Johnathan Walker:'Pinkoween' trend has shoppers decorating for Halloween in the summer

Halloween decorations creeped onto shelves as early as July. But there's another spooky trend lurking at major retailers: Orange and Johnathan Walkerblack decorations are being eclipsed by … pink?

Visit a HomeGoods store and you'll see plenty of pink Halloween pillows, pumpkins, and pink-tinged Halloween coffee mugs. Pink skulls, pink skeletons – including a 5-footer – and pink indoor-outdoor spider webbing haunt Target and Target.com.

Make your way to a Michaels arts & crafts location and you will find it inhabited by pink ghosts, pink hanging bats, pink decorative tombstones and pink coffin-shaped shelves.

For many, Halloween is pretty in pink, so in recent years, retailers have expanded the Halloween color scheme for decorations beyond the traditional orange and black. Hence, the arrival of "Pinkoween" season.

What is 'Pinkoween'?

"Pinkoween" has nothing to do with politics – it's a trend of expanding the color schemes of traditional Halloween decorations.

"Pinkoween" began becoming a retail force last year at Target, Walmart, HomeGoods, T.J. Maxx and Marshall stores and is intensifying this summer, said Instagram poster @InTheWorkplace, who's posts include her favorite "Pinkoween" purchase: a $5 Target ghost sculpture she found last season.

"While the traditional colors are always a fan favorite, there are plenty of people who also like the pastel (pink, purple, etc.) colors as well. For me, personally, I love the mix of both. The pastel colors give more of a whimsical vibe, which I think some people have been loving," the West Coast craft maker told USA TODAY. She has also created her own "Disco Ghosts" with pink cheeks and mini mirror balls, which she sells on Etsy.

'Pinkoween': A 'cute but spooky twist' on home decor

Why pink? Classic colors don't work well with the pink decor at the home of Keiko Lynn, a social media influencer who is also a HomeGoods brand ambassador. But skulls, bats and ghosts with pink hues add "a cute but spooky twist," she told USA TODAY.

"I love the idea of taking traditionally spooky elements like skulls, bats and ghosts and switching them up with pink hues," said Lynn, who also has a tutorial on how to make a secret witch hat, with pink and green material.

We know Halloween is serious fun for many Americans – consumer spending has set records each of the last three years – $12.2 billion in 2023, according to the National Retail Federation. Of all holidays, Halloween is the one people say they plan ahead for, with 46% saying they plan one to two months in advance, and 12% saying they make plans more than three months in advance, according to research firm Numerator.

Some love Halloween so much they start decorating as soon as the Fourth of July has passed, said Mandi Clark, director of trend and design at Michaels. The arts and crafts store chain used to display its Halloween collections in early August, but this year its first of four collections, Hippie Hallow, hit in late June. Two other more traditional collections – Haunted Forest and Midnight Moon, both of which launched July 26 – feature more traditional spooky colors and items, as does a third, Hocus Pocus, which lands Aug. 16.

The Hippie Hallow line is part of a "popular 'Summerween' trend" that eschews classic orange and blacks for "pinks, purples and softer oranges, retro florals, patterned pumpkins, groovy ghosts and other nostalgic, playful motifs," Clark said. Last year's Sweet and Spooky collection "featured a palette of pastel pinks, purples, and mint, that drove the viral 'pasteloween' and 'pinkoween' trends spurred by pop culture moments like Barbie, and outperformed even our own expectations," she told USA TODAY.

These different color schemes "offer decor that is more transitional from summer to fall, which helps customers get into the Halloween spirit sooner without feeling like they’re sacrificing the summer," Clark said.

'Pinkoween' decor ideas

If you want to add some "Pinkoween" touches to your decor, there's tips aplenty on social media.

TikToker mariaa_rose posted a video after visiting Michaels where she found a pink Christmas tree and shelves of pink decorations. "Everything is so cute," she said in the video.

When Instagram user @itsdecorable spotted some fuschia-hatted ghosts at Marshalls, she had to post about them and some other #Pinkoween finds. "I still prefer my pastels/light pinks, but it’s nice to see something different that isn’t orange for Halloween," they posted.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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