Spirit Halloween ~ All Aboard the Spooky Subway!

Hey guys! OK, This is going to be a first. I decided to take all these photos on my phone because the lighting in Spirit Halloween was looking overexposed with my regular camera. I think these phone pics turned out better and loading pics off my phone is way faster than loading them off my camera. So, I might be doing this again. Let me know if these photos look different size-wise or off center in any way. They're looking normal to me in preview mode. 

I'm starting with some of my favorite photos: the vintage/classic inspired masks. This may be my favorite photo from that day. Is this jack-o-lantern a specific character I'm not aware of?

This clown looks like he's off an old piece of advertising or a candy wrapper. You know those vintage paper candy bags? Something about his coloring makes me feel like he could be on one of those.

This guy is from Goosebumps. I had to do some googling to refresh my memory on him. His name is Curly the Skeleton, and if you'd like to read a little trivia about him, here's a link: 

Goosebumps Fandom ~ Curly the Skeleton 

That Goosebumps page looks like something fun to explore.

I've never tried press-on nails from a store that I can recall. Wait, maybe I have a vague memory of sticking some on with little pieces of tape when I was kid. I don't know. I'm sure they do it differently now. If I was going to stick some store nails on, these would be the ones I'd try. How cute are these with the miniature googly eyes!? I didn't even know there were googly eyes this tiny. 

This is the kind of blingy mask I say I'm going to craft each year. I do have a lot of rhinestones on hand.

This crow mask is made up of individual "feathers". I thought it was beautiful. This is the kind of photo that my usual camera was having trouble with. There's all that black on black under funky lighting.

I can't stop laughing at "The Menacing Man" because he's not very menacing! I think I'd title this picture something like "Moody 80s Musician" or "Tired Goth" :) I'm sure these wig models get a kick out of their photos if they go into a Spirit Halloween. This guy is probably modeling a number of wigs in the store.

I thought this wig was pretty. I'm surprised they labeled it as "Victorian". It looks more like something from the 1700s, doesn't it? I bet this wig could be used as part of a number of ghost costumes.

I smile every time I look at this one. There's something so funny to me about an adorable baby being dressed as Ghost Face. 

Speaking of scary/adorable combinations! I haven't seen M3GAN, but I know the general concept, and have seen the dancing. Is it scary? It sounded like a potentially scary movie plot. 

Here are a couple of my favorite costume/accessory sections. Here we have the Hippie display. I noticed that was a pot necklace after taking a closer look at my photos. I think at the time I thought Hawaiian lays had been put in the wrong section!

The 80s/90s section is always nostalgic for me! Although I'm seeing neon colors coming back in regular clothes and decor now. Still, some of these outfits are a trip down memory lane.

Funnily enough, this is the one thing in the store that scared me. It only scared me because it caught me off guard! I realize it is a very cute prop. If you don't recognize this, it's Zero's little tombstone from Nightmare Before Christmas. When I walked past it, a bunch of little barks sounded and it lit up. I jumped and went Aah! But then when I tried to get a pic of it lit up, it would turn off. Go figure. I think it took three times of me setting this off and quickly hopping down to get a picture.

There was an inflatable section, but they were all still in their boxes. I'd seen most of them before, and you probably all have too. This Pumpkin Scarecrow was new to me, though. It looks like he lifts his head on and off. At least I hope he does that. Maybe he holds it up at all times. I've seen some that move. A neighbor has a small inflatable pumpkin that a ghost pops out of and I've seen cats that pop up too.

The scary pumpkin section:

How cute are these ghosts with their candy corn bikini tops?

The themed decoration sections were out again, like Disney's Haunted Mansion. I don't remember those grinning gargoyle candleholders from last year. So those must be new. And I think the girl with the umbrella was on a lamp last year. Now she's on a suncatcher. They actually had a number of suncatchers out, although I didn't photograph the others.

Then there was the Beetlejuice section. I was sure I was looking at a plastic mask of Miss Argentina, but now I'm seeing that she is a door knocker. Next time I'm in the store I'll have to press that button and see what she says. 

I remember this Beetlejuice mask from last year. I think it's pretty good! It has stubble, mold, and everything!

And how about Adam's "stretched face" mask above him?

It would be a great couple's costume if one person wore Adam's stretched face and the other person wore Barbara's:

There was also a Spongebob section. I didn't understand some of what was there, but then I'm not a diehard Spongebob fan, just a casual one. :)

A section I really couldn't explain to you is the one with a Squid Game theme. But I did appreciate this super large-scale figure. I don't even know how tall she was, or if she was for sale. Or.... who she is. 

Her eyes moved and she said something. Should this be a scary character? She seemed like a giant doll.

Spirit Halloween is going with a spooky subway theme this year. The neon words actually scan across the top, like on a city bus. There are some fun details here, like the little skull logo and the "tracks". The animatronics were either surrounding the subway or inside it. 

It was honestly pretty creepy to step inside, especially while alone in the store. It had that dingy public transit vibe, although not as dingy as reality. How am I just noticing that upside down torso now? I must have wandered right past him. I was probably so taken with that giant rat at the end, that I missed some other details.

Do you guys remember Rats of NIMH? I was reminded here. This rat's eyes glow and he moves around making rat-like noises.

I don't know what this next creature is, but it was one of my favorites! It's kind of a crow/gargoyle I think. Next time I'm in the store, I'll have to check out its name.

This one is for sure my #1 favorite animatronic. I always like the classic jack-o-lantern scarecrow characters. 

He has great viney hands. His face and lantern light up and he moves from side to side.

This guy wasn't fully assembled yet. I have high hopes for him. My guess is that he's going to be a leaper. It looks like he starts out low to the ground and then shoots up. I recognize the candy bowl scarecrow behind him from last year. That one actually got me! He makes a sudden movement that probably really scares kids if you sit him out with a bowl of candy.

This clown spins in a circle. 

I think this reaper is the actual Spirit Halloween mascot. He said some creepy stuff that I can't recall. 

These glassy-eyed animatronics look lifelike enough to get to me. I'm sure he'd be even more effective in someone's yard at night.

The clown holds a box, says a sassy phrase or two, and then...

Pop! Goes the scary monkey. Then it slowly lowers back into the box. 

I really don't remember her deal. I think she says something, then screeches, and then her head spins around. 

Here we go exiting Spirit Halloween to go back into the mall. It feels like a different world out there. In keeping with the subway theme, you can enter and exit through this gate. 

So, there are my highlights from Spirit Halloween this year. Is this more or less what your Spirit stores have to offer? I'm sure they're all slightly different based on where they're located. If things go like they did last year, the store will keep updating their merchandise and I may have more to share.💀

Spirit Halloween 2023

Hey everyone! Well, judging from the date on my last blog post, it has been a really long time since I've been on here. As in, nearly a year. I hope you have all been doing well during that time. While I haven't been blogging, I have taken a ton of photos from the Halloween displays in stores. So there will be plenty of that content coming up! 

Let's start with Spirit Halloween. The Spirit store I visited is in the local mall and took up a good amount of space. They had plenty of large moving props. This spider is one of my favorites:

The spider lurked behind this door and popped out when motion activated.

Here's another classic. I liked their use of bright neon lights.

This devil figure was pretty creepy. He starts in this crouched position.

Then he shoots up fast and high! He's nearly touching the ceiling.

I'm trying to remember what he said! All these creatures had something spooky to say, but I can't seem to remember what. Not that this one would need to say anything to be scary.

This one made my mom jump, which I found pretty funny. Especially since she was saying how the props weren't too scary, she knew what they were going to do, etc. 

Now, I don't pretend to know what this thing is. It was the sudden movement that was so scary. I was joking that this one looked like it was assembled from random prop parts. 'Ol doll face, ghost body, carrot fingers!

I'm not sure what this clown torso was supposed to do, because I think his battery was low. But it would be pretty cool if it walked on its hands.

There was this sort of tomb-like structure that housed more critters. The structure was one of my favorite parts of this store. It was just this really cool display with flickering lights and lanterns.

This was the ceiling area inside the structure. That bright green light was moving around. This is one of those times where the store display is what I want to bring home most.

This scarecrow is one of the characters who lives inside the tomb.

When you reach inside the candy bowl he leaps to life! I was pretty startled by this one when I saw it for the first time years back.

There were several characters lining the outside of the structure too, like this screaming lady. I was going to call her a vampire, but she doesn't have fangs.   

A very large Killer Klown from Outer Space was there. I think he just laughed.

Check out this entryway! Again, I'd like to bring the display home.

Mars Attacks! I've actually never seen this movie, and there's every reason that I should have.

This skeleton shakes his head. It's just a fun, classic design. I think he could fit well with a pirate-themed display.

This jack-o-lantern is a favorite prop of mine. He looks like just a normal pumpkin.

But then... Pow! His mouth pops open really fast, revealing pumpkin guts.

There were some more tomb frames near the entrance/exit of the store.

This area is where you'll find the more decorative Halloween items (mostly movie-themed.) Here are a few favorites. 

Pretty cool welcome mat:

Disney's Haunted Mansion inspired...

I was actually back at Spirit today, but I didn't have my camera. If I had brought it, I would have taken a picture of new Hocus Pocus stuff they had in. They had a journal that looked like "The Book" from the movie. But when I was there several days back, this glass was my favorite Hocus Pocus item.

You'll no doubt recognize these from A Nightmare Before Christmas.

They had plenty of movie-themed signs. I'm a big original Halloween movie fan, so I appreciated that "newspaper article" at the bottom. 

Today, I noticed that they had in a neon sign for the Bates Motel. When you turn the sign on, the neon lights up and one letter flickers. I was surprised to see that they stocked the shelves since I'd been there. So it is worth checking back!

Have you guys been to Spirit Halloween yet? I'd be interested in exchanging notes on what you've seen!