Today is Halloween so what have you been buying?

Yes, your second favorite day of the year, today is Halloween. Forecasts from the National Retail Federation suggest that there will be 171 million of us celebrating Halloween this year and that we will spend a terrifying $8.4 billion.  “After a long summer, families are excited to welcome the fall season celebrating Halloween,” said NRF President Matthew Shay “Retailers are preparing for the day by offering a wide variety of options in costumes, decorations and candy, while being aggressive with their promotions to capture the most out of this shopping event.” Indeed 94% of those surveyed plan to buy Halloween Candy and an incredible 67% will spend on costumes. And because today is Halloween look out for amusing pet costumes. Amongst popular dog costumes are devil, lion and of course a hot dog. How do you find the perfect costume? You could look through the funzee site as responders said they typically use online (35 percent) and in-store (29 percent). Not surprising perhaps that social media is the fastest-growing influencer for the perfect costume with shared images website Pinterest being mentioned by 17 percent of responders.

Because today is Halloween we thought it appropriate to mention the Rocky Horror Show. This cult musical classic was written by Richard O’Brien who also gave us iconic TV show the Crystal Maze. It probably represents O’Brien’s pension fund as it feels as though Rocky has never left our theaters even though it was launched over 40 years ago. Anyway FOX decided to bring Rocky Horror up to date in a new way with their remake which aired last week. But, although the movie has been modernized you will still find plenty of easter eggs and references to the original Rocky Horror Picture Show. For example the original Dr Frank-N-Furter, Tim Curry, also stars in the remake as The Criminologist, An Expert. True fans may notice that when the group sits down to a nervous dinner, Columbia says, “I hope it’s not Meat Loaf again.” That is reference to the 1975 original when singer Meat Loaf played Eddie and was served as the meal during this dinner scene. Did you spot any others, let us know or tell us what else you watched on Halloween?