What happens when two separate horror films somehow reach new audiences without any help from the studios that made them? Well, you get what happened to Killer Klowns From Outer Space and Trick ‘r Treat. Both films are horror cult classics that deserve plenty of entries and new films. However, Warner Bros. and MGM seem to think that both films aren’t worth making sequels for. We’ve had off-again, on-again talks about sequels or reboots for either film, but those have gone nowhere. However, there’s a phenomenon that’s kept both movies in the eyes, ears, and any other sense, of horror fans.

Spirit Halloween.

Spirit Halloween has done more to keep people interested in these two movies than anything the studios have done.

Yes, if you’re a gargantuan fan of Killer Klowns From Outer Space or Trick ‘r Treat, you might not see as much interest in those films without all the Klowns and Sam merchandise from Spirit Halloween. I wrote about the magic and wonder of Spirit Halloween for last year’s Fright-A-Thon, and these two movies are a big part of that. There’s something that is just quintessentially Halloween about Trick ‘r Treat. Even if you live in Southern California, where we don’t really have Fall until much later than Halloween, the movie evokes a feeling that anyone can get behind. It helps that Sam is a great mascot for the film and fits on so many different pieces of merchandise.

Just going around right now at my local Spirit Halloween, there’s a Sam candy bowl figure, an animatronic Sam, costumes, countdown signs, a light-up Sam, dog costumes, and even a Funko POP! vinyl figure of Chuckles the Clown. That’s just a bit of what Trick ‘r Treat brings us at the store. There are more Trick ‘r Treat items than there are for Friday the 13th. Let that sink in.

The Killer Klowns March Slowly Back Into Our Hearts

As for the Killer Klowns From Outer Space, they’ve seen plenty of merchandise over the years at Spirit Halloween. Year after year, Spirit Halloween has exclusive merchandise to their stores from the movie, and yet, the movie came out in 1988. Since then, we’ve never had a sequel, reboot, and until recently, a video game. That video game, a Universal Halloween Horror Nights haunted house (with an awesome trailer), and years after years of the merchandise might change the minds of executives on a sequel.

Some of the coolest pieces of merch at Spirit include a blacklight Funko POP! vinyl of Jumbo, you can get the cotton candy gun, snowglobes, light-up statues, animatronics, and even some of the other “props” from the movie like acid pies, hand puppets, and Shorty’s bat. That doesn’t include all the costumes, smaller figures, posters, signs, inflatables, and glassware/cups. There is a massive amount of Killer Klowns merchandise out there at Spirit Halloween.

It’s Not Everything For Popularity, But Let’s Give Spirit Some Props

This might read like an advertisement for Spirit Halloween, but really it’s not. I just love the store, I love the idea of a Halloween store taking over the decaying corpse of a Sears or other department store for 2 months out of the year, bringing new life to something that was long dead and gone. In an age of online shopping, where you can get anything under the sun on Amazon or other places, the idea of having to go to a store to get that Spirit Halloween Exclusive Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers light-up Michael Myers bust, is one that I can get behind. It’s not like the items are Balenciaga shoes selling for $500 in-store and then reselling online for a massive markup, these are Halloween decorations that you’re going out to buy.

They’re pieces of movie merchandise that will hopefully get passed down from you to the rest of your family. So to the store that has kept interest in Killer Klowns From Outer Space and Trick ‘r Treat higher than it normally would, we thank you.

For more on horror, make sure to check out Fright-A-Thon, the 61-day Halloween Content Marathon!

Keep Reading:

The 2022 Halloween Movie Marathon Schedule [Fright-A-Thon]