Spooky decorations are a real treat

AMERICAN FORK — For Arba Thayn and her daughter, Shari, Halloween is a time to get carried away.

While they decorate their porch every month according to the season, on Halloween the decorations spill out into their yard and climb the front arbor.

"We've been here for 20 years, and I've been doing it for 20 years," said Arba Thayn. She started by decorating every month the bank where she worked before she retired.

Next to Christmas, Halloween is the most popular decorating season in the country with almost 62 percent of consumers planning to buy decorations, according to a National Retail Federation survey by BIGresearch focused on Halloween spending.

Store displays of Halloween decorations are hard to resist.

"They have so many cute things," she said.

"They're not scary," Sheri Thayn said of the decorations. "We've never done that. They're for kids. The kids love it."

Older folks, too, stop by the Center Street home to see the Halloween tree and comical ghosts and goblins. Some pause to have their pictures taken in the decorated arbor.

At night colorful icicle lights hanging from the eaves and draped around a tree light up, giving the yard an eerie glow. After the ghosts and goblins complete their trick-or-treat rounds on Halloween, the porch and yard will be transformed once again.

In November, the Thayns will decorate part of their yard for Thanksgiving; and in December, they will get out the Christmas decor.

This year, consumers are expected to spend up to $3.12 billion on Halloween, up from $2.96 billion last year. The average consumer spends $43.57 on merchandise for the season, $14.83 for sweets and $15.21 on costumes.

The National Costumers Association expects its 550 retail members to rack up costume sales of more than $60 million this Halloween, said secretary-treasurer Debra DeBoor.

The association says pirate costumes are the most popular with adults, followed by Spider-Man and princesses. Spider-Man is the most popular children's costume this year. Wigs are the most popular accessory, followed by hats. Trends vary from coast to coast, DeBoor said, but average costume rentals are between $50 and $65 for adults and $20 for children.

Locally, Halloween revelers have been gearing up early to get their costumes ready.