Halloween is a Season (and the Numbers Finally Agree!)
I have been saying this for 11 years.
When I started Spooky Little Halloween in 2015, telling people you celebrated Halloween in July got you a polite smile and a change of subject. Summerween was still a silly bit from a kid’s cartoon. Springoween didn’t exist. Putting a pumpkin on the porch before Labor Day meant your neighbors talked about you.
So you'll forgive me for feeling a little smug about the 2026 Halloween Survey from HalloweenCostumes.com, which landed a couple of weeks ago. It's a multi-year look at how people plan, shop and celebrate, and the headline is one this community has known in its bones for a long time: Halloween is a season, the season starts early, and the people who love it are wearing costumes in April.
Let's dig in.
The Season Starts Before the Leaves Do
Sixty-four percent of respondents said Halloween season officially begins for them by early October or earlier. Sixteen percent said July or August.
Sit with that for a second. One in six people surveyed by a mainstream costume retailer is already in it by the time the fireworks stands close.
That's not a fringe. That's a tent at the county fair.
The press release calls this "early season prep," which is a very corporate way to describe what we call a normal Tuesday. But the framing matters because it tells you retailers are watching this number and planning around it.
If you've noticed the Halloween aisle showing up earlier every year, this is why. You're not imagining it, and you're not alone in wanting it.
As you know, around here the season never really stops. We celebrate Valoween in February, look for Springoween ideas March through May, and dive into the hype of Summerween with the rest of the Internet come June.
Half of Us Never Take the Costume Off
This one made me laugh out loud. Asked whether they wear costumes outside of Halloween, 48% of people said yes. Thirty percent cosplay or roleplay, 19% dress up for events and festivals, 14% for parties.
Costume wearing has quietly become a year-round hobby for nearly half the people surveyed.
That's Renaissance faires, that's comic conventions, that's themed birthday parties and Halfway to Halloween nights and whatever excuse you can find to put on a cape in March. The costume you buy this October is going to get more than one wear, and I'd argue that changes how you should shop for it (more on that in a minute).
Looking for costume ideas?
We Googled It
Here's where the survey gets interesting for anyone who makes things on the Internet. (Like me!)
The number one place people start looking for Halloween ideas is a search engine. Not TikTok, not Pinterest, not Instagram. Google and Bing took 43% of respondents this year, up from 33% in 2025 and just 20% in 2024. That's more than doubled in two years.
Meanwhile TikTok sits at 15%, Instagram at 8%, and Pinterest, which for years was the place for Halloween inspiration, has slipped to 5%. Friends and family came in second overall at 18%.
I have theories about why.
Short-form video is great for making you want something and terrible for helping you actually find it. When you're ready to plan, you want a tutorial, a list, a how-to you can come back to? That's search. And it's a nice reminder that the blog is not dead, no matter how many times someone tells me it is.
For better or worse, AI is in the mix too: 37% of people said they'd used it for decor ideas, costume concepts, or planning a whole event. Only 3% said it was where they start, though.
It's a tool people reach for mid-process, not a replacement for wandering around looking for ideas.
Comfort Wins
For the first time in this survey's history, comfort and fit beat quality as the thing people care about most in a costume. Comfort came in at 30%, up from 20% in 2024. Quality dropped to second at 26%, affordability was third at 20%.
I think the year-round number explains this. If you're going to wear something four or five times, it needs to be something you can sit down in. Something you can eat in. Something that doesn't require a second person to get you out of it at 1 a.m.
And there's a related bright spot: 63% of respondents said there are enough costume options for all body types, including plus-size, adaptive and maternity. That number was 33% in 2022. It has nearly doubled in four years.
As someone who has spent a lot of Octobers not even bothering to look for costumes because I knew they wouldn’t come in my size, I'm going to hold both things at once here. Sixty-three percent is real progress and worth celebrating. It also means more than a third of people still say it's not enough, and 15% specifically want more plus-size options.
Keep asking. It's working!
This is one of the reasons I’ve continued to work with HalloweenCostumes.com. While others might be looking past plus-size costume wearers or even cutting out this market all together, HC.com is constantly adding to their options, with select costumes now available in 8X.
Halloween costumes are for EVERYONE. Full stop.
Where the Money Goes
A few quick hits from the spending data, because I know some of you are budgeting:
Costumes and decorations tied for the top spending category, followed by candy, accessories and makeup. Fifty-five percent of people said they'll spend less on costumes this year than last, which tracks with comfort and affordability rising up the priority list. Decor spending is holding steady for most people, and 75% plan to spend the same or more on candy.
On the decor side, jack-o'-lanterns are the most likely purchase this year at 32%, with animatronics a surprisingly strong second at 19%. Tombstones brought up the rear at 3%, which I take as a personal challenge. (Looking for essentials for $20 or less? I’ve got you covered.)
And for costume inspiration, recent movie and TV releases still lead at 39%, with friends and family close behind at 37%. Gaming came in at 18%, memes at 12%, and only 4% of people said they'd be dressing as a celebrity or influencer. Good.
What This Means If You Love Halloween
Not much, honestly. You already knew! But it's nice to see it on paper.
The way we celebrate here, the year-round version, the comfortable-costume, plan-early, decorate-in-September version, is now the mainstream version. The survey didn't create that. People like you did, one porch at a time.
So if you needed permission to start, this is it. Go ahead and put the pumpkin out.
Survey data comes from the HalloweenCostumes.com 2026 Halloween Survey, released August 19, 2026. You can read the full press release here.
