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! 

At Home Halloween

Do you guys have an At Home store? We got one recently and I think it's great! If you're not familiar with At Home, they carry mostly housewares. No matter what your decorating style is, I bet they carry it. They have stuff for people who are into rustic, country, modern, glitter, and glamour. They also have their Halloween stuff out! And strangely enough, Christmas. But we're not ready for Christmas yet, are we?

Nope.

Here are some photos of my favorite Halloween items from At Home...

The headless trick-or-treater? That's kind of weird when you think about it - "Just put the candy in my head". But this pumpkin pail reminds me of the one I used to trick-or-treat with.

Meow! This is my first time seeing a black skeleton critter. And how about that eye! I was considering maybe spray painting some of the (plastic) skeleton animals I've picked up lately. I don't think I'd go with black, though. They could even look cool in bright colors.

A close up of a cool spiderweb design on a lantern:

Creeping out of the ground!

A little floral design inspiration:

They had a lot of decorations with eyes. I thought that was pretty cool and mystical.

This eye has an Ancient Egyptian look to me. Like something on the wall of an Egyptian tomb. That's how I'm imagining it. And how cool is that spider hourglass next to it?

These eyes are on springs and stake into the ground. They'd be fun sticking out of the bushes or a large plant.

Cutesy pumpkins with eyes:

In further pastel pumpkins, donut pumpkins!

How about this creeper? Sometimes the simplest things are the most scary.

That's another creature's hand, by the way.

On a nearby shelf was this... ghost? doll? Whatever it was, it was walking the disturbing line for me. The more you stare at this, the more it stares back.

Here's something cute to clean that last one out of your brain:

More cuteness, in the form of vintage cat inspired trays:

I just noticed the heart-shaped eyes on this cat.

There was a sort of graveyard/party type display up. That's where I found these next three creatures. How cool are the hands on this pumpkin creature?

My favorite skulls, starting with an energized looking skull bust:

It might be hard to see what's going on here, but this is a skeleton spider with a pumpkin body, holding a monocle. How often do you see that?

A side view:

Not your average garden gnomes:

I love this pillow design!

They had several amazing pillows, like this one that looks inspired by a vintage postcard. I'm noticing now that it was postmarked as departing Transylvania on October 31.

And these pillows look like tickets to a haunted house, again on October 31. 😃

I'm going to end with the big inflatables. For the most part these were new to me. I had seen this Jaws last year, actually in someone's yard. You guys might remember the photos. This shark actually thrashes back and forth and his eyes glow red!

If you guys would like to see the At Home Halloween selection for yourselves, here's a link: If you've got it, haunt it

I have plenty of photos from Michaels to share next time!