Halloween 2026 — Costumes, Candy and Decor Deals

When each Halloween category bottoms out

• Kid costumes: last week of September. Walmart and Target run loss-leader pricing on the kid character costumes (Spider-Man, Disney princess, dinosaur) for about a week. By mid-October most popular sizes are gone.
• Adult costumes: first 10 days of October. The Spirit Halloween / Party City / Amazon competitive window. Adult sizes hold up longer than kids' sizes; you can wait until October 15 if you are flexible on style.
• Candy bulk packs: the final week of October (October 25-31). Walmart, Target, and Costco compete on the same SKUs as trick-or-treat night approaches. Costco's bulk pricing is typically 15 to 25% below grocery stores per ounce.
• Decor and animatronics: early September (start-of-season pricing) and November 1 onward (clearance, often 50 to 75% off for next year). The middle window in October is the worst time to buy decor.
• Pumpkins, real: not retail-pricing-dependent. Buy local at farms or grocery store; supermarket pricing is typically reasonable through the entire month.

Practical buying tips

1. Buy costumes by October 10. After that you are paying premium pricing and may not find your size. The week-of-Halloween rush at Spirit Halloween is famously expensive — that store relies on procrastinator pricing.
2. Stack Costco for candy if you have a membership. Bulk variety packs (Hershey's, Mars, Nestle assortments) are typically 20 to 30% below Walmart or Target per piece. The minimum quantity is large but candy shelf-life through November is fine.
3. Wait until November 1 for decor. The day-after clearance is the year's deepest pricing on inflatables, animatronics, projectors, and yard decor. Buy for next year and store. The selection is what's left, but the savings are typically 50 to 70% off.
4. Use Spirit Halloween's coupon stack. Their email signup gets a 20% coupon, the app adds another 10%, and they price-match Amazon if you ask.
5. Skip Amazon for last-minute costumes. Amazon Prime delivery on costume items often slips into November the closer you get to Halloween. Buy in-store or order from Walmart same-day pickup if you are within a week.

What is overpriced this season

Three categories where the Halloween marketing wave inflates pricing more than it discounts: themed home decor under $30 (the same items appear at 30% lower at Hobby Lobby and Michaels with the standard 40% off coupon, year-round), character makeup kits (drugstore makeup at standard pricing produces equivalent results — the Halloween-branded kits run 60 to 80% premium for ten cents of plastic packaging), and licensed character bedding/blankets (these appear in October at Halloween-themed pricing and become standard inventory in November at the same listed price).