Halloween Haunt 2025: Retail Winners & Losers

Our annual Halloween Haunt decor retail roundup of winners and losers, 2025 edition takes a look at the top spooky merch outlets and those who were a little dead this season!

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Every year we pick the winners and losers of Halloween decor retail. We look at all the new and cool items up for sale, the presentation and, yes, those who have Universal Monsters or related characters get a little bump.

We only consider stores that we can go to physically and are available in our area. Unless they have an online presence that contributes to their Halloween efforts, we don’t consider them.

Overall, this year was mixed. There were a lot of good things, but prices seemed to be all over the place. Marshalls, Ross, and TJ Maxx all had great prices on most things, but others were on the steeper side.

Next year, we’re hoping for a little more vintage decor. Let’s bring back some of the wall hangings and paper-like decorations. And bring back the spooky! We’re seeing more and more smiling witches, happy ghosts, and the like—but not a lot of really creepy, spooky decor that you’d find in the 80s and 90s.

Of course, we do like the Frankensteins and Draculas—but let’s also see some devils and wolf men! Heck, throw in a random killer scarecrow and an invisible man!

For Halloween 2026--let's all party like it's Halloween 1988 (i.e. make the decor to match)!

🧟‍♂️ The Losers of Halloween 2025

❌ Bath & Body Works

We appreciate the Frankenstein nod, but the only actual Frankenstein monster we saw was in a website video and a pair of socks (yes, we picked them up). The Frankenstein hand candle holder was cool (yes, we picked it up, too), but beyond that? Disappointing. For the first time in several years, we didn't even find a water globe candle holder that we liked! The scents were overwhelmingly fruity and sugary—where’s the spicy, cinnamon, outdoorsy fall goodness? It felt like leftover spring and summer fragrances got repurposed for Halloween. Next year, mix the fall smells with Halloween and shoot for the vintage look--not modern chic!

❌ Walmart

We were thrilled to spot the Universal Monsters x Care Bears collab door greeter—but had to visit three different Walmarts to find it. Beyond that, Walmart’s Halloween offering was pitiful. Candy and costumes? Sure. But decor? Junk. No themed lines, no blow molds, no spooky ambiance. We saw cool stuff online, like a vintage-style blow mold, that never made it to our local stores.

❌ Mountain Dew

PepsiCo and Mountain Dew get the bah-humbug award. No VooDEW secret flavor, no killer artwork, no Halloween magic. Even the Trolli collab was a bust—just one “zero sugar” option that tasted awful. Boo to Mountain Dew. The Great Pumpkin is skipping you this year.

❌ Universal Studios Theme Parks

We love watching Halloween Horror Nights from afar, but this year? No Universal Monsters representation. Sure, they’re featured in Epic Universe and the Vegas venue, but HHN felt hollow without our classic monster crew. Jason, animatronic bears, WWE tie-ins—they just don’t fill the gap.

🏆 The Winners of Halloween 2025

✅ Target

Target was more fun this year than I remember in years! We had lots of werewolf, Frankenstein, Dracula, Mummy, and even alien representation this year. The Hyde and Eek line really is the gift that keeps on giving. The designs had a modern feel, but then you would find all the vintage-style offerings that included blow molds, plastic wall hangings, and even that 90’s style shaking ghost thing (IYKYK). One of the best things about Target this year may not have been their offerings, but their rollout. Starting all the way back in…May, was it? These online rollouts with great prices and fast shipping really made the Halloween decor shopping season fun. We hate it when we have our eyes on something and it's sold out before we even get to the website. This never happened with Target! We grabbed everything we wanted every time. We just wish the in-store offering came sooner. The disappointing “back to school” section taking forever to phase out is frustrating every year. We were happy to see actual Universal Monsters merch, along with Peanuts, in the Bullseye Playground section. We hate when all you see is Disney or Bluey crap. The likes of Universal Monsters, DC, Garfield, and others rarely get any merch in stores.

✅ Ross Dress for Less

Ross earns its spot for originality. We found Peanuts kitchen rugs, Frankenstein shower curtain holders, and our holy grail: pastel Dracula and Frankenstein cookie jars. Unique, unexpected, and totally worth the hunts--which were weekly.

✅ Marshalls

Marshalls impressed with Frankenstein-themed throws and the vast amount of vintage-style decor, soaps, dish towels and even pajamas. Their Halloween rollout started in June and continued through August, keeping the spooky spirit alive all summer long.

🎖️ Honorable Mentions

🏅 HomeGoods

We only made it to HomeGoods twice but still hauled in a ton of monster-themed treasures. The Johanna Parker mugs—Devil, Dracula, and owl—were some of our favorites finds this season.

🏅 Kirkland’s

Discovered a local Kirkland’s just in time to see it closing. Still, we snagged a Frankenstein pillow (okay, two) and a Frankenstein candle. A short-lived but memorable Halloween hunting moment.

🏅 Tractor Supply

Yes, really. Our local farm and ranch store had a small Halloween setup, including two succulent plants—one jack-o’-lantern and one Frankenstein. Unexpected and delightful. But the biggest question--can I keep them ALIVE?

🍂 Final Thoughts

In all honesty, we love the hunt. Any store that offers Halloween merch is a win in our book. The oranges and blacks, the jack-o’-lanterns and ghosts—but most importantly, it’s the spirit of the fall season that makes this spooky, somewhat expensive Halloween Haunt season worth it. Even if it starts in May.