The staff and the readers of The Consumerist share a love of cheap, homemade Halloween costumes. That’s why we’re a little disappointed in Target’s holiday ad offering, which features a creative (if fragile) homemade Iron Man costume made by a proud mom and worn by a dismayed little boy.
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Target Thinks Your Mom's Homemade Halloween Costumes Suck
By October 15, 2010
For Some Reason, Mexican Reader Finds This Halloween Costume Offensive
By October 14, 2010
Javier, a Consumerist reader who lives in Mexico, crossed the border to do some shopping at Walmart. He noticed this costume in the Halloween section. He finds it offensive. “I was wondering if we might also find a costume like this,” he writes, enclosing an old photo of a white performer in blackface. [More]
BBB: Beware Of Online Halloween Shops That Pop Up Overnight
By October 13, 2010
Like the fly-by-night carnival in Something Wicked This Way Comes, seasonal Halloween costume and decoration sites that pop up on dirty online street corners are irresistible to bargain hunters. Although you can find good deals at the retailers, the Better Business Bureau warns you to beware of poorly-constructed materials and shady return policies. [More]
Toddler Costume Tag Admits It's Dangerous To Toddlers
By October 6, 2010
Remember those find-however-many-things-wrong-with-this picture puzzles? Well, here’s something that could easily pass for one of those. [More]
Get Out The %@$ing Eggnog, It's Christmastime At Home Depot
By September 22, 2010
Look, losers. Stop studying that stupid textbook, it’s Christmastime. Yes, we know that college football just started and it’s the first day of Autumn. We don’t care. Buy a Christmas tree you lazy Grinch. Get your wallet out! [More]
"Sexy" "Sesame Street" And "Costume" Should Not Be In The Same Sentence
By September 13, 2010
What are you dressing up as for Halloween? Perhaps a sexy Elmo? Or a sexy Big Bird? Yes, it’s that time of year again when that which should not be eroticized, is, and is turned into a Halloween costume. [More]
Tavern On The Green Plays Halloween Trick On Thousands Of Partiers
By November 3, 2009
Melissa is one of thousands of people who showed up at the bankrupt Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park on Saturday night for a ticket-holders-only Halloween party. She was forced to wait outside at the front of an increasingly agitated mob because the restaurant had sold too many tickets, or because someone had sold fake ones, it’s still unclear. The Daily News says one reveler waited 5 hours before he was finally let in, just before 1:30 am—which was when the party was shut down by police. Now they all want their money back, but Tavern on the Green and the party promoters are blaming each other.
How Will You Get Rid Of Leftover Halloween Candy?
By November 2, 2009
If you faced a shortage of trick-or-treaters Saturday night, or are overwhelmed by the stash your own offspring brought home, you may be asking yourself, what the heck am I going to do with all this crap? You could always teach the kids a valuable life lesson by letting them chow down on candy until they get sick, but there are some better — and easier to clean up — solutions.
Least Delicious Halloween Treat: H1N1 Virus
By October 31, 2009
As trick-or-treating time looms, we’d like to take this opportunity to remind you: BOO!!! SWINE FLU!
Would You Live With Ghosts For Cheaper Rent? 69% Would
By October 27, 2009
Rent.com conducted a survey that found more than 2/3 of renters ain’t afraid of no ghosts, and would live with them as long as they got a hefty discount on rent.
Honor Your Favorite Deceased Infomercial Celebrity This Halloween
By October 22, 2009
One of the inexpensive Halloween costume ideas suggested by readers was to dress in honor of the deceased and beloved infomercial pitchman Billy Mays. (This costume is especially simple if you already have dark hair and a beard.) Today, Billy Mays III announced a Billy Mays costume contest, sponsored and judged by his friends and colleagues at Sullivan Productions.
What Are Some Cheap Halloween Costume Ideas?
By October 19, 2009
The personal finance blog Moolanomy posted a list of 25 cheap Halloween costumes, including ones that make no sense (see “Soup and crackers”) and ones that sound borderline dirty (see “Facebook wall”). The list made us realize that our readers probably have a lot of equally cheap, and equally-or-more creative, costume ideas of their own.
Make Your Own Haunted Gingerbread House
By October 15, 2009
Are you decorating your house for Christmas Creep, and your Halloween tree just isn’t enough? Williams-Sonoma has combined Christmas and Halloween traditions, and is selling a kit to make your very own haunted gingerbread house. Haunted gingerbread house?
Christmas Creep Cartoon From Hallmark (Yes, Hallmark)
By October 11, 2009
Hallmark’s Shoebox Greetings has a blog. This week, the blog published a delightful cartoon on the subject of Christmas creep.
Now Available For Halloween: "Sexy" Costumes For Dogs
By October 9, 2009
Last year, we highlighted sexy Halloween costumes for inappropriately young girls, but costume makers have decided to take it farther. To sexy costumes for dogs.
Costco Already Playing Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
By October 9, 2009
Reader Tim says that the picture he sent was taken on September 27, and “shows a TV in the DVD section playing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, trying to sell a boxed set of Christmas specials.”
Hobby Lobby Worships The Great Pumpkin With Halloween Tree
By October 7, 2009
Hobby Lobby, with its devout Christian ownership, isn’t the first store we’d think of to honor the Great Pumpkin. Yet reader James spotted this festive tree back in mid-September.
More Kids Getting Rocks This Halloween
By September 29, 2009
Bad news for any kids expecting a big haul this Halloween. The National Retail Federation is out with its spending projections for the holiday, and they’re grim. Total spending for Halloween is expected to drop from $66.54 per family last year to $56.31 this year. The numbers include candy, costumes and decorations — but not shaving cream, eggs or toilet paper.
