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What it costs ... to trick or treat
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October 19, 2001: 1:54 p.m. ET
Here's a menu of ghoulish goods to help you celebrate in style.
By Annelena Lobb
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NEW YORK (CNNmoney) - Look out! Halloween is hiding just around the corner. That means kids are busy buying costumes and checking their flashlight batteries. Party invitations are in the mail and stores are stocking their shelves with bite-sized candy.
If you're planning a bash or just want to spice things up for the trick-or-treaters, make sure you budget for the Halloween goodies you'll need. As Charlie Brown would say, nobody likes to be caught empty-handed by the Great Pumpkin.
Three-quarters of Americans are planning to shop for Halloween this year, and they expect to spend an average of $61 on holiday goods, according to a survey by the International Mass Retail Association.
Dressing the kids up
First, you need to pick costumes. Come Halloween night, you'll see probably the usual throng of goblins, ghosts, and plenty of superheroes coming to your door with candy bags. Try a Bartman costume, a cross between Bart Simpson and a generic caped superhero ($37.95, Halloweenshop.com).
If your child wants to dress as a Halloween "witch," find some black clothes and green face makeup (Technifaces witch makeup kit, $2.79, Kmart). Little girls can dress as storybook character Madeline (Madeline costume, $39.99, Amazon.com), though blondes and brunettes will have to invest in some non-permanent red hair color (L'oreal Feria Color, $9.99, cvs.com) to play the part. This year you can expect a few Harry Potters and Powerpuff Girls to come knocking, too.
You can even start your kids really early with a baby-sized costume. Indulge your inner Anne Geddes by putting your little one in a baby bat costume (infant costume, $32.95, Halloweenshop.com). He'll have no idea why he's wearing the strange outfit, but that will just make him look even cuter.
Dressing yourself up
As a grown-up, there's something you must remember about Halloween. Really classy people will never go to a costume party without wearing a costume. (Sorry, but "I'm dressed as myself" doesn't cut it.) And the costumes for adults are even more fun than the costumes kids get to wear.
Try the deluxe Shrek package (Shrek costume, adult size, $45.95, Halloweenshop.com). For a more "adult" adult costume, there's the Pimp Devil Daddy ($47.95, Halloweenshop.com).
Dressing the house up
Select a pumpkin or two at the grocery store (prices vary, but about $3-to-$8); if your kitchen knives aren't sharp enough to carve a pointy-toothed grin, invest in a pumpkin carving kit (X-acto pumpkin carving kit, $5.99, catalog retail price). Mini-pumppkin gourds will cost about a dollar apiece. Glow-in-the-dark skeletons create a creepy effect (one skeleton, $5.99, Kmart), and spider webs help spook up the house too - buy a couple of packages and spread them from corner to corner (4 oz. spider webs, $2.99, Kmart).
For extra-spooky special effects, get some black light bulbs to set the mood for partygoers or trick-or-treaters (package of 2, $2.99, Kmart). You can even get a sonic-controlled bat that drops down from above when someone approaches (Sonic Control Scary Dropping Bat, $24.99, amazon.com). If you want to get really fancy, brew a dry ice fog (5 pounds, $6.30, Brookline Ice Co., Brookline, Mass.). Go to Dryiceinfo.com to find a dry ice vendor near you. About 15-to-20 minutes of fog takes 5 pounds of ice mixed with 4-to-5 gallons of water.
Food and entertainment
Start with your favorite Halloween candy (bag of chocolates or candy, $2-to$4, CVS drugstores). The classic candy corn and Reese's peanut butter cups add holiday color. Sip on pumpkin wine ($9.00, cranberrywine.com), and if you really want to lay out a fancy spread, make sure everyone gets a slice of cake (Halloween cake, $90, Dean & De Luca).
Entertaining kids? Arm yourself with a VCR and a copy of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (VHS, $11.99, amazon.com) when they arrive exhausted from a night foraging for candy. When they head out, don't forget to equip each tot with a flashlight (Mag-lite, $20.89, Kmart) and a pillowcase to fill with treats. 
Items are mentioned in this story as examples. Retailers are mentioned as sources of pricing information. No endorsement by CNNmoney is implied.
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KIDS' COSTUMES
