Inflatable costumes blowing up in popularity in McHenry County

When it comes to Halloween, inflation is sometimes good.

The popularity of blow-up costumes like dinosaurs or dragons, some McHenry County parents said, has grown as store-bought costumes become more intricate.

McHenry mom Kelly Jacobi, who was shepherding a trio of larger-than-life trick-or-treaters around – two dragons and a T-Rex – at McHenry’s trunk-or-treat event Monday, said when her neighbor’s child was a blow-up dinosaur last year, her own daughter said she had to be one this year.

“You’re seeing more and more of those,” Jacobi said. “They’ve got these fans that plug in and a built-in inflator that makes this all go.”

The number of community events has also expanded in recent years, from one night of trick-or-treating within neighborhoods to multiple opportunities for kids to socialize in costume, parents noted at a Halloween dance event Wednesday evening at the Algonquin Area Public Library.

“We love that there are so many activities for little kids,” said Crystal Lake resident Lexi van Adelsberg, whose toddler Creighton Cruz was dressed as Mickey Mouse this year. “When I was growing up, there wasn’t many. Now every town has something.”

Another parent, Algonquin resident Sarah Courtney, also said she remembered only doing Halloween events outside in winter or in school. This was the first year she said she was taking her two children out to Halloween activities.

“My kids love the other kids,” Courtney said. “But I also meet people at events like this, a few moms here. It’s nice to see familiar faces at all these events. It’s great to have opportunities like this to connect with the community.”

Adelsberg said Creighton “was totally into it” at the dancing event and would refuse to take his costume off; for children that age, Adelsberg said she wasn’t sure she’d noticed any trends for costumes beyond parents just wanting to keep their kids warm, though she noted mild surprise at the lack of Baby Shark outfits.

While the pandemic halted many in-person community Halloween events, costumed crowds seem to have come back full force, said Caitlin Mainard, who volunteered for the trunk-or-treat, the final Green Street Cruise Night event of the year.

“Last year, we didn’t have too many people come out,” Mainard said. “But this is the most people, and most cars, we’ve ever had. It’s been a lot of fun; there are so many dinosaurs here! I love it.”

Mainard said she’d noticed more people wearing costumes based on the “Stranger Things” show on Netflix.

McHenry resident Jessica Mullinax, whose family goes out in costume every year, attended the trunk-or-treat dressed as iconic horror film characters and said she hoped to see more people out in the neighborhood this year.

“I think people are more involved now,” Mullinax said. “People are getting more in the spirit. We love getting dressed up.”

At Lulu’s Wiggin Out in Crystal Lake, manager Casey Marlin said the store had gotten a “good amount of goofy stuff” in for the Halloween season, as well as accessories like women’s pirate hats and other costume items.

If there is a trend among hair pieces, she said the store has ordered more china doll wigs – picture bangs and a bowl cut – similar to what Zoe Kravitz wore in the new “Batman” film, Marlin said, although she added that the wigs’ popularity wasn’t necessarily from that movie.

“Halloween is going to be big this year,” Marlin said. “We’re definitely seeing an uptick in people coming in.”

McHenry County residents also noted the growing number of dogs who now participate in the festivities, going door to door in search of treats.

“It’s definitely more popular now to dress your dogs up and taken them out,” said Stef Cherniak, whose two dogs, Penny and Austin, will be dressed as a dragon and taco, respectively. “Especially if you don’t have kids, your dog is like your little kid.”

Cherniak, who said she is also a mother, loves watching her dogs trying to make sense of Halloween.

“There’s so much going on and all these kids running around,” Cherniak said, adding that in her neighborhood, there are homes that leave out a “bone bowl” in addition to the candy one.