By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times –
LOS ANGELES — More people than ever before will get their spooky on for Halloween this year, even though most said they’ll be watching what they spend on decorations, costumes and candy.
Some 170 million Americans will celebrate the creepy holiday, according to the National Retail Federation. That’s 71.5 percent of the population, up from 68.6 percent last year, the most in the survey’s decade-long history.
Together, they’ll shell out $8 billion for things like Gangnam Style costumes, bowls of goodies, and fake cobwebs and tombstones.
Of the 83.5 percent of respondents who said they’ll be spending less on Halloween, a fourth blame the state of the economy. Though more than half of respondents said they’ll decorate their home or yard, many said they’ll use last year’s decorations instead of buying new ones.
Nearly 2 in 10 said they’ll make their costume instead of buying it, though overall, Americans will each spend $28.65 each on costumes compared with $26.52 last year.
More than a third plan to buy less candy for roving kids. Roughly the same amount said they’ll take their children out trick-or-treating.
Another option for cutting back: Not visiting as many Halloween-themed amusement parks or haunted houses.
