How Hospitality Brands Can Tap Into Halloween & Spooky-Season Experiences
October has evolved far beyond pumpkin-spice and jack-o-lanterns, it’s now a full-on experience economy, and hospitality brands stand to gain big. Americans are projected to spend a record $13.1 billion on Halloween-related purchases in 2025. As restaurants, bars, hotels, and event venues plan for autumn, the opportunity to engage guests through themed events, seasonal menus, immersive atmospheres and cultural moments is richer than ever.
The opportunity for hospitality venues
Guests are looking for more than a meal or drink—they want memorable experiences. When 73 percent of consumers expect to celebrate Halloween this year, despite economic pressures, the data suggest one thing: demand for spooky-season engagement remains robust. For venues, that means tapping into three inter-locking areas:
Themed atmospheres – transforming space into an immersive “spooktacular” scene.
Seasonal menus – crafting cocktails, bites or banquets built around harvest, folklore or playful fear.
Event-driven programming – hosting costume parties, haunted tastings, interactive theatre-style dinners.
Take a rooftop bar staging a crime-scene murder-mystery cocktail evening with limited-edition drinks or a hotel offering “sleep-with-ghosts” nights in their historic wing. These formats elevate hospitality from service to spectacle, inviting guests to engage, share and remember.
Seasonal menus that engage
Data show candy, décor and costumes remain cornerstone categories of Halloween spending: in 2025 candy sales alone are projected at $3.9 billion, costumes at $4.3 billion and décor at $4.2 billion. For a bar or restaurant that means an invitation to lean into the theme: think shrub-infused “witch’s brew” cocktails, small-batch pumpkin-spiced bourbon or a prix-fixe dinner rooted in harvest ingredients with a ghost-story interlude.
For businesses, the advantage lies in differentiating the menu and curating small-batch offerings that feel limited and exclusive. Guests love “event menus” because they offer more than sustenance, they offer story.
Themed events and programming
Immersive events create urgency—and social momentum. Research shows consumers are shopping early; 47 percent of shoppers began Halloween purchasing before October in recent years. candyusa.com A hospitality venue that starts October programming the first weekend wins two things: early bookings and sharing on social channels before the calendar gets crowded.
Ideas might include: a haunted cocktail crawl across venue spaces, a covers charge that includes themed drink flights and live performance, or a brunch-meets-‘day-of-the-dead’ party. For hotels, themed weekends—think “Hotel of Horrors” with immersive sets, spooky movies in the lounge, harvest-fare dinners and morning yoga in skeleton print—turn rooms into experiences.
Challenges and controversies
Branded Halloween parties can draw attention, but they carry risk. Venues must manage safety, inclusion and tone. Too heavy a horror theme might alienate families. Over-priced “scary rooms” might draw criticism during a time of economic caution: average household spend per person has dipped in keeping with broader retail softness.
Ethical concerns surface if décor or event design appropriates cultural festivals (like Día de los Muertos) and repackages them purely for aesthetic. Hospitality brands need to ask: Are we creating respectful cultural experiences—or surface-level themed nights? Authenticity still counts.
What this means for consumers and busineses
You hold the guest role, and you wield power. Choose experiences that feel immersive and well-executed, not gimmicked or overpriced. Bring friends, engage with staff, share the experience: doing so rewards the venues doing it right. Your check-in, photo-share and applause signal what kinds of hospitality win your loyalty.
For a venue, Halloween is a stage to build brand identity, test creativity and engage new audience segments. Key tasks include:
Designing early-October programming with layered experiences (pre-game, main event, after-party).
Curating marketing around social-friendly visuals and shareable moments (e.g., photo-walls, themed signatures).
Balancing thrills with comfort and offering accessible price points so regulars feel included, not priced out.
The seasonal advantage
When a venue gets Halloween right, it becomes a cultural moment. The trick here isn’t just costumes, it’s community. Guests come for drinks, stay for stories, loyalty and connection. The harvest-to-holiday arc in fall invites venues to lean into warmth, spice, transformation; people naturally hunger for that.
How HoCo can help
HoCo supports hospitality operators with strategy that blends experience design, brand values and marketing activation. If your venue aims to make this Halloween count, not just in bookings but in cultural resonance, HoCo is your partner. Together we’ll build programming, guest journey maps, themed menus and campaigns that elevate your space into the social hub your community wants and remembers.
Let's make this spooky season unforgettable, plan now, launch smart and host with heart. For businesses and guests alike, this is more than a holiday: it’s a moment to connect, create and belong.
