Ah yes, Halloween. The holiday where children and adults alike get to dress up and be whatever they want to be for an entire day, in the hopes of displaying their creativity and ingenious costume ideas. Halloween is personally one of my favorite holidays, and every year I enjoy trying to come up with different and unique costume ideas to impress my friends.
My main issue with Halloween as a college student is coming up with a fun costume…but on a budget. Sure, I could buy a costume with all the bells and whistles attached, but something like that is definitely going to be pricey. Having been only exposed to Party City for Halloween for most of my life, last year was the first year I decided to venture out and explore another Halloween giant: Spirit Halloween.
Sure, all of the Halloween commercials you see on TV are for Party City, but I can safely assure you that Spirit Halloween can meet your needs and then some. Last year, my boyfriend and I decided to do a couple’s costume as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy from SpongeBob (don’t mock, I wasn’t the one who came up with it). Most of the costumes were DIY, with a few accessories that needed to be purchased. Around my college, a Spirit Halloween was closer than a Party City, so I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and try that store out for a change.
Immediately upon entering the store, I was already impressed. Unlike Party City, which only has a handful of outdoor decorations and animatronics as soon as you walk in, Spirit Halloween was LOADED with fun, yet frightening, decorations and animatronic figures, many of which were utterly disturbing and terrifying. Had I owned a house and not lived in a small college-run apartment, I would have definitely been investing some big bucks in these life-like decorations.
Overall, the store has the costumes and whatnot divided into sections mainly by theme. Everything was neatly arranged, and the employees there were beyond helpful. Considering it was my first time in the store, they were extremely outgoing and made finding what I was looking for easy as can be. Compared to the prices of Party City, which can definitely be a bit extreme and steep, I’d say Spirit Halloween was a little bit cheaper. As a broke college student, I can definitely appreciate saving a dollar or two wherever and whenever I can.
Because I didn’t buy a full-on costume, I honestly cannot testify as to how the quality of such products are. However, the accessories I purchased held up quite nicely, and definitely served their purpose for the Halloween party I attended.
Overall, if Halloween is your thing, I’d definitely recommend hitting up a Spirit Halloween for any of your spook-tacular needs. They have a wide variety of costumes and accessories for a great price. Plus, if you’re ever in the mood to buy an animatronic 3-foot-wide spider that jumps out at you, they have that covered too!