STORY:
Most plan to celebrate Halloween

Everybody who's anybody is celebrating Halloween this year. So the real question is...are you?!?!

With Halloween just days away, over half of America plans to participate in this year's fright night festivities.

Halloween is second only to Christmas as a home-decorating holiday, said a report by greeting card manufacturer, American Greetings. Decorating is a way to commemorate the changing of seasons, and is a great way to spend time with family, the report said.

Of the 59 percent of people taking part in Halloween activities, 56 percent plan to dress up in costume, said the national Shopping in America survey conducted for the Macerich Company, a real estate investment trust that redevelops, leases and owns regional shopping malls and centers.

Americans plan to spend a total of $3.12 billion on Halloween, up from $2.96 billion last year. That's an average of $49.27 each on Halloween activities, candy and costumes. The majority of shoppers, 38 percent, will purchase costumes at the store; 25 percent plan to roll up their sleeves and create their own costumes; and 5 percent will rent their Halloween costumes this year.

Americans' costume ideas range from black cats and creepy crawlers to Catwoman, Elmo, Gollum, Tinkerbell and Spiderman, named 2004's most popular costume character.

But humans won't be the only ones in costume. It's becoming increasingly popular to dress up pets for Halloween. Twenty percent of festive Americans will be suiting up their cats and dogs to parade around the neighborhood this year.

"Whether dressing up a pet, decorating their home or attending an event or activity, this season's survey shows that most Americans plan to shop for Halloween," said Garry Butcher, Macerich vice president of marketing and consumer research.