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Halloween has become a huge business. Heck, I bought $68 worth of costume components for my kids the other night.

One kid is going trick-or-treating as a ninja, the other as a country music star. We suppose we have another $30 or so to spend finishing out their costumes, and then we still have to buy candy to hand out, so add maybe $20. It is looking like the Tompkins family will contribute more than $100 to the economy to celebrate Halloween.

Halloween has turned what used to be a dull month between the summer rush and the holiday season into a month-long moneymaker.

The National Retail Federation says, in a September news release of a hired consumer survey, consumers will probably spend $4.96 billion this Halloween, up from $3.29 billion a year ago:

Though growing, Halloween remains the sixth-largest spending holiday after:

The results came from a NRF 2006 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, which measured consumer behavior and shopping trends related to Halloween. The survey polled 8,001 consumers from Sept. 6 to 13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percent.

The National Retail Federation also says in the press release:

• Nearly two-thirds (63.8 percent) of consumers will celebrate Halloween this year, a noticeable rise over the 52.5 percent who celebrated in 2005.

• Halloween activities will range from handing out candy (73.4 percent) to dressing in costume (34 percent) and visiting a haunted house (17.2 percent).

• In addition to a rise in celebrations, per-person spending is also increasing: The average consumer plans to spend $59.06 on Halloween, compared to $48.48 last year.

"Consumers see Halloween as a seasonal celebration to bridge the gap between the end of summer and the winter holidays," said Tracy Mullin, President and CEO of NRF. "Halloween offers a little something for everyone, and this year, people of all ages will be joining in the fun."

• Maintaining its spot as the second-biggest decorating holiday of the year after Christmas, Halloween continues to have decorations as a strong category, with 67 percent of consumers planning to purchase Halloween décor and almost half (48.6%) planning to decorate their home or yard.

• Additionally, most people (95.7 percent) will be scooping up plenty of candy, with the average consumer spending $18.72 in that category.

• Costumes are also expected to increase in popularity this year with consumers spending $21.57 to dress up as their favorite alter-ego.

• The popularity of Halloween among young adults continues to surge for the second year in a row. This year, 85.3 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds plan to celebrate the holiday, up from 66.8 percent last year. But they aren't the only ones taking advantage of the ghoulish fun -- 76.5 percent of consumers aged 25 to 34 and 71.3 percent of 35- to 44-year-olds will be joining in the fun.

"Halloween has especially exploded among young adults who are celebrating with large parties and elaborate costumes, driving spending and bringing good news for retailers," said Phil Rist, vice president of Strategy for BIGresearch. "With the holiday falling on a Tuesday this year, young adults may begin participating in Halloween activities the weekend before and spend several days celebrating."

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Halloween at Amusement Parks

I was in Hershey, Pa., last weekend teaching a workshop for the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters. I found myself surrounded at the Hershey Lodge by little witches and ninja warriors who had gathered at Hershey Park in the Dark, part of Halloween in Hershey. In recent years, Halloween has become a huge business for theme parks that once closed after Labor Day.

HauntWorld magazine rated the top 13 (Get it -- 13?) haunted houses around the country and the top five haunted-theme-park attractions around the country. There are companies like Dark Rider and Halloween Productions that specialize in building huge, sophisticated Halloween attractions.

Last year, MSNBC included this story:

Although the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions keeps no figures, industry experts estimate that millions of people go to Halloween celebrations at parks around the nation, generating tens of millions of dollars in extra revenue for them.

For Terri Lacroix, the appeal of the Halloween celebrations comes from the adrenaline rush she gets anticipating where the next grotesquely masked figure is going to jump out at her in the confined space of a haunted house.

"I don't like roller coaster rides but I love scary movies. This is my adrenaline rush," said Lacroix, a 35-year-old Orlando catering manager, as she exited "The Skool" haunted house at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights.

Nationwide, Halloween has grown by leaps and bounds as a holiday, and this year consumers were expected to generate $3.3 billion in Halloween spending, according to the National Retail Federation. (Note from Al: The updated figure for 2006 is estimated to be $4.96 billion.) Celebrations also have spread abroad to amusement parks in places, such as Mexico and Brazil, that don't have strong Halloween traditions.

"One of the things we know is that this is a worldwide trend. It's not just in the United States," said Beth Robertson, a spokeswoman for the amusement park association.

The parks' embrace of Halloween has been for economic reasons as much as creative ones. Before Southern California's Knott's Berry Farm became the first park with a major Halloween celebration 33 years ago, most regional theme parks closed their gates soon after Labor Day.

Halloween gave the regional parks an extra incentive to extend the season longer and offered the year-round destination parks in Orlando and Los Angeles a marketing tool to get people through their gates during what traditionally was a slow period.

"People just love to be immersed in a frightening, Halloween experience. They love giving up that control," said Jim Timon, senior vice president of entertainment at Universal Orlando, which helps plan the park's Halloween Horror Nights.

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Top Costumes

The National Retail Federation tries to figure out what the top costumes are for each year. For the second year in a row, princess is the top costume for kids. But the federation says kids won't be the only ones dressing up this year:

According to the survey, 34 percent of adults will dress in costume on Halloween. With the popularity of the holiday steadily increasing among young adults, close to two-thirds (62.8 percent) of consumers ages 18 to 24 will be dressing up. Top Halloween costumes for adults include witches (6.15 million), pirates (1.31 million) and vampires (1.31 million).

"This year pirate costumes are popular among consumers of all ages, due largely to the widespread success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise," said Phil Rist, vice president of Strategy for BIGresearch. "Knowing the competitive spirit that exists among young adults when it comes to sporting the best Halloween costume, many retailers have altered their merchandise assortment to appeal to this enthusiastic consumer base."

Here are the 2006 top kids' costumes:

			# of Children
1.)	Princess	11.5%	3,971,023
2.)	Pirate	5.0%	1,721,948
3.)	Witch	4.8%	1,651,664
4.)	Spider-Man	4.4%	1,511,097
5.)	Superman	3.7%	1,265,105
6.)	Disney Princess (Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, Snow White)	3.1%	1,054,254
7.)	Power Ranger	2.9%	983,970
8.)	Pumpkin	2.2%	773,119
9.)	Cat	2.0%	702,836
10.)	Vampire	1.5%	527,127
11.)	Angel	1.4%	491,985
12.)	Fairy	1.4%	491,985
13.)	Ninja	1.4%	491,985
14.)	SpongeBob SquarePants	1.4%	491,985
15.)	Batman	1.3%	456,843
16.)	Cheerleader	1.3%	456,843
17.)	Football Player	1.3%	456,843
18.)	Tinkerbell	1.3%	456,843
19.)	Monster	1.2%	421,702
20.)	Star Wars Character	1.2%	421,702

And here are the 2006 top adults' costumes:

# of Adults 1.) Witch 17.5% 6,150,666 2.) Pirate 3.7% 1,305,566 3.) Vampire 3.7% 1,305,566 4.) Cat 2.6% 899,390 5.) Clown 1.8% 638,277 6.) Fairy 1.6% 551,239 7.) Gypsy 1.6% 551,239 8.) Superhero 1.6% 551,239 9.) Ghost/Ghoul 1.4% 493,214 10.) Dracula 1.3% 464,201 11.) Devil 1.2% 435,189 12.) Woman of the Night 1.1% 377,163 13.) Nurse 1.1% 377,163 14.) Pumpkin 1.1% 377,163 15.) Athlete 1.0% 348,151 16.) Princess 1.0% 348,151 17.) Zombie 1.0% 348,151 18.) Angel 0.8% 290,126 19.) French Maid 0.8% 290,126 20.) Cowboy/Cowgirl 0.7% 261,113

 

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Halloween Alternatives

Don't forget that there are plenty of people who do not believe in Halloween. Increasingly, churches like this Denver church -- the First Church of the Nazarene -- are offering parties billed as alternatives to Halloween celebrations. Beliefnet.com has a collection of resources to help you figure out the "faith" side of the story.

 

Pagans also have their own take on Halloween, often taking the occasion to push back on stereotypes about witches. Click here for an interesting essay on the matter.

 

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Pumpkin Carving 101

Down here in Florida, you learn something pretty fast when it comes to pumpkin carving. Once you carve a pumpkin and clean the pumpkin guts out, the pumpkin rots very quickly and molds. Within about five days, you have a big, orange jelly-like lump outside your door.

In recent years, retailers have been selling special pumpkin-carving saws and knives. I love them. You can buy patterns to apply to a pumpkin and sketch out your carving. Here is a Web site that covers everything from how to choose a pumpkin to how to bury it with dignity after Halloween.

 

Do NOT throw the pumpkin guts into the sink or garbage disposal. Roto-Rooter, a plumbing and drain service, will become your new best friend. Roto-Rooter says business goes up so much around Halloween that it is offering a special discount to people who need help cleaning their pumpkin-entrail-clogged drains. So here is a site that makes suggestions about better things to do with pumpkins guts, including roasting the seeds.

 

Then there is ExtremePumpkins.com, which turns your pumpkin into a flaming statement. They also have puking pumpkins and gunshot-victim pumpkins. You have to go there to see what I mean.

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We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.

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Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
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