JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Americans are willing to spend on magic this October.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THIS IS HALLOWEEN")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS: (As characters, singing) Come with us and you will see this, our town of Halloween. This is Halloween, this is Halloween.
SUMMERS: Surveys find that despite economic concerns and worries about tariffs, U.S. shoppers are expected to drop a record amount for Halloween. NPR's Alina Selyukh talked to some enthusiasts who have found a few savings tricks.
ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE: The Halloween takeover of Linh Nguyen's house just outside Chicago started slowly. One year, the front got cocooned in spider webs. Then the yard grew tombstones and skeleton parts.
LINH NGUYEN: ...And then it just kind of went from one thing to another.
SELYUKH: Evil little witches...
(SOUNDBITE OF WITCH LAUGHING)
SELYUKH: ...Creepy crawling monsters.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONSTER GROWLING)
NGUYEN: And then, actually, you know, you got to put the spotlights. You got to add, like, arcs.
SELYUKH: Pumpkins, obviously. A floating phantom. And the modern classic, the 12-foot skeleton. This year's edition has spread to the roof.
NGUYEN: Kind of mimicking that skeleton just crawling out of your house.
SELYUKH: Nguyen's $200 skeleton is part of this year's rise in Halloween spending. Last year, this spending declined for the first time since the pandemic as people tightened their belts. But now, the National Retail Federation forecasts a new record - more than $13 billion to be spent on candy, costumes, decorations. One reason for this higher spending is simply higher prices. But there's also the quest for joy, even on a careful budget.
LAURA KNAPP: We are being mindful, but not to the point where we wanted to, like, give up our Halloween tradition just yet.
SELYUKH: Laura Knapp from Baltimore is mainly splurging on candy, expecting hundreds of trick-or-treaters that swarm their neighborhood.
KNAPP: We have three, like, giant Costco candy bags so far, and we're thinking, like, we might need another one.
SELYUKH: Federal data shows the price of chewing gum and candy went up nearly 10% from last year, mainly because of a global cocoa shortage. It's now in its third year. Knapp's husband has been out of work because of the government shutdown, so they are thinking about their finances. But they also have little kids, 6 and 3 years old, and having that memorable evening for them with friends and neighbors is a big deal.
KNAPP: As of right now, we just, you know, want to make the magic for, like, our kids and the kids in the neighborhood.
SELYUKH: And so she says maybe they'll have to skip on takeout from DoorDash to compensate.
KNAPP: But we're making sure that we get the big old bags of candy.
SELYUKH: Knapp's tried and true way to save money is reusing. A thrifted sweater shape-shifts into a costume, then back into a regular sweater. The candy chute that launches treats down the porch steps? She handmade it during the social-distancing years of the pandemic, and now it's a local attraction.
KNAPP: We literally have kids come up going, it's the candy snake house.
SELYUKH: Both Knapp and Nguyen offer another savings tip, which is to plan for next Halloween on this Halloween. Buy your decorations one year out.
NGUYEN: When Halloween is technically, like, over, they're selling them off for 50% off, 60% off.
SELYUKH: Nguyen says he was always into the spooky holiday, but it was when he had children and then bought his house that he decided it was time to gourd big or gourd home.
NGUYEN: It's like one of those upfront costs. It's a little expensive, but ideally, I don't have to spend anymore, moving forward, right? It's just an investment that just kind of gets rebuilt every year.
SELYUKH: An investment that he feels pays a good dividend in a parade of spellbound faces stopping by. Alina Selyukh, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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