Saving Money at Halloween

I was in Wal-Mart the other day (please don’t ask) and decided to take a look at their Halloween section. Though I usually don’t have high expectations of these “big box” retailers when it comes to Halloween, I feel obligated to check and, sometimes at least, they do have some interesting stuff.

My wife and I began to look through the costume section. As we get closer in to opening our haunt (we open Halloween night), we are realizing we need some outfits to go with our Asylum theme and a few sets of scrubs are high on the list.

In the Halloween section we saw a set of costume scrubs for sixteen dollars. While that may not sound like a bad deal and is actually very cheap for a Halloween costume, the problem is that just 100 feet away Wal-Mart had a collection of real scrubs for just ten dollars.

The problem didn’t end there. You could buy a fake plastic broom for eight dollars or go to the cleaning section and get a real one for three or four. Likewise, you could by a “costume” sword for about six dollars but “toy” ones in the toy section were just two or three.

Everything in the Halloween section is marked up to insane amounts just because the the price tag is in orange and black. This is a huge headache for parents, who are buying something their kids will wear exactly once, home haunters, who have tight budgets, and even professional haunted houses.

So if you want to survive Halloween without breaking the bank, here are a few ways to cut corners and avoid getting gouged this haunting season.

Tips for Parents

If you are a parent going trick or treating, your costumes are most likely going to be the biggest expenses, especially your kids. The bad news is that, if your son or daughter wants to go as a licensed character such as Spiderman or Wonder Woman, you’re likely in trouble. Those costumes are always expensive as a large chunk of the money goes to the rightsholder. Furthermore, they make attempts to construct reasonable copies almost impossible by not allowing fabric to be printed in the same pattern.

With that in mind, here are a few tips to help you squeeze every dollar at Halloween:

1. Make Costumes if Possible: Even if you have no sewing skills to speak of, you can make a lot of costumes yourself, often by combining clothes you already have. Want to be a zombie? Get an old set of clothes and take a weed eater (carefully) to them and smear them in dirt, more realistic effect and a lot of fun. Get creative and use what you already ownn
2. Don’t Buy from the Halloween Section: Buy as little as you can from the store’s Halloween section and instead buy from their clothing and toy departments. Prices are more favorable and it is a great way to pick up some unique things no one else will have.
3. Rent, Don’t Buy: Works best for adult costumes though some places might rent kids costumes too. If you’re planning on spending over $50 for your costume, you might get away cheaper renting. It pays to at least call around.

All in all, the key to having a good, cheap time is to avoid orange and black items the best you can. Do note though that the $1 pumpkin candy buckets are not optional and are a legal requirement for every kid at Halloween.

Ok, slight exaggeration, but still, it is tradition…

For Home Haunters

Home haunters, in my opinion, get hit the worst by these markups. They need to buy a lot of Halloween supplies but have the smallest budgets. How much they get to do each Halloween is tied directly to how much they can afford.

Still, home haunters can take a lot of shortcuts to stretch their budgets out. If I can run a 500 sq ft. haunt on a budget that can be dwarfed by a new computer purchase, home haunters have a lot of opportunities to save money including the same tricks parents have and the ones below:

1. Master 2×4 Technology: With a drill, some saws and basic construction materials, you can build almost anything. With proper construction techniques, which you can learn almost anywhere, you can build your own haunt. Even animatroncs, which should only be used sparingly anyway, can be built fairly easily. There is no reason to spend $1300 on a prop that just shakes. You should always be spending more money at Home Depot than at the Halloween store.
2. Nov. 1 Shopping Spree: There are some things that you do have to buy at a Halloween store such as masks, fog machines, strobe lights, etc. These are things that are impractical to build yourself for less than they can be purchased. Still, you can save a ton of money by buying all of them on November 1, after everything has been marked down half off or more. Save your money and stock up for next year.
3. Repurpose Christmas Decorations: Though it takes a pretty sick mind to do this, most home haunters have the right mentality to pull this off. Christmas decorations typically have lower markups and can often be reused for Halloween. Buy a set of animated light up reindeer for your hard, rip off the lights, stuff with newspaper and wrap in fur. You now have a set of animatronic wolves for less than $50. Take a dancing santa, stuff him in a body bag and hang him upside down, you have a a jerking corpse for under $100.

There are many other ways you can save money as a home haunter. The important thing though is that sweat equity and creativity matter far more than dollars spent. You can be a professional-looking haunt with a small budget, if you’re willing to put in the hours needed to make it happen.

Professional Haunts

My biggest issue with professional haunts, especially those that are not for charity or under small budgets, is that they don’t think like home haunters. They spend their money freely and end up with a haunt that could pass for a Hollywood set, but provide no real scares.

Once a haunt earns a reputation for such expensive sets, the only way to keep up the crowds is to be bigger and more expensive next year. It is a difficult cycle to maintain.

But if you’re a haunt that is seriously worried about your budget, here are a few ways you can save money and maximize profit.

Smaller and Scarier: There’s a huge push these days to have the largest and most elaborate haunts but they are rarely the scariest. Shrinking the size of your haunt can make the experience tighter, scarier and cheaper. Some recommend haunts no bigger than 1000 sq ft. though that, to me, might be overkill. Still, moving to a smaller location saves on rent, speeds up setup and makes the experience tighter for the customer.

Lean on the Actors: Actors and cast members are very important in a haunt. Lean on them heavily. Not only do they often have costumes and props that they can bring for the purpose, but they might see things in the haunt that can help make it better on the cheap. Sometimes, for example, all a room needs is to be relaid out to help with the scare, not redone completely.

Change Format: A guided haunt with set scenes is costlier than a free-roam one and it takes longer for people to get through. You can shorten lines and save money in many cases by converting to a free-roam style.

In short, it is important for haunts of all kinds to remember that it is not your budget that makes you scary, but rather, how creative you are and how hard you work.

Conclusions

Halloween is supposed to be a time for creativity and adventure. Buying pricey props and costumes that have been mass produced only hurts that spirit. Not only will your costume/haunt look the same as everyone else, but you’ll be hurting your bottom line.

Whether your an adult going to a costume party, a parent going trick or treating with your kids or a haunt operator, saving money and being original are two things that never go out of fashion.

So be creative and let your imagination roam, it is half the fun of the holiday.