OCTOBER 2018 – New research has today announced how Brits will be celebrating Halloween, revealing that the nation will spend a total of £690m embracing the spooky spirit this year.
VoucherCodes, the leading savings site, surveyed 2,000 people across the country and discovered that the average parent will spend at least £42.15 celebrating Halloween with their family this year – spending slightly more on their own costume than their children’s! Adults will spend an average of £12.30 on a costume for themselves and £11.90 on each of their children, as well as £8.15 on sweets and £9.80 on decorations.
Costumes
The biggest dilemma of Halloween is often what to choose as the costume, with the eyes of expectation from friends and family anxiously hoping for something special. Fortunately, the research discovered the hot pop culture references to jump on and the clichés to avoid.
There is an appetite to find something new, away from the traditional Halloween norms. Indeed, the most popular costume this year is a controversial character from across the pond. A fifth (19%) think that President Donald Trump will be 2018’s most popular costume. Meanwhile, a quarter think witches (27%) and vampires (25%) are a thing of the past as the most overused costumes.
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Most popular costumes for Halloween 2018 |
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Donald Trump |
19% |
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Fortnite |
14% |
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Pennywise |
11% |
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Unicorn |
10% |
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Deadpool |
10% |
It’s clear that the entertainment industry has a big impact on Halloween costume ideas. A fifth (18%) of 16-24 year olds plan on dressing up as a character from this year’s most popular video game, Fortnite. The classic rivalry debate of Marvel and DC is also played out at Halloween and, this year, it’s the likes of Spiderman and Hulk who come out on top. For kids, it’s Marvel who lead the charge with 4 out of 10 (41%) children wanting to dress up as Marvel characters compared to just 1 in 4 (26%) kids preferring their favourite DC heroes such as Superman and Batman. This is in sharp contrast for adults, with DC’s Wonder Woman (20%) being the most popular costume among mums going trick or treating with their children.
Trick or treat?
Trick or treat is the question on every kid’s lips at Halloween, as they anxiously knock on doors with carrier bag in hand and an appetite hoping to be filled. The research has discovered the nation’s favourite treats and the likelihood of a trick coming your way if you answer the door emptyhanded.
Only half (51%) of Brits are in favour of celebrating Halloween, with a quarter (26%) now actively disliking the holiday. Indeed, more people are planning to spend the night with their lights switched off pretending they’re not home (42%) than to head out trick or treating (32%) this year. This means almost half the houses across the country are leaving themselves vulnerable to a crowd of ghosts and goblins. Worryingly, two-thirds (63%) of children confess they’ve ‘tricked’ a house for not handing out sweets at Halloween!
To avoid a nasty surprise this Halloween, the research has found you’d be better off keeping it simple. Almost half of children say their favourite treats are chocolate bars (46%) or Haribo (46%) which are far more popular than the pricier Halloween-themed chocolate (22%), cupcakes (17%) or biscuits (12%). For kids wanting to give a nasty surprise, the research has found that clown costumes (28%) are what adults are most afraid of.
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Children’s most popular treats for Halloween 2018 |
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Chocolate bars |
46% |
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Haribo |
46% |
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Sour sweets |
24% |
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Drumstick lollipops |
22% |
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Halloween themed chocolate |
22% |
How to celebrate Halloween
There are lots of ways to celebrate Halloween and embrace the creepy spirit as a family. Indeed, the research has discovered that carving a pumpkin is as popular among adults (60%) as it is with children (57%) for a great, affordable family activity at home. Similarly, there is a desire for DIY costume making with a third of adults (32%) saying it’s something they’re looking forward to trying in the future and 1 in 3 (32%) children saying it’s a task they’ve enjoyed in the past.
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Children’s most popular ways to celebrate Halloween |
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Go trick or treating |
62% |
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Carve a pumpkin |
57% |
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Buy a costume |
50% |
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Attend a Halloween party |
42% |
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Make a DIY costume |
32% |
The research has found that Halloween fever spreads far beyond children and families. The majority (51%) of adults say they will be celebrating Halloween by watching a scary movie this year, while almost half (47%) of 16-34 year olds would love to attend a Halloween party.
Anita Naik, Lifestyle Editor at VoucherCodes, said: “Halloween is a fantastic time for families to come together, with children dressing up as their favourite heroes and villains from the year. However, it’s scary that parents will be spending over £40 celebrating the occasion buying costumes, sweets and decorations. You don’t have to spend a fortune if you are celebrating on October 31st, over on the VoucherCodes blog we’ve pooled our collective money-saving expertise to show you how to do everything from costumes to parties without busting your budget. Hopefully this research will help guide families to ensure that money is spent wisely – and there’s no nasty tricks up anyone’s sleeves this Halloween!”