Spirit Halloween Review

Saturday, October 1st

2022 Halloween Costume Store Reviews

Spirit Halloween

• Costumes for people of all ages and sizes
• 14-day return policy
• Retail locations available from the end of August to beginning of November
• In business for 40+ years

With more than 1,400 retail locations that pop up every year around August, Spirit Halloween is the largest costume retailer in the nation. Although their shops in strip malls and shopping centers are only open from August through November, you can shop their online store anytime (and the site will helpfully tell you how many days you have until Halloween.).

Not too hard to shop here

What kind of Halloween costume are you looking for? Start by choosing from boys, girls, toddler, baby, womens, mens, plus size, couples, or group costumes. Browse from there if you like, but with over 500 categories in the Mens section alone, you'd be wiser to click on a subcategory like Pirate, Time Period, or Occupation to make better use of your time. Most costumes are priced under $80, though you'll find a few that cost more (like the Ani-motion Goin' Ape gorilla suit for $159.99).

Solid details in the descriptions

Clicking on a costume you like will take you to more in-depth information. See it from several angles, check out the size chart to get the right fit, and be sure not to miss the "You May Also Like" section in case there's a similar item you'd prefer. There weren't a ton of shopper reviews on individual Halloween costumes here, but sometimes those can offer extra insights.

Get some savings - if you dare

On our last visit to the Spirit Halloween online store, Pennywise the Clown (from "It" ) creepily offered us a 20% discount on one item and free shipping over $75 if we entered our email address in the pop-up box. Beep? Then again, there was a promo code at the top of the site offering free shipping on orders over $50, no need to see if we all float after all.

Shorter return period than before

Spirit Halloween has made some changes to their return policy since our last review. On the negative side, it's shrunk from 21 days to just 14. On the positive side, your items no longer have to be in the factory-sealed packaging it came in: that means you can try it on for size and as long as it's still in new, unworn condition and can be resold, you'll be eligible for a refund. You have to pay for return shipping, so it might be worth it to take it to one of their retail locations (if it happens to be August, September, October; all sales are final after October 28).

Lackluster reputation with customers and the BBB

But, reputation-wise, Spirit Halloween is mediocre. They have a "B" rating from the Better Business Bureau, with just under 170 complaints filed there over the last three years. Shopper ratings in other places paint a similar picture: in one place we looked, this retailer didn't even reach an average of two out of five stars across 250+ reviews. The biggest complaints mention customer service - or the lack thereof. When deliveries are late (or missing), orders are charged twice, or other problems arise that have nothing to do with the customer, Spirit Halloween reps seem reluctant to take care of it. So much for "the customer is always right" .

Not the best, not the worst

Spirit Halloween gets a "just average" rating from us. We applaud the change to the return policy that lets customers actually try costumes on to see if they fit, but we would have liked them to keep the timeframe at 21 days (or longer, to be more competitive with several other Halloween costume stores). It's also a plus that shoppers have in-store return options, at least for part of the year, but this retailer's disappointing track record for customer (dis-)satisfaction keeps them from getting our highest recommendation.