The Commercialization of Halloween, Part Two: A Mini-Essay

     Costumes, though, are not the only attribute of Halloween influenced by modern consumerism. What began as dark rides in post-war amusement parks, where – similar to the Tunnel of Love at these same attractions – patrons sat in small cars which wove them through a dark maze of horror vignettes, rapidly evolved in the 1970s when the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce commenced marketing the formula as a walk-though structure geared toward fundraising.[1] As the haunted-house-for-charity concept proved wildly fruitful, the entertainment industry, desiring a portion of the profits, entered the trade and, by the 1980s, elevated the makeshift, philanthropic shows into professional, for-profit extravaganzas that attracted young graduates in art, film, and theatre who established the re-envisioned model as a viable business that blossomed from a few dozen in the 1980s into nearly three thousand at the start of the twenty-first century, with attendance growing at a rate of nearly thirty percent each year.[2] This expert showmanship, Lesley Pratt Bannatyne highlights, has bred newer generations of discerning clientele who demand more sophisticated experiences that push the industry to create exceedingly elaborate displays and have established the Halloween prop-building trade, which was practically nonexistent in the 1970s, into a multi-billion dollar business that holds annual conventions, such as TransWorld, and tutorial programs, including the Stan Winston School of Character Arts.[3] Indeed, this fascination has spilled into the public sector through home décor available everywhere from seasonal aisles in drugstores to pop-up specialty stores, of which Spirit Halloween is king. Although these outlets offer milder, mass-produced products – “plastic axes, extension cords, cornstalks, and black lights, as well as pumpkin puree, liquid latex, airbrush kits, rubber bats, fog machine, sugar skulls, skeleton bones, cobwebs, and soundtrack CDs” – that lack the artistry and intensity of professional supplies, they fuel the passions of home haunters and have made Halloween the second largest holiday next to Christmas, with the celebration generating about $6 billion in sales annually.[4] Likewise, they have provided fodder for fresher renditions of communal festivities, including the neighborhood parades in Irvington, New York, and the Great Pumpkin Regatta in Boxford, Massachusetts.[5]

Works Referenced

Bannatyne, Lesley Pratt. A Halloween How-To: Costumes, Parties, Decorations, and Destinations. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Company, 2002.

Heller, Chris. “A Brief History of the Haunted House: How Walt Disney Inspired the World’s Scariest Halloween Tradition.” Smithsonian Magazine, October 31, 2017.
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[1] Bannatyne, 206-208. 
[2] Heller.
[3] Bannatyne, 241-243.
[4] Bannatyne, 235.
[5] Bannatyne,236-240.