear, touch, and nearly taste it,” said Steven Silverstein, the company’s CEO.
Over the course of his 20-plus years with the company, Spirit Halloween expanded from approximately 130 locations to over 1,500 this year in the U.S. and Canada.
Home Depot’s Halloween initiative began in 2013 and was initially “limited to a single endcap of our store aisles featuring around 40 ‘harvest’ themed items,” stated Lance Allen, senior merchant of decorative holiday at Home Depot. Currently, Home Depot offers thousands of products, including its popular 12-foot skeleton, “Skelly,” which has sold out each year since its introduction in 2020, Allen mentioned. Online sales begin in July, and store displays are arranged by Labor Day.
Can’t wait for Halloween? Consider ‘Summerween’
Michaels and Home Depot are among retailers that have begun previewing and selling Halloween goods earlier and earlier—a trend known as “holiday creep.” The concept of “Summerween” has emerged, featuring a pastel-colored and warm-weather celebration for those eager for October. Halloween enthusiasts eagerly share their excitement on social media under the hashtag #codeorange as they spot the first signs of festive shopping.
The contemporary, Americanized version of Halloween is gaining traction beyond English-speaking nations, adapting to local customs, said Morton, the author. She pointed to Hong Kong, where a prominent amusement park hosts Halloween mazes annually.
“One of the intriguing aspects of Halloween is its ongoing transformation,” Morton remarked. “We observe its evolution almost from century to century.”
She concluded: “I’m eager to see its future direction.”
