According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $5.8bn (£3.6bn) on Halloween last year. In times of spending cuts and job insecurity that is a staggering amount of money.
In some instances, according to a survey by market research firm Mintel, preparations begin weeks before the event and discovered 23% of Americans would buy special decorations for their home, the second largest proportion for any holiday, after Christmas.
Welcome to the world of the "home haunters", enthusiasts who dedicate months every year putting together awesome Halloween displays in their front gardens.
Welcome to the world of the "home haunters", enthusiasts who dedicate months every year putting together awesome Halloween displays in their front gardens.
For most there is no commercial element. They do it because they can and they enjoy both the preparation and the reactions of the legions of parents and young trick-or-treaters who turn up at suburban front gardens to see how far a hobby can go.
In some instances fame spread so far and wide arrangement had to be put in place to control the sight-seers such as closing off roads. In some cases home owners have had to move if they wanted to maintain their annual displays, while others raise funds for charity.
For some, their love of Halloween has created businesses. Such as for the man who spends most of his year carving custom ordered tombstones!
Lesley Bannatyne, author of Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History, explains that while it originated in the UK, Halloween started took on an important, communal element in the early 20th Century when it was something that could be celebrated by a range of immigrant communities. Although the UK is taking Halloween more seriously it has to compete with Bonfire Night just a few days later. But it would be hard to argue that the UK even comes close to matching the US in the sheer visible exuberance of Halloween.
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From Now Until Forever
6 comments:
O think I read this one on another post but remember we do manage to find money when we want to.
debby236 at gmail dot com
Where I live in southeastern Virginia, there are very few homes decorated. But last weekend I was in my home state of NJ, and there were decorations all over the place, some of them quite elaborate, and clever! I'm not sure what the difference is, but it is interesting!
The cover for "From Now Until Forever" is stunning, Sherry! I read this post already and some of the effort people put out for Halloween is admirable especially since the public get to enjoy it as well.
Yes, again I agree, it's deciding what is important that matters, and if that's the fun and commeraderie of Halloween then, why not? ;-)
Thanks for hopping over here too.
Interesting Leah, The idea of decorating home for Christmas is on the increase here in the UK, but they are still way behind on the Halloween festivities.
I greatly admire the people and the time they take to decorate their homes not only for their own pleasure but for others too.
Thanks for coming by and commenting.
Na, Thank you for your kind words about the book cover for From Now Until Forever. I can't wait for it to come out. I had such fun writing it and loved the hero and heroine.
Thanks for dropping in here too.
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