Have you ever gone into a Spirit Halloween shop when you didn’t need anything? Now I know that’s not exactly good for business but isn’t it a testament to how damn cool they are?
These seasonal popups that make deals with vacant properties seem to have their few months of residency down to a science.
The costume sections, both children and adult, are laid out well.
The animatronics are sure to greet you as soon as you walk in and then are spread out nicely through the store, where you’ll also find all your fake swords, hatchets, makeup, fake blood, fog machines, you name it.
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I almost went in one recently with my young boys but thought the animatronics might be triggering since they’re on the spectrum. Truth is I only wanted to look around and feel like a kid myself.
Now the company that runs Spirit Halloween, Spencer Spirit Holdings, has announced this year’s spinoff store for the holidays, Christmas Spirit, is launching 44 locations across the country.
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It’s the same seasonal concept but all Christmas and no jump scares.
They first launched these in 2024. This year there will be four in New Jersey and three of those are among the first five to launch anywhere.
On October 17, Winter Garden, Florida and Youngstown, Ohio are having openings along with Mays Landing, New Jersey, Marlton, New Jersey, and Riverdale, New Jersey.
Spirit Christmas | Created using Canva (Townsquare Media)
A fourth Jersey location of Spirit Christmas opens in Rockaway in November.
The one in Riverdale will be found in the old JoAnn outlet at 48 New Jersey 23.
Marlton’s will be inside the former Best Buy at 515 NJ 73.
Mays Landing will have Spirit Christmas taking over the space left by Bed Bath and Beyond at 190 Hamilton Commons Suite 7 in Hamilton.
And in November when the one in Rockaway opens that will be where Party City once was at 357 Mount Hope Avenue.
Any of these will be a much better bet to take my kids. Merry Christmas!
Must see Christmas attraction close by New Jersey
Gallery Credit: Dennis Malloy
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.
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25 Christmas songs performed by NJ artists
If you celebrate Christmas, the next month of your life is likely going to be consumed with shopping for gifts, retrieving a tree, decorating the house, and going out on adventures to see elaborate light displays.
The one thing that you must have at the ready for all of these scenarios is Christmas music.
Since a lot of the songs you hear tend to get repetitive this time of year, why not pay homage to some of the great singers, bands, and musicians that make New Jersey’s music history so rich.
Gallery Credit: Joe Votruba
LOOK: What Christmas was like the year you were born
To see how Christmas has changed over the last century, Stacker explored how popular traditions, like food and decorations, emerged and evolved from 1920 to 2021 in the U.S. and around the world.
Gallery Credit: Stacker
