By Jeda Lee

The spookiest month is among us and while we are all in the mood to get a little spooky, the real question is: what store is the best for your spooky needs?
   The seasonal spooky store Spirit Halloween and the store where they party for less Party City are head to head for the title of who is the spookiest.
   The biggest difference between the stores is one is for one purpose and one purpose only; to serve you specifically for your Halloween needs while the other serves you for anything from costumes to baby showers.
   I visited Spirit Halloween to see what they have to offer. Since I work for Party City I have a large knowledge of what they have and how they work.
   Let’s start with the similarities of both the stores. Spirit Halloween and Party City both offer an array of costumes and Halloween decor. For starters the prices of the costumes at both stores are pretty much the same ranging anywhere from $9.99 as the cheapest and $59.99 as the highest.
   Now for differences there are many. alking into Spirit Halloween was a trip. Freaky interactive displays really set the mood for the whole store. I was greeted by a scary moving mannequin type thing mimicking a scary movie character trying to kill a person. The whole set up gave me a “running from a masked killer in a corn maze” vibe.

   There is a different section for each theme of spooky at Spirit Halloween, they even have a Fortnite section unlike Party City. At Party City what you see on the wall is what you get, with an exception of clearance and year round costumes that are always out.
   Party City’s set up is just normal, like a normal store which is pretty boring. There is a spooky isle with scary decorations, even some hanging from the ceiling; but nothing scary enough to make you jump.
   As for costumes, Spirit Halloween and Party City have same costumes, but the shopping experience is vastly different. At Spirit Halloween, instead of there being a costume wall where you have to give a sales associate a certain number corresponding to the costume like Party City, the entire store is just a big costume wall all there for you to pick as you please. Spirit Halloween has a wider selection of costumes that are also up to date with the kids these days as opposed to Party City.

   Stock wise, everything you saw on the walls at Spirit Halloween was all that they had out. At Party City all of their costumes you see on the beloved picture wall is in the back in an “employee only” storage room. Back there is where the employee gets your costume, it is like a dangerous war zone back there. Boxes are stacked on top of each other overflowing or lacking costumes, random articles of clothing  cover the floor and unattended ladders are there waiting to fall on your body; workers compensation!
   Customer service wise Spirit Halloween was the best. The employees were kind and well versed in what they had to offer. Compared to Party City where the employees ignore you and typically cannot point you to the right isle when asked about a specific item.

   Both Spirit Halloween and Party City are there for your Halloween needs and some, from costumes to spooky decor they both have it all. But as for overall experience and selection, Spirit Halloween wins this round.

Photo Provided by Creative Commons