Labor Day traditionally tells Northeasterners to locate a sweater, inspect the foliage and pretend the beach chairs will be stored before Thanksgiving.

This year, retailers have added another instruction. Begin thinking about Halloween immediately. The pumpkins have arrived, the skeletons have achieved architectural scale and artificial intelligence has begun creating monsters. Apparently, even the undead now have a technology strategy.

There is a commercial reason to look past the candy corn this early. Halloween spending was expected to reach a record $13.1 billion in 2025, according to the National Retail Federation. Consumers were expected to spend $4.3 billion on costumes, $4.2 billion on decorations and $3.9 billion on candy.

The NRF will not release its 2026 forecast until later in September, but it said that as of early August, 25% of consumers have already purchased at least one Halloween item, with adult costumes and candy being the most-purchased Halloween items so far.

Meanwhile, retailers are behaving as though Halloween has expanded from one night into an entire fiscal quarter.

The first big trend is seasonal creep with better branding. Michaels on Monday (Aug. 31) introduced “Hobbyween,” its largest Halloween crafting collection yet, after searches for “Summerween” jumped 530% and searches for Halloween crochet kits rose 583% year over year. Michaels said 70% of its shoppers make their own Halloween decorations.

That gives the season an analog twist. Consumers may use an algorithm to discover a crochet ghost, but they still want to spend three evenings making its head slightly crooked. Michaels is leaning into that appetite with embroidery, needlepoint, paint-by-number kits and mystery craft boxes. Halloween has become both an escape from screens and something people photograph for screens when finished.

Costumes, meanwhile, appear headed for a pop culture mashup. Retail forecasts point to several likely winners.

• Greek mythology: Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has made armor, cloaks and heroic levels of leather wristwear early contenders. At least one editor already published a guide to assembling an Odysseus costume.
• Superheroes: “Avengers: Doomsday,” “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “Supergirl” give families enough characters to coordinate without forcing Dad to wear the same Thor costume for a seventh year.
• K-pop and animation: KPop Demon Hunters, Minions, anime characters and “ugly-cute” creatures remain strong candidates, according to early retailer trend lists.

AI’s most visible Halloween role may come from Fanta. Coca-Cola’s soda brand worked with AI entertainment studio GRAiL to create Fanta’s Haunted Universe, complete with four original monsters, a cinematic trailer, limited-edition cans and live experiences. The larger commercial idea is ambitious. Fanta wants to own recognizable Halloween characters instead of perpetually renting them from Hollywood.

AI will also help shoppers generate costume concepts, invitations and unsettling social media portraits. It has even entered the front yard. Home Depot’s upgraded 12-foot Skelly can speak through a mobile app, move its mouth and store customized phrases. Lowe’s responded with a $429, 15-foot headless Watcher whose motion-activated eyes scan the neighborhood. The suburban skeleton contest has officially become an infrastructure race.

For people who prefer their Halloween experiences darker and farther from the inflatable aisle, the travel industry has options:

• Bran Castle in Romania will run an expanded Halloween program from Oct. 24 through Nov. 1. Its adult-only Blood Moon package includes an evening castle tour and a party in the Royal Park.
• Salem’s Haunted Happenings returns with a month of tours, psychic fairs, museums and costumed events. The city has also gained the Haunted Warren Museum, featuring Annabelle and other artifacts associated with paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
• G Adventures offers a seven-day Day of the Dead trip in Oaxaca starting Oct. 28. The itinerary includes cemetery vigils, a procession, altar preparation and a culinary experience. Día de los Muertos is a joyful tradition honoring deceased loved ones, not Mexico’s version of a haunted house, which makes cultural context more important than costume drama.

Halloween 2026 is shaping up as an unusually revealing snapshot of commerce. Consumers want nostalgia, craftsmanship, theatrical retail and technology, preferably in the same purchase. They will use AI to imagine a costume, make the decorations by hand and then place a talking skeleton beside the driveway.

Labor Day may still mark the unofficial end of summer. Retailers, however, have already handed the calendar to a 15-foot skeleton holding its own head. He appears ready to run the fourth quarter.

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