Superhero costumes flying off of area store shelves this Halloween

Expect to see a lot of superheroes at your door this Halloween.

Local costume shop owners noted that superhero costumes have sold well during their busiest season of the year.

‘This is our Christmas time,’ said Buck Bresler, owner of Illusions Magic & Costume in Willowick. ‘What retail stores do in December, we’re doing now.’

Mark Miller, owner of Perfect Occasions Costumes & Magic in Middlefield, said popular costumes are dictated by what movies and TV shows were out this year.

The third ‘Iron Man’ movie and a new Superman movie, ‘Man of Steel,’ were released this summer and costumes from each film have been big sellers, Miller said. He added that although there was no new ‘Batman’ movie released this year, the caped crusader still sold well.

‘Batman is always huge,’ Miller said.

Miller also noted that zombies seem to be another big costume this year, thanks to the popularity of the ‘Walking Dead’ TV show.

Steampunk-inspired costumes also have been popular at Perfect Occasions. Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction generally set in an alternate-history version of Victorian Era England or the American Wild West. It often features steam-powered, retro-futuristic machines such as boat-like aircraft called airships.

Bresler said costume sales have been ‘all over the place,’ but he also has noticed that superheroes are among the most popular. Unlike Miller, Bresler said he’s seen a decline in zombie costumes.

‘We’re selling less zombie makeup and accessories this year,’ Bresler said. ‘Appliances like latex scars and all the crud hanging off the zombie’s face are down a little. It’s early though.’

Illusions caters mainly to adults, but Perfect Occasions sells children’s costumes as well.

‘Kids are pretty standard,’ Miller said. ‘Girls like to go as princesses like Sleeping Beauty and boys like things like ninjas.’

Costumes related to the computer game World of Warcraft also have been popular with kids this year, Miller said. He also noticed that costumes based on Harry Potter characters have declined in popularity this year and said that it is likely because of the lack of new books or films in the franchise.

When movies bomb, costumes based on the films don’t fare well either, Miller said, who used the 2011 film ‘Sucker Punch’ as an example.

According to the National Retail Federation, 158 million people will celebrate Halloween this year, down from 170 million in 2012. People also will spend slightly less money on average this year on decorations, candy and costumes than they did last year. The average celebrant is expected to spend $75.06, down from $79.82 in 2012. According to the NRF’s survey, 25.2 percent of Americans said the state of the economy will impact how much money they will spend on Halloween this year.

In total, NRF estimates Americans will spend $6.9 billion on Halloween this year.