The Top 2022 Halloween Decorating Trends—And 2 That Are So Over

There are Halloween decorations, and then there’s Skelly, the 12-foot-tall skeleton with piercing blue LCD-screen eyes who’s developed such a fandom he sells out almost instantly, despite his $299 price tag—and the general, “where the heck am I going to store a 12-foot-tall skeleton?!” conundrum he inevitably sparks every November 1. He’s inspired a whole genre of larger-than-life décor, a trend we first noticed last year but is now everywhere.

Every company we spoke to, from Home Depot to Lowe’s to Sam’s Club, noted demand for supersized skeletons, ghosts, werewolves and mummies. In fact, the Depot has one-upped itself this year, launching a 15-foot-tall phantom to tower over your trick-or-treaters (and, unlike Skelly, it’s still in stock).

Forget keeping up with the Joneses; today, people are fighting to keep up with the John Carpenters and Sam Raimis. People are willing to spend more for hyper-realistic characters with extreme attention to detail, be it LCD eyes and mouths, rubbery features that more closely mimic facial expressions or haunting howls. Generic creepy characters abound, but Lowe’s has branched out into horror movie classics, like a 6-foot-tall Michael Myers so spot-on you’re bound to drop your groceries at least once after coming home at night.

The Sanderson Sisters had to wait 300 years for a virgin to light the Black Flame candle, and we had to wait nearly as long for a sequel to the hit Disney movie. But that day has finally come, and with it, plenty of enthusiasm for conjuring a witchy aesthetic this Halloween. Decor options run the gamut, from near-perfect replicas of props (like the infamous spell “boooook”) to cartoony inflatables to more subtle nods to the franchise, like a Sanderson Sisters candle.

While over-the-top décor reigns supreme outdoors, indoor decorations have been skewing a little sweeter. Even the color palette is a bit softer—instead of the usual black, orange and purple, HomeGoods and Target are stocking plenty of pastel-hued décor, often pairing pale pinks and peaches with subdued oranges and cream tones. Picture off-white gourds filled with faux flowers, cutesy felt wreaths and vintage flower truck centerpieces.

Skelly isn’t the only bag of bones people are after. Over the years, more and more cat, dog and bird skeletons have been popping up as indoor and outdoor decor, but this year, it’s peaked. Just about any creature you can imagine is now a quasi-cuddly tchotchke: French bulldog! Piglet! Teacup unicorn! Octopi family! (You get the idea.)

Balloon arches aren’t going anywhere, but for those of us who can’t spare a few hours—nor have the lung capacity—to fill and arrange hundreds of balloons into an Insta-worthy backdrop, there’s another solution: inflatable or pre-lit arches and tunnels. Available via Amazon and Sam’s Club, you simply plug ‘em in, let them rise up and bam! You’ve created a statement without any huffing or puffing. Some, like this $239 Sam’s Club number, double as an entire haunted house.

It isn’t enough to make your whole home apple cinnamon or pumpkin spice-scented come September; if you want to take things to the next level, you need an appropriately spooky vessel to contain it. And there’s only one place to go: Bath & Body Works. Searches for “Bath & Body Works Halloween Candle Holder” are up a whopping 2,100 percent over the past month, according to Google, with specific interest in its eyeball and witch hand. The eyeball design has already sold out online, prompting it to appear on resale sites like Mercari and eBay for up to double the retail price.

We get the appeal of inflatables: They're convenient, they make a statement and when Halloween's over, they take up very little space. But when every inch of the yard is covered in them, your home doesn't feel whimsical or enchanting or thought out...it's just cluttered. Unless you live on a sprawling farm, give yourself a three-inflatable maximum, and weave in other decorations (of varying sizes) to keep things interesting.

At first, they were funny—"drink up, witches!" or "I put a spell on brew, and now, you're wine!" Emblazoned on everything from tea towels to stemless wine glasses, these little phrases were a cheeky way to announce, yeah, I may be dressing up as Owlette to round out my kids' PJ Masks group costume this year, but my Stanley tumbler's spiked. You're not a regular mom, you're a cool mom; and these days, people know that because you let your tween talk you into hauling that 12-foot-tall mummy onto your yard. Not because every mug and throw pillow in your house proclaims you're "here for the boos."