Halloween has arrived earlier than ever, at least as a concept at major US theme parks and stores across the US, as companies seek to boost sales and build on consumers’ love of spooky costumes and scares – even in August.
This month, theme park operators such as Six Flags, Disney and Universal Studios have introduced a range of Halloween-themed attractions, live-performances, merchandise, food and beverages, months before the 31 October annual tradition, to take advantage of the surging popularity of Halloween.
These holiday-themed efforts come at a time when domestic theme park attendance has decreased, following a post-Covid surge in demand.
On 14 September, the Six Flags amusement park corporation will kick off Halloween early with a new experience called Saw: Legacy of Terror celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Saw horror movie franchise.
Following the $8bn merger of Six Flags and one of its former rivals, Cedar Fair, which created the nation’s largest amusement park operator with 42 parks across 17 states, Six Flags is increasing its investment in Halloween, including adding more Hollywood-themed experiences from science fiction series and horror films.
Six Flags has been investing more in Halloween experiences in recent years after it saw how successful horror-themed offerings were with consumers, Edithann Ramey, the chief marketing officer at Six Flags, told Reuters.
The parks, Ramey said, saw an increase in attendance and spending when it introduced attractions based on the horror films Saw and The Conjuring.
“It’s become this time of the year that’s grown in explosive ways,” Ramey said. “It’s become a billion-dollar industry in the last five years.”
Halloween has become one of the strongest selling points for theme parks, said Jakob Wahl, chief executive for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.
“We actually see a growth every year in terms of Halloween events, not only in North America, but across the world,” Wahl added.
This month, Disney parks started the Halloween season earlier than ever, and introduced Mickey’s Not So Scary Party, a spooky Halloween party that takes place several evenings a week at Disney World in Orlando, running from 9 August until the end of October, and events at its California resorts, which are selling out.
Comcast-owned Universal Studios’s 2024 Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando is scheduled to run from 30 August to 3 November, the longest season they have ever had. The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Universal is also adding a Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire haunted house to its Halloween programming.
And both Universal Orlando and Japan will add cast members dressed as antagonists called Death Eaters to haunt Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter franchise during Horror Nights.
And it’s not just theme parks. Stores around the country have already begun stocking, displaying and selling Halloween goodies.
Retailers such as Target and Lowe’s announced their Halloween collections in July this year, with the items available to purchase in late August. Home Depot dropped its Halloween line in July, and held a “halfway to Halloween” sale in April, six months before 31 October.
On 27 August, retailer Spirit Halloween announced that it will open 1,525 Halloween stores across the country this coming season, and that over 1,100 locations were already open.
According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), Halloween spending by US consumers reached a record in 2023 of $12.2bn, up from $10.6bn the previous year.
A survey from the NRF last year, found that 45% of consumers said they were going to start Halloween shopping before October. This marks an increase from a decade ago, the federation said.
Reuters contributed reporting
