Halloween costume sales this year have been scarily low due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many costume shops nationwide are taking a hit in sales this season for many people aren’t going out and dressing up this year. Costume shops like Campus Costumes here in Bloomington are trying to stay afloat and make a profit but employees like Misty Smith say they aren’t getting close to normal sales. “Sales are down. I would say half probably, half as well as last year.”  Many costume shops in Bloomington and throughout the country are taking a hit for adult costume sales are down by nearly 50 percent in many of these stores. The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and regulations are causing most people to stay in this year for Halloween.

On a typical year many IU students would go to multiple parties around Halloween and have multiple costumes that they would wear but this year is anything but typical. While some students are still dressing up, they are usually getting only one costume and just going to small gatherings. This year IU has 15 person limits on gatherings so many students like Ryli Hockensmith are just celebrating Halloween with their close friends.

“From what I know in my friend groups they are not doing anything just out of respecting the rules and regulations put in place by IU. You know you have the 15-person limit in private gatherings, and you know it’s just not safe to go to a large gathering right now,” said Hockensmith.

While many IU students were playing it safe and avoided congregating in large groups this Halloween there were still a number IUPD Police officers patrolling campus to make sure regulations were being followed. While some individuals did end up wearing a costume, they all had to add one extra accessory this year. “Personally, I’m going to incorporate a mask into my costume so that I do feel safe if I go out and do anything,” said Hockensmith. IU students like Ryli this year are trading their scary masks for medical ones and still celebrating Halloween but doing it safely.

While masks sales are without question still high, costume sales are very low which is causing many stores to shift when they operate. Smith says that she believes that Campus Costumes will close in the days following Halloween for there wasn’t much business during Halloween, and there will be even less afterward. If Campus costumes does close temporarily that will be unprecedented. They are usually open year-round. While adult costumes sales were hurting these stores, they still had a high number of children’s costumes sold this season. Children in Bloomington still trick or treated in their costumes. While it may seem like we got through the Halloween season successfully without any mass spreader events we won’t know for another two weeks when symptoms start to appear whether or not COVID cases are up from this weekend.