Spirit Halloween haunts vacant stores, zombie malls. Here’s how

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The basics of Spirit Halloween in Middletown

Address: 3601 Towne Blvd., Middletown.
Building type: Retail.
Owner: WMF Development, LLC.
Size: 20,000 square feet.

Spirit Halloween haunts defunct Middletown mall, other vacant stores

In recent years, years, Towne Mall, Middletown’s zombie mall that the city purchased for $10 million in 2024, has struggled to retain shoppers and tenants. But one reliable occupant, Spirit Halloween, has called it home for years.

The pop-up Halloween costume and decorations store opened again on Towne Boulevard this year, but this time, it’s in a new location, the old Staples building next to the mall, which is not owned by the city.

The 20,000-square-foot building is packed wall-to-wall with costumes, wigs, plastic tombstones, clown masks, life-sized zombies and animatronic ghouls that lurch forward if you get too close. In the center of the Middletown store is an abandoned subway car, taken over by a bloodied rat king.

All that merchandise and all those decorations take time to set up. Spirit Halloween employees start preparing to launch stores in the summer, said Marisa Simonson, a spokesperson for the company, in an email. To transform a vacant building into a Spirit Halloween store, employees have to install decorative fixtures and shelves, put up signs and transport merchandise, like the rows of packaged costumes.

Spirit Halloween stores typically stay open from around Aug. 1 to Nov. 2, Simonson said.

How does Spirit Halloween choose its stores?

The speed at which Spirit Halloween stores take over a shuttered business or vacant building has become a running joke online.

The company, with over 1,500 stores in the United States and Canada, targets “high-visibility locations” for its temporary shops, like lifestyle centers, strip malls, free-standing stores, major downtown retail areas and malls anchored by national retailers, Simonson said.

Ideal locations range between 5,000 to 50,000 square feet of sales floor space. The company also prefers to return to locations year after year, so customers know where to find them, Simonson said.

What will happen to Spirit Halloween if Towne Mall is sold?

Spirit Halloween won’t be moving back into the defunct Towne Mall.

The city entered a pre-development agreement with Midland Atlantic Properties in August, with plans to flatten the mall and turn it into a mixed-use development with housing and commercial space.

Since the city does not own the adjacent former Staples building, which Spirit Halloween is leasing, there are no plans for that building to be part of the redevelopment, said Middletown Vice Mayor Steve West.

Spirit Halloween has opened a pop-up store on Towne Boulevard every year since 2017, Simonson said. When the city first purchased the mall, West said city council heard from residents who were concerned about what the sale would mean for the Halloween store’s future.

When asked whether the store will be back next year, Simonson said the company will evaluate changes to the property as needed.