I am so pleased that video is getting traction. I have enjoying interacting with some of the other viewers. Cheers!

Happy you are getting lots of comments 👏 really sad if people didn’t watch the whole video tho and commented without all of your thoughts on the subject 💀🎃👻

I think it's so kind and polite your approach to writing back to commenters. I always appreciate it, but certainly don't expect it! Your videos are great and engaging and receiving a response back to a comment is always a complete bonus and not at all expected! Thank you so much for all your videos Dan! Happy Halloween! 🎃

We totally understand, that you can't always respond to your comments. 👍 I can't wait to see the final reveal 😮 No response needed 🙂

Wait until to see my new novel! Hahaha

Hi Dan, I just wanted to say how brilliant these longer video are. You always have such great insight. Are you HS and OM going to do the podcast this year? This is @paulthemediacreator btw, I started my own Halloween channel because of inspiration from you guys!

i think if you feel you should be the only person that has something just to show off you are A) doing things for the wrong reasons and are kind of a PoS and B) missing the spirit of a holiday for community and fun for the kids.

that is kind of elitist and selfish kinda. halloween decorations are kind of dying and less people are using them. home depot saved Halloween

The same type of props you get at Spirit Halloween…are ruining Halloween? Don’t know what that guy means. The only things ruining Halloween are apathy, inflatable decorations, “Trunk-or-treat” and daylight trick-or-treating.

Dan! ❤ your channel! I will be forever grateful to Home Depot for getting my husband on board with my Halloween obsession. Until the 12' skelly he would mostly humor me but now he approves and lets me order more lights so I have really amped up our display! We dont have room to store anymore big guys but he ordered the ultra-posable 3-pack and hung them all from a tree. He also helps me watch for the early drops. Keep on haunting, thanks for your content! 😁🎃👻

The soyjack of Halloween decorations

There is actually a Halloween store near where I live. I won't name it as it is known for having products that are at the same cheap level as the W marts. I was looking around at the store and I overheard a conversation between two store employees where one was complaining to the other who appeared more technically inclined that certain of their display animatronics had started to move very slowly. The other employee nodded and told her he would have to replace the motors as the cheap Chinese motors did not last very long. I wonder how many people are disappointed when they get a unit home they paid $150 to $200.00 only to have it stop working after a few days. I have heard the Home Depot ones better made. I think the only thing that matters is what the display makes the people who put it up feel. It is like Christmas displays. Children get excited no matter how many times they see light up snow men, over an evil witch or skeleton. My elderly next door neighbours used to put a wreath on their front door and a string of lights around the door frame and on their little house that was all that was needed to make it snug and welcoming and Christmassy. Halloween displays are more of a recent thing in my part of Canada so it is still rare to see many full displays here but with Home Depot's offerings there will likely be more. Like you said, you have casual dsiplay people, serious dyiers, and the pros. There is room for everyone and all their displays.

I am C, and I love the Home Depot props

I think animatronics have saved Halloween. I live in America, and I was starting to see less and less participation from houses in the neighborhoods around my city. The animatronic/12 foot skelly trend exploded 2 years ago, and since then it has reinvigorated people's interests. Every other house in my neighborhood is decorated now, and most of them have an animatronic, detail prop, or giant skeleton. I love it. My 4 year old son loves it too and he's had an amazing September and October run up to Halloween.

As a Canadian lover of Halloween, I'm just excited when people participate in celebrating the holiday. We normally have snow on the ground by the time Oct.31st comes around,so I'm not sure I would ever put animatronics out for fear of them getting damaged. As for the giant skeletons and such I say go for it ( and I'm jealous of your apparent storage capacity.) Personally I start decorating Sept.1st and have a full indoor and outdoor display. Lots is vintage, lots is handmade and lots is store bought. I decorate for myself...and now my grand kids. I don't see it as a competition. 🎃🎃🎃

So people never heard of the term "less is more". Don't clutter.

The reason why all the store-bought props are hurting (not ruining) Hallowe'en is because it has sidelined creativity. Instead of people being creative they just stick up a bunch of props like a display room at a store. I have them myself, but I also create my own stuff and themes...but at least they aren't a bunch of inflatables.

90% of my entire display is homemade, including my animatronics. Makes it all original. If I buy something, I usually rip it apart and make it my own.

That lamp behind you is awesome where did you find that?

My neighbors have a Halloween war every year. Huge blow up things that blow away, everything is crammed in their yards. Pretty sure they spend huge chunks of money just to one up each other. I just put up old school/vintage decorations, mums, hay, Jack o lanterns. I like my old fashioned stuff better.

In opinion they defo are, Im one of those people who enjoy animatronics for mechanisms and electronics, and home depot is underwhelming mechanically, 15 years ago at spirit halloween, we had things like pop up zombie, broken girl, peekaboo penny, and of course jumping spider, compare them to home depots line up and home depots animatronics just seem to blabber on and move their mouth and head. Thats why things like mega wolf are so impressive, because there thrown in amongst these crappy props like "7ft plauge doctor" (no offence, but it just turns side to side)

It's not Home Depot per se, but the mindset behind turning decorating for Halloween into a credit card exercise. Far too many people figure buying a bunch of store-bought animatronics, throwing it all over the yard, counts as making an effort. I disagree. There are videos on KZbin, where people just take random props without any regard for style or theme, just throw them all over the place, and the only thing they've shown is that they have deep pockets, not that they've made any effort whatsoever. When I grew up, most people decorated for Halloween. It might have been elaborate or it might have been a couple of pumpkins, but people actually made an effort. Today, most don't decorate at all and the majority simply stick out inflatables or some other store-bought stuff, give no thought to how it looks together, do not have a theme and have made no actual effort in setting it up. If you get a couple of houses in a row, they all look the same because they all shopped at the same store. I'm not impressed by that at all. It's one thing to use store-bought props in a creative way, but most people are just lazy these days. I get really tired of that.

Let me start with saying thank you for posting this video. I am what you consider a professional. I build my own displays; I theme everything I have worked in the industry making props over the years. I eat, sleep, and breath Halloween. Do I see any cons with stores like Home Depot, Lowes, Sprit Halloween? Absolutely not!!! I would love to see more places selling props and decor. You mention places in the U.K. Not having access to props like we do here in the U.S. I think about this from a business perspective. These suppliers would make a fortune selling props and animatronics in the U.K. and I hope this happens soon. I understand people may feel that these props are "ruining" the holiday, and they feel that this takes the spotlight away from them but let's look at this. Home Depot and Lowes these are businesses that sell home improvement and home repair items. Plywood, paint, wiring, tools, etc. things that home and professional haunters purchase and use. I grew up in the late 70's the concept of a "yard haunt" or a "home haunt" wasn't something anyone would have thought of. People decorated their homes and businesses with paper and cardboard Beistle brand type witches, ghosts and pumpkins. Once in a while you would run across someone who made a cut out of a Halloween character out of plywood that was painted and lit from the front with a flood light. If you were really lucky you or a friend made a makeshift haunted house in your garage. Animatronics were something Disney had and the thought of having something that had movement and light and sound was something out of most people's grasps. We decorated and over time the props got better and we became more knowable. Creative people create creative things, that's the nature of it over time the home haunts grew in size and scope and the industries that make parts and supplies also grew and access to better and more unique props and electronics became more accessible. It takes time, effort, knowledge, money, blood, sweat and tears to design and build a home or yard haunt. I completely understand where the resentment is coming from these types of haunters. As that industry grew, technology got better, and cheaper, better and more affordable props became something that where commercially available. Home Depot and Loews, like I mentioned earlier, are home improvement stores. Spirit and Party City are also leaders in Halloween animatronics . They provide access to props and decorations and decor. Companies like Gemmy are the ones who manufacture these animatronics and these are featured at shows like Transworld and the Halloween Expo every year. Companies can come and see what's being made and see what's new and exciting. Home improvement companies can now offer their customers something unique and fun for them to decorate their homes with. Someone thought up the idea for a huge 12-foot skeleton it's a static prop that is plastic it's weatherproof and sets up in no time. It's an attention getter no doubt about it! And no sooner did it go on sale it sold out and the demand for it went through the roof. Home improvement also includes decorating your home for the holidays. No one seems to complain when they stock loads of Christmas lights and props. Is this the fault of businesses like Home Depot? Absolutely not! I say good for them! Is this the fault of people purchasing these? Absolutely not! They want something unique, something big, something to decorate their yards with and that's what's important...they are decorating, they are participating, they are celebrating this most wonderful holiday. The vast majority of people don't have the time, money or knowledge to be able to invest into planning, designing, building scenes or yard haunts. The ability for them to be able to walk into a store and purchase something that they can take home and set up in a short amount of time is well worth it. For other people that's our passion, we build and design and tweak our haunts. But I can attest it takes time and knowledge and planning to achieve this and not everyone has the ability or know how to achieve this. Should someone be looked down on for purchasing a 12-foot skeleton to decorate with? Absolutely not! In fact, I do the opposite. I have flyers made up that say thank you for decorating and celebrating. In the letter it encourages them to do more, and we look forward to seeing what they will do in the future. It also encourages them to join some of the various online groups and pages dedicated to Halloween prop building and decorating. I place these at doors of homes that decorate. I have a stack in my car and when I see a home decorated no matter how little or how big I give them a flyer. I have personally spoken to multiple people in the neighborhood that have received these and they light up when asked about their decorations. We talk and I might make a suggestion or give them an idea and their eyes light up and they get excited to do more and make it better. There are professionally run haunted houses with entire casts of actors and multiple rooms that started with someone putting out a few Styrofoam tombstones and a jack o lantern. They got bit by the bug and eventually opened a full-scale haunt. This is a win win for everyone! The haunt goes pro, and they benefit. People in the area get to experience a haunted house and have fun. I have always said it's about Halloween as a whole. If someone is frightened or scared, if they smile, if they are inspired by if they forget about their troubles and lose themselves in the spirit of Halloween, then I have achieved my goal. These 12-foot skeletons are new and exciting, and this is nothing new. Horror is a fascinating thing a hand full of years ago zombies were all the rage. In the 90's vampires got top billing monsters come into the spotlight and retreat back into the shadows. Costumes and decor and props all reflected these shifts in interest. The manufacturer of the plastic Scarecrow Vampire Fangs have made a mint because of this. To the people who think props like this are ruining Halloween I say these are the latest and greatest and in no time, these will fade in popularity and eventually something else will take place. Halloween and its origins are over 2000 years old I don't think a retail business selling plastic skeletons is "ruining" it. Just the opposite they are making more accessible and affordable and easier for people to decorate and celebrate. To the pro haunters keep being creative make better and more unique props create unique themes. And the people purchasing the Home Depot and Lowes animatronics and props keep decorating and keep haunting.

That's Steven Crowder behind the table!

I was distracted by the people driving on the wrong side of the road! LOL

If everyone just bought the same animatronics and placed them in their yard it would be pretty boring. I don't really see this happening. People have different tastes, like some HATE clowns 😉 and some love them.

The pillars look so good!!1 Really awesome decorations for the UK...Do you have Home Depots over there?

This is exactly my situation... I make my own stuff and try to make at least one new thing a year, and the other house in my neighborhood that goes about as big as I do has everything store-bought. I have nothing against them and I appreciate their display, it's nice to see someone go all-out for Halloween, but I do feel that it cheapens things a bit and it always makes me question how much time I put into it...

Trunk or treats ruined Halloween. No ruining about it ,they killed it and pi$$3d on the grave !

If HD and Lowes and Spirit didn’t exist and didn’t sell these props, none of us would be doing any of this. And HD props are the best quality as far as ‘budget’ props goes in the arena. What ruins a display, IMO, is people who just go out and buy one of everything and just throw them out in the lawn with no thought or theme in mind. Another thing that happens when someone near you starts up a display, is it motivates you to take yours to another level. And I just enjoy looking at other displays, even if they aren’t my style. I can appreciate the work that goes into each one.

I DISAGREE! I believe that is required in a debate, no? I like to overdo it for halloween and I spend WAYYY too much money on a combination of mostly basic props like skeletons that I dress myself and home built props (like the 26ft tall pirate ship I built this year). Among all the expenses I had for construction, I reserved a small portion of my funds for "thank you" notes that say "Thank you for decorating for Halloween." with my logo on it. My wife and I walk around the neighborhood almost daily enjoying and talking about the displays and what we like about them and leave a thank you note on all the doors of the people that decorate. Last night I put a thank you note on a house that just had 2 skeletons on the porch. I love Halloween and I'm not going to look down on someone who put money and some level of effort into it. If you enjoy a hobby and want to see it grow and see more people get more into it, you can't gate keep. Not everyone has the time, the money or even wants to invest that much of either into it, but some effort is better than none.

Home depot, lowes, big lots, menards, spirit halloween, party city. The more big box stores putting out their own unique linups of stuff the better.

Im one of those crazy people that obsess about Halloween. All year. Taking a trip down that rabbit hole has shown me that everyone has different needs and tastes that fulfill their soul. The things I like the most may not do anything for you. Chase your own dream. Don't buy props because they`re popular this year or others covet them. Tell your story. There are many groups and pages online to give you inspiration. Feed YOUR soul at Halloween.

My opinion is. Whether your a long term haunter that make all your own stuff or you like to buy the latest and greatest. Celebrating the season in any way you can is still keeping the season alive. Myself i like to make my stuff so its stands out from the store bought stuff. But seeing people decorating and keeping the spirit alive. Will always put a smile on the kiddos faces plus my own. Happy Halloween everyone

I just inherited the 12 foot hovering witch plus 2 more 6 foot animatronic witches from the in-laws bc their health keeps them from decorating the way they used to. We are happily keeping the spirit of Halloween alive! Of course my small front yard in nothing compared to their giant yard setup they had.

Really...? Who gives a rat's ass. If you like it, buy it. If not, don't. Get a life.

As a fellow UKer I don't think any of the US stores have ruined Halloween either. As you mentioned they're made it far more accessible and affordable unlike over here where there is some availability to a decent selection of items but the very cool stuff that is on par with the US stuff is locked behind high prices by certain online vendors. I get there's import fees etc but I think that high pricing mentality ruins it far more in my opinion. I still can't accept that something that costs $250 has to be priced at £1000 here. As to the actual displays, it doesn't matter if everyone has a 12ft Skeleton as they will all display them differently and with different props around them. It also makes Halloween more acceptable as there is still certain groups of people that are staunchly opposed to it and see it as a form of devil worship. If and it's a big if we had access physically to something akin to Home Depot I'd probably still approach my purchases as I do now and instead of having the need to buy everything I see as I often see online these days and only buy what I think will fit with my theme etc, even tho there would be a plethora of awesome stuff on offer. I'm one of those this year who bought the giant skeleton ground breaker, not because of fomo or prestige but simply because it's going to fit my display and fill a gap for somethings that I've removed. Next year I can see a lot being up for sale as ppl can't store them or want the new "big" thing but I'll keep mine as it'll become just another part of the haunt. I also modify my props if possible even in a small way so they are more unique to my haunt. So all in all I don't think Home Depot is ruining Halloween but I do think ridiculously priced animatronics over here are.

It’s not something unique to Home Depot They actually been selling animatronics for at least 15 years in pop up halloween stores and other places like rona, reno depot ect..

If the professional community still wants to stand out from the crowd, my advice is to adapt to the growing accessibility of a wider variety of animatronics by getting uniquely creative with your existing ones; design your own DIY tweaks on the animatronic base designs such as upgrading an outfit with elaborate add-ons that fits in your overall theme. One example I saw was that someone massively modified Lord Raven with a more detailed outfit and adhered some elaborate feathery contraption on the back; another way is redesigning your scene with how multiple characters and props are positioned in relation to each other that enhances the overall theme. Think about environmental props that support the styles of your characters like Gothic castle-like walls or tombstones for Lord Raven, bales of hay in piles accompanied by standing bundles of cornstalks for the Straw Man or other scarecrow animatronics for a farm vibe, or a temporary pond feature set in the ground walled off (so no visitors haphazardly steps into it) and transform it with swampy plants around the border plus some ethereal lighting for the Bog Zombie that looks like he’s just stepping out of the swamp. 🤷🏻‍♀️

So me and my neighbor are kind of a good example of what you said. They have all kinds of animatronics from over the years and I am the house with the unique homemade stuff. I've got a giant UFO and an 18ft replica of the alien war machine from war of the worlds as my main pieces. Ironically most people don't even really like it that much or maybe they don't recognize it. In my opinion I love what Home Depot has done by making budget animatronics. I bought some myself this year which I the first time I've ever bought ready made animatronics. I hope that more people decorate. I'd love to see every house decked out in spooky stuff. I agree with the criticism that it could become repetitive due to market flooding but that may encourage people to modify or build their own stuff.

It's not the materials you have, it's how well you theme them. Edit: your enthusiasm for the Americanized Halloween is delightful. Come over some year and join in sometime.

Funny you mentioned this. I just joked around with my friend saying I’d call my home haunt “not just another trip to Home Depot.” As all my decor is homemade.

We think alike. I think the every yard will be the same worry is unrealistic. Since I've owned a home I have decorated. Started with what I could afford at the time, dollar tree and walmart. As my money increased the type of decor I could buy improved. I have enough props now that I can rotate themes from year to year and have to reant a storage unit to store things. I still welcome everyone to buy what they can and decorate. Whether it's inflatables, big animatronics or just doller tree items. I'm just happy people share my love of Halloween.

I personally feel like Home Depot is NOT ruining halloween. Lots of people who are new to the entire decorating world most likely have no clue how to build their own prop unless they have previous building experience. I feel like no matter how much effort or how little effort you put into decorating, you are still having fun and celebrating the holiday, and thats all that matters. If someone spent a decade collecting and mastering a haunt is then countered by someone who bought their props, thats okay! All I see is 2 different degrees of creativity and skill celebrating the same holiday.

Nice job on the video. Good topic.

I wish my neighbors would go to the store and buy some animatronics. I’d love some “competition” in truth, I’d love to see more Home Depot,or Lowe’s, or Spirit,etc. out in the wild. We have a few homes scattered about town,but not many on the same immediate vicinity. I’m personally graduating to making my own props,and I’m learning how to use Arduino,so I can customize and upgrade the animatronics I have.

The more that people set up for Halloween the better there’s no need to hate

What I think is ruining Halloween is those people who have to complain about something to feel good about themselves. I have a friend who is a farming family & a realtor ( really a wonderful friend & benefit to the community). She has a business office in town, so people don't have to drive all the way out to the farm & she can hire other realtors ( she's a broker). I taught her how to build simple static props. Her theme was very tame, trick or treating families & a father & nun over seeing/protecting & blessing the families truck or treaters ( so tame & family friendly display, it's sweet). It was set up as we built Come about a month later she gets an anonymous letter scolding her for displaying Halloween and including a Catholic priest and nun in a Halloween display. At 1st she was so upset , & she called me. She was flabbergasted. I told her to ignore the letter, the church wasn't complaining and she had received a lot of compliments, plus this letter wasn't signed. Had they signed it she could have addressed the person as a adult, And apologized that it offended them. We figured that the letter writer has such a low self esteem that anonymously writing a complaint letter was the only way they could feel better about themselves. In the end the realtor decided to keep her tame display as is because nothing about the display was actually offensive & many people have stated they are enjoying the display. So the negative Nancy's & Dick's of the world are the ones who are ruining Halloween, if anybody.

1st thank you for the laughs. I'm in my 60's and I've seen Halloween go from a strong interest in home decorating, to Halloween was only about knocking on the door for free candy for the kids & adults spent it in the bars. So I'm happy to see the resurgence of Halloween. I view Halloween as the beginning of the holiday season & a wonderful way to decorate & give little gifts to the local children ( a community celebration centered around harvest), and I'm warming up for Christmas with my family, a more intimate celebration. While I'm more of a builder & have very few store bought animatronics and definitely not the high-end ones, I'm happy to see more people participating in the holiday decorating, so what if they are bought ready made , they are making a effort. They may not have the time or skill set to build Halloween props. What important is that Halloween is making a comeback & Halloween is for kids again instead of a dress up night at the bar. So no home Depot is not ruining Halloween. Home Depot is enhancing Halloween for those who don't have the time or the skill set to build their own. How can inspiring people to decorate for any holiday ruining that holiday? I'm noticing that those who don't know how to build yet are getting inspired by KZbin and Facebook groups about Halloween., so some people are making the transition to builders & it's never a bad thing to learn.

Creative people will always be creative. A fully thought-out and planned display will always be more pleasing that a bunch of props just stuck on a lawn, but look, Christmas throws out the same decorations for people to buy year after year and no-one tires of them. I want Halloween to become more accessable and popular because my son and I spend literal months hunting for decor, and it's painful, and besides which I hate gatekeeping of any kind. Long live Halloween, and bring it on!