Charlotte Gearing Up for Halloween

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — ‘Twas four days before Halloween, and all through the Queen City, costume and makeup shops are getting REAL busy.

“Wait too much longer and you’re gonna need a pilgrim outfit,” exclaims Greg James of Morris Costumes. “Now’s the time. People start reserving things mid-August.”

Family-owned Halloween shops like Morris Costumes are becoming more of a rarity these days, but there’s something to be said about the feeling of walking through the corn-maze-style setup of thousands of costumes, masks, and everything frightful and delightful.

“People are really re-visiting their childhood,” says James. “And they’re able to be, a lot of times, their true self comes out in their disguises.”

Dozens of customers poured through the doors Thursday evening for some last-minute touches on their spooky get-ups.

Jorge Casalez, a Mallard Creek resident, says he works too much, leaving Halloween last on his to-do list.

“You get to come here and you find everything in one go. Decorations, costumes, make-up, contacts, it just makes it easy on us.”

As for the hot Halloween costume to get in 2022? Greg says there hasn’t been one.

“People are going pretty much old-school. You know, pirates, vampires, witches, wizards, always superheroes, always 70s stuff, mysteriously.”

According to Google Trends, the usual suspects are high on the list this year. Witches, vigilantes like Spider-Man and Batman, popular TV and movie characters — but one popular Netflix series didn’t make the list. The Dahmer series on Netflix has gone viral, but certainly not without controversy. E-Bay has wiped the outfit from its website and many schools across the country have banned the costume from their campuses.

James Burkhalter doesn’t think anyone should dress as Jeffrey Dahmer on Halloween.

“You know, some people get it as a costume, but other people don’t… Freddy, you know, is made-up. Dahmer’s not. There’s a difference.”

Greg James says Morris Costumes does not offer Dahmer’s likeness in their store.

“For us, we like to have Halloween costumes, we don’t mind if they’re edgy, but if it really causes trauma — real-life trauma for people that have experienced real-life tragedy, then we kind of eschew that.”