Stores offer items for last-minute shoppers

Halloween Explosion in Kent also offers a range of costumes and masks.

Credit: DKS Editors

Akron Design and Costume Co. customers are greeted at the with frightening Halloween figures. These include a murder scene, ghosts, witches and horror characters.

Credit: DKS Editors

PHOTOS BY KATIE ROUPE | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: DKS Editors

Halloween Explosion, 160 Cherry St., Kent

Conveniently located next to the University Plaza theater, Halloween Explosion is the closest costume shop. It’s also the smallest. Yet, the small store is packed with costumes and various accessories.

The store has the typical bagged complete costumes priced around $40 as well as $15 to $20 for single items. More popular culture costumes, like Joker from “The Dark Knight” and Scooby Doo characters, range from $50 to $80, depending on how elaborate the costume.

The store has three to four aisles of costumes organized by categories – such as decades and particular movie or television show characters. Women and men’s costumes and other accessories are arranged together.

They have an aisle of various masks, as well as a wall of wigs. A good quality wig is about $20.

The store does not have much else other than costumes and a few decorations and other props, but it offers a good variety, and its proximity is optimal for last-minute shopping.

The store is open from noon to 8 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The store is seasonal and closes sometime in early November.

Stater rating (out of five): ***

Mr. Fun’s Costumes and Fun Emporium

4130 State Rd., Cuyahoga Falls

Located about 20 minutes away, Mr. Fun’s is the largest local shop, and it definitely has the most variety of costumes and other Halloween items.

Mr. Fun’s is packed to the ceiling with costumes and accessories. The store consists of many aisles labeled with the types of costumes in each aisle, varying from law enforcement and medical costumes to aisles devoted to specific decades in history.

The store offers the same types of costumes as Halloween Explosion at similar prices. But, with the various accessories needed to complete a costume, the total price hits around $60.

Mr. Fun’s has both men and women’s costumes together, with related accessories and wigs located close by. An extensive variety of masks and make-up are also available, as are accessories, such as shoes.

The store also offers rented costumes, like large mascot outfits, which are a bit pricier.

Mr. Fun’s has a wide variety of props, including some from movies, like a life-sized Michael Myers.

It also carries gag items and has a few sections with costumes for other holidays, including Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day.

Mr. Fun’s is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Mr. Fun’s is open year-round and resumes normal hours (10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday) in November.

Stater rating (out of five): ****

Akron Design and Costume Co.

3425 Manchester Rd., Akron

Though a little on the small side, Akron Design and Costume Co. offers a different variety of Halloween garb than other stores.

While they have the typical costumes in a bag that were largely available at the other stores, they also have costumes of a better quality that look a little bit more like real clothes than the synthetic costumes one usually finds.

These are a little pricier, but they tend to range from $40 to $60.

Like Mr. Fun’s, Akron Design and Costume Co. has rental costumes. There are a variety of period costumes, from Renaissance to flapper dresses, and prices vary from $20 to $75 for the more elaborate garments.

While the store is not as organized as the others, the costumes are generally separated into men and women’s sections with subsections on the racks for specific costumes. The staff is very helpful, and there are quite a few employees wandering around the store willing to help.

The store has a huge collection of accessories spanning about four aisles. This collection includes a large variety of prosthetics.

Akron Design and Costume Co. is open from noon to 8:30 p.m. weekdays. The store is open year-round. A full listing of hours is available on the store’s Web site, where costumes can also be purchased.

Stater rating (out of five): ****

Halloween USA, 2000 Brittain Rd., Akron

Located in Chapel Hill Mall, Halloween USA is a large, well-organized store that offers about the same costumes as Mr. Fun’s and Halloween Explosion.

The prices are very similar, but Halloween USA has a few more popular culture costumes, including “Ugly Betty” and different characters from “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

What Halloween USA has that other stores don’t is a large variety of Halloween decorations. The store has everything from giant spiders to various types of fake pumpkins.

The store is in a convenient location and offers a good deal of variety for a quick costume purchase.

Halloween USA is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. The store closes on Nov. 2.

Stater rating (out of five): ***

Contact all correspondent Meghan Bogardus at [email protected].