‘Halloween creep’ isn’t the only reason you’re already seeing spooky stock in stores

Halloween decorations are seen at Spirit Halloween store in Ottawa in this undated photo. (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa)

Summer has only just gotten in full swing and yet if you lose yourself among the aisles of certain stores you would be forgiven for thinking you had been transported forward in time, to the typically spookier season of fall.

Deckchairs and floaties had barely been given a look-in this year when pumpkins, cauldrons and bat-printed cushions began lining shelves. In arts and crafts store Michaels, sections dedicated to all things spooky were being installed as early as the first month of summer.

“We’ve been moving up our launch date earlier and earlier based on consumer demand and evolving trends, with this year being our earliest Halloween launch to date,” said Melissa Mills, Michaels’ senior vice president and general merchandise manager.

This year, the store launched two of their five Halloween collections in mid-June, on Friday the 13th. By the end of this month two more will launch in stores, and the final collection will roll out by the end of the summer.

Mills says the retail sector is seeing a “clear shift” toward earlier and longer celebrations for all seasonal holidays, but Halloween is taking off particularly well as it is “one of the most expressive and inclusive times of the year” that brings out customers’ creativity in ways “few other holidays do.”

Each year, customers eagerly anticipate the launch of Michaels’ Halloween collections through what they have dubbed “Code Orange,” says Mills. The movement, often spread across social media via the hashtag #codeorange, alerts other Halloween fiends that spooky season decor has begun hitting the shelves.

“We’ve found that the earlier we set our assortment at Michaels, the more time our shoppers have to celebrate,” said Mills.

Adding fuel to the fire is a separate, but similar, movement dubbed Summerween, which sees Halloween merchandise given a sunny makeover for the summer months. If it’s not costumes, cobwebs and plastic pumpkins in store, then its beach towels decorated with spectres wearing sunglasses, carved watermelon “jack-o-lanterns” and pink tutu-clad skeletons.

Mills says the less traditional decor helps Halloween lovers transition from the warmer months into fall and ensures they can get into spirit sooner without “feeling like they’re sacrificing the summer.”

Michaels got in on the trend in 2023, with a version of Summerween they dubbed “pastelween” that featured Halloween homeware in a saccharine palette.

Driven by the viral “pinkoween” trends and spurred by pop culture moments at the time, Mills says the collection outperformed even the company’s own expectations. In 2024, they returned with a “Hippie Hallow” collection that saw the classic orange and black ditched for patterned pumpkins and ghosts in summer hues and retro floral designs. This year’s “Sweet and Spooky” iteration of the trend includes a three-foot-tall “disco ghost.”

As far as Summerween is concerned, stores aren’t the only ones jumping on the trend.

In July, Victoria’s Strathcona Hotel will be hosting a rooftop pool party dubbed “Hot Ghoul Summer,” dedicated to the summer-spooky mash up.

Allie Harrington, the hotel’s events and communications manager, said the event provides people with an additional excuse to dress up and indulge in seasonal shenanigans. More specifically, it provides an opportunity for Halloween fans to wear the skimpier costumes that typically don’t pair well with October’s autumnal weather.

“As people grow out of their adolescence, it becomes increasingly difficult to have reasons to wear that tutu hiding in the back of the closet or try out a new and crazy makeup style,” she says.

“I wanted to give a city with such vast creativity another opportunity to dress up, wear crazy outfits, or maybe even a wig. By having it in the summer, it gives an opportunity for a new range of costumes that don’t need to take potential weather pitfalls into account.”

That said, the event celebrates Summerween, not Halloween itself, stresses Harrington. It isn’t intended to encourage the anticipation of the fall by celebrating early – “it feels painful enough as is having rain showers in July,” she says.

The spooky season fanatics at provocative bakery Punk Rock Pastries have also gotten in on the action, with owner and two-time Food Network baking competition champion Hollie Fraser dishing out a selection of summer-inspired spooky treats.

“I absolutely love Halloween. It’s what I’m known for and if I can celebrate Summerween I’m going to go all out and make it amazing,” says Fraser, adding that the store received an influx of requests to hop on the trend last year.

“This year, we are rolling with it, and so far the response has been amazing,” she says.

Fraser has taken the Halloween menu and switched it up with summer flavors, with their famously gory “beating heart” cake now made with passionfruit, and served alongside mango mousse ghosts, summer bat cookies, pie brains, and brownie raspberry coffins with fresh fruit and cream.

And yet, even the most avid supporter of all things spine-tingling says she refuses to get on board with traditional Halloween decor creeping its way into the summer months.

“Honestly, seeing Halloween stuff in stores now is way too early for me,” says Fraser.

“Next thing we’ll be having Christmas stuff in stores in June. We might as well keep it year-round at this point.”