Home Depot's giant skeleton vs Lowe's massive mummy: How retailers are trying to boost Halloween sales
A child looks at a halloween costume on the rack. At the Target department store in Exeter Township Tuesday afternoon for a story on halloween costumes.

In the past few weeks, Craig Cislo dug out the spray-painted tombstones from his attic, scoured websites for a giant animated reaper and convinced his teenage son to dress as a bush to spook trick-or-treaters.

Cislo, 43, of Dallas, plans to spend about $700 for Halloween to step up his family's front yard decorations. He has noticed more neighbors are joining in too, with large inflatables, animatronics and even an elaborate display inspired by "The Walking Dead."

"My wife and I joke — because we take a daily walk — that we have competition this year," he said.

As retailers brace for a lackluster holiday season, many are planning to pump up sales early by dangling a wider assortment of Halloween merchandise. Even if consumers are cutting back on spending elsewhere, they say Halloween gives people a chance to get into the holiday spirit with relatively inexpensive celebrations before Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Home Depot and Lowe's stocked up on a wide range of spooky lawn ornaments, including giant mummies and skeletons. Target executives expressed high hopes for sales of costumes, haunted house cookie building sets and other Halloween merchandise, even after cutting the company's profit outlook twice. And Party City , which sells costumes, balloons and bags of candy, plans to hire about 20,000 seasonal employees before the Oct. 31 occasion.

The push around Halloween comes as more people return to in-person gatherings. Participation is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, with nearly 70% of Americans planning to celebrate, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey.

That's expected to lift total Halloween spending to a record $10.6 billion, a jump from last year's $10.1 billion, the survey found. On average, consumers plan to spend $100 for candy, decor, cards and costumes.

For some shoppers, celebrations like Halloween offer an escape from the worries of everyday life. As customers face troubling news headlines, Covid surges and political uncertainty, they're seeking more ways to celebrate and "bring joy to their families," said Christina Hennington, Target's chief growth officer.

"This is one of the reasons we continue to see such strength in our seasonal categories, which we expect will continue in the back half of the year," she said on the company's earnings call in August.