It is the stuff of nightmares if you think Christmas is too commercial: the Halloween Advent calendar is here.
In this version of advent the countdown spans 13 (unlucky for some) to 31 “nights of fright” and is meted out in everything from horror dolls to KPop Demon Hunter keyrings.
In a meta development, there is even one with The Nightmare Before Christmas as its theme. The animated tale is about the king of Halloween Town’s attempt to take over Christmas.
The calendars are a fresh twist as enthusiasm for Halloween fancy dress parties and trick or treating continues to grow. Britons typically spend nearly £400m on sweets to satisfy the zombies and ghosts at their front door, according to the data firm Circana.
The buzz around spooky celebrations is also a tonic for the high street. “We’ve seen a 150% jump in the number of independent retailers buying Halloween countdown calendars this year, to more than 2,000 shops across the country,” said Charlotte Broadbent, the UK general manager at the online wholesale platform Faire.
Faire’s range includes a “cross stitch countdown” calendar with a skull to sew, and even one for witches’ cats that contains a mummy-shaped catnip bag.
“Halloween is a much more significant retail moment for British independents than in previous years,” Broadbent said. “Decoration and fancy-dress orders are now up 70% year on year, outpacing the growth we’re seeing in the US, and Halloween countdown calendars are leading the charge.”
It was perhaps only a matter of time before the Advent calendar moved beyond Advent. What was once a humble cardboard picture with baby Jesus as the big reveal has morphed into a blockbuster trade in gifts or “self-treating” that starts in the summer when waiting lists open for upmarket beauty calendars. Today they are filled with every conceivable product from cocktails to matcha tea and dog treats.
Amazon has a large selection of the Halloween calendars and even John Lewis is in on the act, stocking the £15 Squishmallows version aimed at youngsters or adults who scare easily. The department store said customers were also buying its macramé ghost and haunted house snow globe decorations.
“I have bought 40% more stock for Halloween because it just grows every year,” said Libby Ewart, who runs the online partyware and gift retailer The Box Party. She has had to restock the £25 “13 Nights of Halloween Spooky Spells” calendar, with its coffin-shaped obsidian crystal and black spell candle.
The calendar appealed to adults who “like crystals and that kind of thing”, as well as kids, said Ewart. “Halloween is a fun, low pressure holiday. This year it is on a Friday so the countdown is really good. It’s a thing that you do with your friends, and you can do it locally so there is a community feel.”
Alex Lawrence, a retail expert at Circana, says good weather makes a big difference to enthusiasm levels come fright night. “Last year we had good weather versus bad weather the previous year. Poor weather will certainly dampen the Halloween spirits.
“Shoppers continue to enjoy seasonal events – Christmas, Easter, Halloween – and they’re more willing to spend more for a little indulgence,” he said. Manufacturers and retailers were keen to capitalise on these occasions with promotions as sales were pretty flat or in decline across most food categories, Lawrence added.