Vintage Halloween decor is making a major comeback—here are some styles you’re seeing on social media

Vintage Halloween decor has never truly gone out of style, but it’s certainly back in vogue these days. From Target to Michael’s, major retailers have been taking cues from the past to create their Halloween collections. Additionally, content creators have also been sharing actual vintage Halloween decorations from bygone decades. 

So what did vintage Halloween decorations look like back in the day? Here’s some context on the nostalgic spooky styles you might be seeing on your feed.

‘70s Halloween decorations

The ‘70s were simpler days when it came to Halloween decorations, but simple didn’t necessarily mean boring. While you were out and about around spooky season, you could find plenty of bold colors and funky, exaggerated illustrations.

Halloween die cuts were all the rage, featuring illustrations of spiders, skeletons, scarecrows, pumpkins, and more.

One of the most popular types of Halloween die cuts was this spooky black cat.

Glitter plaques, or melted popcorn decorations, dominated this decade. Made from plastic shreds, they came in all sorts of shapes, including pumpkins, ghosts, witches, and more. 

‘80s Halloween decorations

In the ‘80s, die cuts and melted popcorn decorations continued to reign the Halloween decor front, but there were also more pieces like blow molds, window clings, and pumpkin leaf bags, as shown below.

Blow molds typically came in the form of large light-up yard or indoor decorations, but you could find sized-down pieces, too.

This was also around the time that the McDonald’s plastic Halloween pumpkin pails took off.

For those who love more of a funky look, there were these Todd Masters foam pumpkins with gnarly burnt orange faces. The pumpkin head characters belonged to the Oh Lantern family — like Jack Oh Lantern, get it? 

When it came to collectibles, people also picked up these light-up ceramic haunted houses in the '80s.

‘90s Halloween decor

While the bold and colorful blow-mold look stayed strong in the '90s, more muted pieces surfaced around this decade, too. 

Along with incorporating blow-mold Halloween yard decor from the prior decade, the ‘90s gave us things like these quirky blow-mold lights. Besides traditional orange pumpkins, these came in shapes such as Frankenstein’s monsters, bats, and ghosts.

If you were a ‘90s kid, you may have seen — and definitely heard — these shaking ghosts that made a very loud and eerie wailing sound.

Very similar to that shaking ghost was this shaking Telco witch with freaky glowing eyes.

Of course, not all '90s autumn decor was super conspicuous. Those who preferred a more understated aesthetic could light up some of these floating pumpkin candles. 

Vintage Halloween influences on major retailers

If you can’t source actual vintage Halloween wares, there are likely vintage-inspired Halloween goodies at your neighborhood chain stores. Here are how some brands are taking cues from the past. 

At Target, for example, you can pick up some retro blow-mold decor.

There are blow molds at Home Depot, too.

Michael’s doesn’t specifically draw from past products, but it does have a groovy ‘70s-inspired hippie Halloween collection full of disco balls and flower motifs. If you're springing for vintage vibes and not specifically vintage pieces, this is perfect.

Examples of vintage Halloween decorations

If you’re into a vintage Halloween look, chances are that your decor is probably a bit eclectic and mismatched. Here are a few videos for some creative vintage Halloween decorating inspiration.

More Halloween stories:

• 45 of the funniest Halloween memes, 2024 edition
• Looking for a Halloween movie for date night? Try any of these 15 films
• 13 of the scariest Halloween decorations you can buy at Home Depot
• 20 best Halloween GIFs for all your reactions on the spookiest day of the year
• What is the pumpkin head photoshoot trend? A guide to the Halloween challenge
• Walmart shopper speculates trick-or-treating is ‘dying out’ after seeing cost of candy
• Meme History: Halloween Memes

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