You'd be surprised at NJ's most popular Halloween decoration

Growing up in New Jersey, I remember my mom putting up little cardboard cutouts of pumpkins and witches in the "picture window" in the front of our house.

Well, times have changed, and picture windows are gone and so are the simple decorations many of us grew up with.

Today, neighborhoods are filled with elaborate settings on front lawns. From strings of spider webs to giant skeletons to tombstones with the names of family members who live in the house.

Dennis Malloy / Townsquare Media

In my humble opinion and superstitious mind, that's tempting fate and a bit over the line. But hey, you do you. There are plenty of houses in our neighborhood with elaborate light displays as well. It used to be that you'd only put up lights for Christmas or Hannukah, but now Halloween lights are everywhere.

What are the most popular Halloween decorations?

This year a home-building group in the Midwest called Lombardo Homes did a survey of the most popular Halloween decorations in each state.

I don't know how they came up with the results, but in New Jersey, the most popular decoration for the Halloween season is a...CLOWN! What, really?

Canva

We seem to be the only state where that's the case.

Other states chose pumpkins, spiders, skeletons, scarecrows, etc. Our neighbors in New York and Pennsylvania picked corn stalks. Even Delaware makes a little more sense with the most popular decoration there being a bat.

How much do you spend on Halloween decorating?

This year 79% of Americans plan on decorating for Halloween. The study also found Americans are spending more on their Halloween decor this year than last, spending an average of $87. That's up from an average of $61 in 2022.

It seems like since the pandemic, Americans everywhere are spending more money on decorating their houses for holidays or any occasion. Recession, what recession?

But the bigger question is how did New Jersey get to be the only state that picked a clown as the most popular Halloween decoration.

New Jersey dogs get into the Halloween spirit

Recently, I visited PetCenter in Old Bridge for their Halloween pet costume contest and had a howling good time!

Gallery Credit: Steve Trevelise

The 10 most searched pets in the US

The website allaboutcats.com took a look at internet search trends to see what the most in-demand pets are in the US. The results may surprise you.

Gallery Credit: Bob Giaquinto

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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