Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun: Halloween Spirit Runs Rampant in North Texas
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Can’t get enough Halloween? If feeling creepy, kooky, and all together spooky is in your DNA, you’re not alone. According to the National Retail Federation’s annual Halloween consumer survey, holiday spending in 2024 is expected to reach $11.6 billion.
Halloweenists – an Urban Dictionary-coined term for Halloween lovers – are starting earlier too. Forty-seven percent of respondents say they’re already on the prowl for holiday-inspired décor. It’s not surprising. Thanks to the popularity of Summerween, a phenomenon popularized by the Disney Channel’s Gravity Falls, what was once an October celebration now starts in June.
With the real deal just over a month away, we took a deeper dive into what’s trending.
For starters, a study by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram revealed the most popular Halloween decoration in Texas is a clown, complete with big shoes and a bulbous red nose. (Writers’s note: RIP Tom Greico. Nothing was scarier to the late great builder than a comically creepy clown.)
More fun facts: Utah is the state with the most Halloween spirit; Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, and New Mexico all made the top five. Nationwide, MVPs of holiday décor include skeletons, pumpkins, spiders, witches, and bats.
Farmers Branch homeowner Susan White is among the group who goes all-out. “Decorating for Halloween reminds me of my childhood. I keep the tradition alive by having the scariest house in the neighborhood,” she said. “It makes me really happy to have the most frightening decorations on the planet – they have heads that pop up, arms that fly out; they scream, they screech, they light up. Everyone’s terrified, but I reward them with lots of candy.”
An informal poll of my Midway Hollow neighborhood ranks Skelly, Home Depot’s ubiquitous 12-foot skeleton, as the “Most Likely to Sell Out” Halloween decoration. If you can get your hands on one, the latest model has eight animated LCD eye options – think hearts, rainbow spirals, and cat eyes.
“Choose your scare,” touts the Home Depot website.
Whether you’re going for whimsical fun or eerie elegance, here’s our pick of Halloween decorations that strike the perfect balance between stylish and spooky.
Twinkling Halloween Tree
An eerie-sistible addition to your Halloween decor, its stark silhouette adds a bewitching ambiance. Style alone or in pairs on the porch.
Haunting Ghost Trio
Scare the yell out of your neighbors with this trio of ghoulish ghosts. Why we’re obsessed with these three: once activated, they’ll moan, wail, sway side to side, and light up with an other-worldly glow.
Spooky Halloween Bat Live Wreath
Holy bat wreath! Made of air-dried angel vines, each wreath is individually handcrafted at a family farm in California.
Keith Haring Halloween
This extremely rare, original 1989 Keith Haring-designed Sound Factory Halloween invite screams cool. See these and more of the iconic artist’s works on 1st Dibs.
Mackenzie-Childs Courtly Check Pumpkin
If the price doesn’t scare you – $599 plus a whopping $110 to ship – this handcrafted resin and fiberglass pumpkin will “make your home boo-tiful for Halloween and beyond,” according to the Neiman Marcus website.
“Go Away” Door Mat
What’s not to love about a doormat with ‘tude?
