Summoning The Perfect 2026 Haunt Hunting Season! The Best Store Collections of All Time!

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00][music] [music] >> Hello ghouls and ghosties, and happy Friday to you, and welcome to yet another spooky video on the Jack Valentine channel. Today, I have some explaining to do. I know I've promised for like probably a month now a number of different times that this week's video was going to be the haunt hunting 2026 shopping guide. So, like the Halloween schedule calendar shopping guide for the year of 2026. As you can see by the thumbnail and the title, that is not what we're doing today, but do not fret, I can explain. So, I had actually made a community post about this, which I know not everyone sees. I don't think I usually see people's when I'm like watching on my TV and stuff. I said to you guys that I might need a little more time to prep, to film, and to edit because as I always say when I film that video, it is truly one of my favorite videos of the entire year on any social media platform, on any channel, on any anything. I love that video so much. I take so much pride in it. I truly sit down and enjoy doing it. I really just need the time and want the time to make it perfect and to do maybe some little bits in it, to pick out a good outfit, to edit it well, and to really really have up-to-date good info, especially because there's actually stuff that's like kind of happening already that I I really want to include. So, I just I want the stuff to be up-to-date. I am pushing it back 1 week. It will be next week for sure, for certain, I promise.

[00:02:05]On Friday, we're going to kick off June with the Haunt Hunting 2026 guide. But, I did not want to leave you guys hanging. So, I decided we would have yet another talk or treat that I'm super, super excited for. But, for today's talk or treat, I actually just made myself some hot chai, even though it's like a million degrees outside right now. But, it's still so good. And, I'm actually setting the mood today with a pumpkin candle from Anthropologie that I've been saving, and an orange lighter.

[00:02:37]We're really like We're fitting the theme with everything that we do, truly.

[00:02:40]But, it's going to smell spooky in here.

[00:02:42]It looks spooky. It tastes spooky in here. So, what I want to do today is create the perfect 2026 Haunt Hunting season. And, you guys might be wondering, "What in the Underworld does that mean?"

[00:02:58]Like, what What are you talking about?

[00:03:00]We are going to turn back the clock.

[00:03:03]Whether it be a year, a couple years, up to 10 years, and we're going to look at basically all the stores that we go to every year, and we're going to pick the years that they hit their peak. So, we're going to turn back time, and take a look, and review the best collections from the stores that we go to on repeat.

[00:03:25]Now, I have a number of stores for you guys today. I'm not going to do every single thing. I'm mainly doing stores that have full Halloween collections, multiple collections, the stores that really stock up on Halloween. And, we're going to look at the best years that they ever had. I went through the past, and I picked for each one a single year that I thought was their best. And, I even have photos for you guys today. So, we're going to take a visual and audible walk through the past and piece together what would be the best haunt hunting 2026 season possible. So, first, I'm going to start off with my mood-setting lighting. So, let's give this a shot.

[00:04:06]There we go. Now, we are all set for a blast from the past, some spooky history, some spooky retail therapy without having to spend any money. And we're going to prep for what we want to see this year. Now, I have like lit candles and stuff around me. We're going to have like a seance to bring back these Halloween collections of the past.

[00:04:28]Honestly, maybe that's what I should have titled this, like the seance to bring back peak Halloween collections.

[00:04:33]So, I'm not necessarily going to go in a particular order, but I wanted to start off with the one store that I included that we actually can't go to anymore, but I just want to talk about them because they used to be such a highlight of every spooky season, every haunt hunting season, and that is Joann Fabrics. So, Joann Fabrics had large Halloween collections for many, many years. They actually just closed down. I think it was in 2024. I think we've had one full year now where we haven't been able to shop their stores. Actually, that's where my Spirit Halloween went in last year. Joann Fabrics at first was definitely finding their footing when they really started to kind of like stock up on Halloween items. I'm thinking the like 2020, 2021, 2022 time.

[00:05:21]They were really finding their footing.

[00:05:23]Then, once they hit 2023, I felt that they really found kind of their identity and they had some collections that we could recognize as truly being Joann Fabrics. So, a few years before that, they were really leaning into, honestly, there were some collections that were kind of farmhouse, like haunted farmhouse leaning, leaning into very glam items, like a lot of gold snakes, glimmering, shimmery stuff. And it was a bit more like, I guess, Great Gatsby, like flapper era style Halloween items, which just aren't really my favorite.

[00:05:56]But I feel in 2023, they really, really peaked. In 2023, they had their sketched out jack-o'-lanterns, I always called them. They almost looked like they were drawn with a pencil. They were very vintage inspired. I always loved those.

[00:06:10]And they also had their multi-collection situation, where they had kind of a gardeny moss type collection with skulls and a lot of emerald greens. But then they also had a witchy collection that kind of leaned into purple and more mystical pieces and some more black skulls, black cauldrons, that type of stuff. A few of their moon and star items. And then they had their classic campy Halloween stuff, which again had those kind of sketched out, drawn out jack-o'-lanterns. That might have been the first year or one of the first years they had those Halloween storage boxes that kind of like have the flat top and a magnet shut, which they started to become really well known for. They had really good mugs that year, I believe, for the first time. So, that was really when Joann Fabrics hit their peak, in my opinion. And if we had the perfect 2026 season, Joann Fabrics would resurrect from the dead and they would bring back their 2023 collection. We're going to go totally in a random order here. We're not going to go by what year I like from them in a numerical order. And we're also not going to go alphabetical or anything. We're just going to totally randomize it. So, next up, I want to talk about Home Depot. Home Depot, in my opinion, has had quite a few off years.

[00:07:24]Now, Home Depot has always been my favorite store that sells like animatronics and outdoor decor, cuz I do, not only decorate my inside of my house, I decorate a lot outside. And I definitely used to buy animatronics quite a bit more. And I really love their grave stone tombstone situation. A lot of their larger kind of plastic blow mold material pieces are usually pretty cool. A lot of their outdoor lights are quite cool. But, the past few years they've either all just been repeats or just not as good. I haven't liked their animatronics as well. Their 12-footers haven't been as cool. And, I think very strongly that Home Depot peaked in 2021.

[00:08:06]The Home Depot 2021 collection is truly what got me into Home Depot as my home base for animatronics and outdoor decor.

[00:08:16]They nailed it that year. So, in 2020 was when the 12-foot skeleton came out, and they totally went with that with the success that that brought in. And, in 2021 they had the Inferno pumpkin head skeleton, Inferno pumpkin skeleton, whatever they actually titled him. He came out in 2021. But, not only was he out, they brought back the 12-foot skeleton. They also had the best the best animatronics I feel that they've ever had, especially since. They had the man-eating plant who needs no introduction. That's my favorite animatronic of all time. That was the first year that we saw the pumpkin head twins, which then they continued to do new iterations of for the next like 3 years, and I love them. I've collected all of them. They had great tombstones that year. I even feel that they're more like affordable or attainable animatronics, which they usually have a few of each year, were really cool. They had like a grim reaper skeleton guy.

[00:09:16]Those were really detailed and really cool for the good price they had them at. I truly truly stand behind that I think Home Depot in 2021 was their peak, and I would love to see a return to that type of creativity. Whoever designed those items, those animatronics, whoever they partnered with, whatever it was, I would love to see that back again. Next up on the list, we're going to go a little more modern and we're going to talk about Anthropology. So, Anthropology is an easy one for me to kind of get out of the way pretty quick here and that is because Anthropology, to my knowledge, has only had two seasons of larger Halloween collections.

[00:09:54]They started off in 2024 with some really cool Halloween items. I didn't shop it as much and I don't think there was a ton, but they had some really great glass pieces that had crows and bats and kind of stars and it was really, really cool stuff. It didn't really stand out to me as much as last year, 2025. So, in 2025, I feel Anthropology hit their peak, which is great because that's the most modern, obviously, collection from them, which means maybe we're only going up from there, hopefully. But, last year Anthropology had the coolest stuff.

[00:10:30]Like, it was possibly one of my top three favorite Halloween Their tile collection was amazing and that was kind of the main collection from them, but that wasn't it. Like, there was so much great stuff. They have this outdoor store that I kind of I'm looping in with them called Terrain that had really, really cool vintage-inspired stuff, outdoor landscaping stuff, just really cool, creative items. They had a tombstone cutting board made of marble, so it truly looked like a real tombstone and it was large. I purchased that.

[00:11:05]Like, I could have honestly done an even bigger shopping spree at these two stores, but I don't have the funds to do that, so I didn't. The list is endless on how much stuff was cool and standout from Anthropology 2025. If they can match that or they can do better, even somehow, this next haunt hunting season, solid. Like, that'd be great. All right, next up is a a bit more of a maybe divisive one. I'd love to know what you guys feel about this place. So, I'm talking about Bath & Body Works. Bath & Body Works is never at the top of my kind of favorite collections to shop.

[00:11:45]Though, I get really excited for them to release their stuff cuz I always just feel they have so much potential with what they could make. I mean, I love their candles. I love their body stuff.

[00:11:55]I love like carrying hand sanitizer with me. So, I just I love the idea that they may have a couple pieces each year that I really like that are accessories to go along with those home and body items.

[00:12:09]And I feel that in 2023, Bath & Body Works had their best collection. I will say 2022 was close, but just barely missed the mark. So, 2023 checked kind of all the boxes that I usually want to see with Bath & Body Works. So, they had some really cool pieces that I did like and I did purchase, but they also had really, really good scents. They had their pumpkin carving. They had leaves, but that's more of a fall scent versus Halloween. And then they had, I believe it's called Midnight Graveyard, which was I don't know if it was new that year or what, but it was a great scent. And if you go online on all these little Halloween Bath & Body forums and stuff, people are dying to get it back. And so am I. I have one small candle of it in my bathroom that I've never burned and I never want to. I might even have a couple soaps, but I loved it. And then the third box that they checked that year was the packaging, which isn't that important, but it is a cherry on top.

[00:13:10]And the packaging of their soaps, of their candles, of everything was so cool. It was like tiled glass, like stained glass tile basically looking.

[00:13:21]And I love the crows. I love the pumpkin ones, the skeleton ones. It was really, really cool. I liked basically everything about it. Still, the collection wasn't perfect. I wish there were more pieces from the actual physical items that I liked or wanted, but it was as close to perfect as I think they've ever been. 2022 was lacking on the packaging design for sure. It wasn't as good, and they also did not have the midnight graveyard scent, I don't believe, but they had a couple good pieces then as well. And 2021 had decent packaging as well and decent pieces. That is when the witch hand was introduced, and then in 2022 they expanded on the witch hand, but I truly just think 2023 was peak. Those 3 years are pretty good, and we haven't really been there since, but 2023 is my favorite for sure. All right, should we turn the clock way back now? I think for my oldest callback, and that is Target.

[00:14:16]So, I really had to dig in the archives for Target. Target, I didn't realize how much I haven't been head over heels with Target's kind of like main Hyde & Eek collection for a lot of different years.

[00:14:31]But, my favorite Hyde & Eek collection, I'll get to Threshold next, but my favorite Hyde & Eek collection at Target was in 2017.

[00:14:41]Almost 10 years ago, next year, 10 years since Target's had their best collection in my opinion. In 2017, Target actually made some like folk-inspired pieces. There were these like felt jack-o'-lantern pumpkin head guys that almost remind me of Over the Garden Wall that were so adorable, but they also had some gothic pieces. There was this like caped skeleton candy holder or candy tray thing. I never owned this, so I don't exactly remember what it looked like. Maybe I didn't even see it that year cuz that's a long time ago. I'm sure I did, but I just I I was looking through all the stuff they've ever and that year, for sure, was like what I wish they would go back to. It's been so long that it's hard to picture them going back to that. I feel like they, like Joann's did, have found their brand identity with Halloween. It's just not good.

[00:15:36]Like I wish it was better. They have really hammered in the cutesy kitty type stuff.

[00:15:43]I will say last year was Last year was a better year, for sure. But, the cutesy kitty stuff, the really jolly like animatronics and pumpkins and whatever, are kind of Target's thing. Like you can recognize it just right away. And I wish they would just give it a shot. At least with like a section of the store. Like I feel like for Christmas, they do a couple different like kind of sections of different styles of Christmas decor.

[00:16:08]I wish they would do that with Halloween. But, they kind of not kind of don't. They don't do that. And I wish they would. I would love to see the return of another like folk stuff. And they do still make like felt pieces. So, like there's a chance, but I would love it to be a little bit more mature, a little more vintage-y, a little more folk. So, 2017 was great for Target's Hyde and Eek. I would love to see that style come back, even if it wasn't exactly duplicated. And then, for I think you can say it with me, like a chant, for Threshold at Target, we're talking about 2020. And that is the John Derian collection at Target. Truly, I can't say it enough. It is one of the best Halloween collections to be in any retail space ever, of all time. Like that is nearly peak Halloween, period.

[00:17:01]Honestly, I mean like last year's Anthro and Terrain are close with that. And Pottery Barn lately has been close with that. But, I that collection is so good.

[00:17:11]It's one of the only collections ever where I feel like I literally wanted to buy every single thing, which is not common. Like, even back when I feel like I had more room for storage and stuff, rarely was there a collection or a section where I wanted everything. But, with that Threshold Halloween Target collection with John Derian, I I wanted everything. And I have a lot of it.

[00:17:35]There's a few things I skipped that I would still love to stumble upon someday, but it is and was so so good.

[00:17:45]So good. All right, we're going to take it a little modern again. Maybe for the next two, actually. I'm talking 2025 again. There are some stores that I feel have hit their peak, and either that is random or it's been happening over time.

[00:17:58]And actually, for these next two, it's been happening over time. The first one is Cracker Barrel. So, Cracker Barrel has been really, really good, I would say, for three or four years now. I basically can't even remember a year where Cracker Barrel let me down. I really like their stuff. They're another place like Bath and Body that's super, super early. And Cracker Barrel with their blow molds, especially, have just been nailing it. I feel like we got the wraith, like the ghost wraith, probably that's like 2020 or 2021. And ever since then, it's just been like this upward trajectory of improvement, building upon their stuff. They've made new iterations of wraiths every year. There's been the witch, there's been the black one, there's been dogs, there's been cats that have all been fan favorites, really cool. But, they also introduced like modern blow molds that are vintage quality, in my opinion. They had witches, jack-o'-lantern stacks. Then, they made skull stacks with crows. Then, they've made more eerie witches and new takes on ones they already had. And then last year, 2025, I feel like they hit their peak. They had two full table displays, which I don't know if they've ever done, but at my store they did, of Halloween. Usually, it's I think just one large display, and they had so many blow molds. Last year, they had four waves come out online that were great. I had bought a blow mold early in the year, the skeleton hiding behind the tombstone, which I love. And then, later in the year came out the haunted house, which is literally one of my favorite blow molds I own, period, even compared to my vintage ones. It is one of my favorites. I love that blow mold so much. I honestly like wish I could have it in my office all year. It's it's quite large, but I love it. Love it. So, I would say Cracker Barrel is continuing on this upward trajectory of just improving and improving and improving every single year. And another store I feel is the same is At Home. So, I feel At Home's 2025 collection was their best that they've ever done. And that is because 2023 had the raven lantern post, which was iconic. Then, next year, 2024, they had the 72-ft reaper, which was iconic, but they brought back the raven lamp post.

[00:20:19]So, both of those were in 2024. And then, last year, in 2025, they had many other really fantastic great items, and they brought those two back. So, it's hard to say '23 or '24 was better because technically we got all of the best things again in 2025. I couldn't pit those items against each other. If they hadn't brought them back, that'd be a really hard decision, but since we had all of them last year, plus more, 2025 was At Home's best ever. And I don't see them, honestly, not even improving again this year. They love to bring back the pieces that we love and add more every year, which is like the magic recipe. I feel like for us Halloweenies. I just love how they do things. I love that they bring back the items that we love.

[00:21:06]That's just, again, exactly how to please your customer base. Okay, and honestly, let's just get done with all the 2025s. So, I have one more that peaked, I feel, last year, and it is for basically the same reasons, and that is Pottery Barn. Now, the only thing that kind of made me a little shaky on Pottery Barn is that they've never brought back the skeleton arm bar cart that I love so much. I do own that.

[00:21:32]That, I believe, was from 2022 or 2023.

[00:21:37]I'm not quite sure. But, the issue with that is whatever year that was from, the rest of the collection was a little bit underwhelming. They had all of the metal skeleton bar items, and like not a ton else. It was otherwise just the stuff we see every single year. Then, I would say 2024, for the first time, especially, they really expanded their Halloween.

[00:22:00]They had a lot of new stuff, really cool new stuff. That was the first year that we had the ghost mirror, so cool. They had all kinds of new items that we'd never, ever seen them have before, which was so much fun to look at. And then, like at home, in 2025, Pottery Barn brought back its amazing item, the mirror, and then added more and expanded on it. So, again, it's hard to say 2024's better if we got the same great items in '25 plus more. So, 2025 is the best Pottery Barn's done. So, if At Home, Anthropologie, Pottery Barn, and Cracker Barrel can continue on their upwards trajectory, they've got it in the bag. That is great. I would love to see it, and I hope they do. All right, let's turn the clock way back again, and let's talk about Michaels. Michaels.

[00:22:49]Michaels, Michaels. So, Michaels is another one that has really been off for a long time, but I know they can do great things because they have, and they did in 2018 and 2019. It was kind of hard for me to figure out what exactly year all the best pieces were from, but I know they were really nailing it in those two years. They had a classic vintage Halloween folk-inspired collection with small vintage-looking blow molds. They had scaredy-cat graphics all over everything. Everything was orange and black. Some stuff was like carnival-inspired like Joanna Parker. Everything had like a vintage charm look to it. Basically, all of it seemed like pieces that you would find like at a thrift store and think it's vintage. Like you could almost fool someone into thinking a lot of these pieces were vintage. Not everything, but a lot of it. I don't know what happened after that. I don't [laughter] know why they just totally changed it up, but like those are some of the most iconic collections of all time in the Halloween shopping world, I feel. Before those two years, it wasn't as good. Again, it was kind of like Joann's earlier years where it just didn't feel like they were really finding their footing. It was kind of random. Like uh like back then anyways, like Halloween shopping and decor looked a lot different than it does now. I feel like you didn't see as much curation and scheming and stuff. It was kind of like, "Oh, here's a skeleton. Here's a little sheet ghost."

[00:24:16]Like it wasn't as like themed and inspired. Basically is the word I'm looking for. But then after 2018-2019, it fizzled. And I feel like we've only sputtered out more and more. I've talked with you guys about this many times, but it just it has never even come close to that. So, I would love to see a return of 2018-2019 era Halloween from Michaels. And last but not least, we have one more store. And I'm sure you guys can guess what store it is. It's another store that we might frequent quite a bit when haunt hunting. And if you're wondering why I left some out, it's because I either just have never went to them enough or I maybe couldn't find enough photos to like refresh my memory. I mainly think you have Walmart.

[00:25:01]Walmart I think peaked around like 2018, I think, between like 2016 and 2018 Walmart peaked. But anyways, I'm talking about HomeGoods. HomeGoods is recent but it's not last year. So I feel that HomeGoods peaked in 2024. There are so many reasons why. 2024 HomeGoods nailed it. In 2024 HomeGoods was my favorite store to shop by far. And though I go to it so much, it usually isn't my number one. There's pieces from it that stand out but it's not usually my number one in general. But in 2024 HomeGoods had the metal spider bench.

[00:25:41]They had the wood spider web bench. They had the cauldron, the cast iron cauldron that you can actually cook in. Those three pieces alone are some of my most prized possessions. It's not even Halloween decoration pieces or spooky pieces, like most prized possessions that I own. I love and use them all all the time. When I bonfire, my seat is my wooden bench, my wooden spider web bench. I have three metal spider benches. We have two in front of our house for like guests or whatever, just like, you know, people who have benches in front of their houses, I don't know. We do sit down when we like are waiting to be picked up by someone or whatever or just like if I'm going to go on a jog, I'll sit up there like before or after sometimes.

[00:26:32]And in the back I have this little like landscaping area with my other spider web bench, which is just a really relaxing little corner by our shed and stuff. And you guys might be wondering why does the rule not apply that applied to Pottery Barn and At Home and stuff of like they took the stuff, kept it and added more. I actually feel HomeGoods last year, I know they brought back at least the spider metal bench and the cauldron, but I feel the cauldron was worse quality last year cuz I did see one and it seemed not as nice as the one that I picked up the year before. I feel that they kind of overdid the bench thing and there were some really, really not attractive benches last year. There was a jack-o'-lantern one that I really just didn't like. They looked not great.

[00:27:18]They looked more like a piece of yard decor versus a usable piece, like a usable everyday piece, like the spider benches. So, I just feel like they kind of put a twist on stuff last year that actually was bad. They kind of like ruined everything a little bit. They They tried to continue on the successful stuff, but they kind of like dropped the ball, in my opinion. So, I think for me, 2024 is peak HomeGoods. I will wrap this up now. I know I've just been babbling, but let's quick just review the timeline of what we want 2026 haunt hunting to look like. I would like Cracker Barrel, Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, and At Home to continue their 2025 collections. That is when I feel they all have reached their best, and that is after improving after multiple years. So, that means that they could possibly improve again this next year. HomeGoods just got to bring back that magic from 2024, have those really stand out crazy, cool, amazing everyday use pieces that are high quality and well-made and nice. Don't ruin them.

[00:28:19]Don't overdo them. Don't lower the quality on them. Joann Fabrics, please just rise from the dead and give us back the collection of 2023. I beg you.

[00:28:28]Somebody like buy out Joann's and please bring them back. Bath & Body Works, I want to see something like 2023. I not only want the good decor, candle holder, soap holder pieces, but I want the good scents to come back or new scents that are really, really good. And then I I the packaging to just look at least somewhat attractive cuz I do feel a little more entice to buy the candles when they're a little prettier, when they're just hideous like emoji covered, I am turned off a bit. Home Depot, I would love to see your return to 2021. I know that's asking too much because I already know they're not like I've seen and we've talked about the stuff that's coming from Home Depot this year and it is some of the worst I've ever seen. So Home Depot, I wish let's just scrap everything you've already shown us and let's back to the drawing boards. Let's just Let's delay the release like by a little bit and let's just try again. 2020 Threshold, let's repeat it. Let's We've had John Darian come back. We've had him work with Target again for Thanksgiving, for Christmas. Let's bring back him for Halloween again. I know you guys still have a relationship. Please, please, please, I would love to see it again.

[00:29:34]2019, 2018 Michaels, I just I have this weird little bit of hope in Michaels this year and I've seen no leaks from them or anything. And I told you guys this also, but like I don't know why. I just feel like this could be the year Michaels does something. Maybe.

[00:29:51]Maybe. And then 2017 for Target's back area Hyde and Eek, just diversify, change it up, try something new. I feel like we've been repeating a lot of stuff and a lot of styles and like quirky looks from Target. Either lean into what last year was with the like 90s inspired stuff or lean back into the like folk inspired stuff. I I honestly don't mind either way. I'd prefer for the folk either way. That is what my perfect haunt hunting 2026 season would look like. Now, if you're wondering what that means and what that looks like for us, don't fret ghouls and ghosties because a week from today, we are going to be going over the haunt hunting 2026 guide, the calendar for when all the stores will have their releases online, in person, what happened, when were things released, when did we find things, everything and anything relating to the hunt hunting season ahead of us.

[00:30:47]I could not be more excited. It is my favorite, and I know you guys are excited, too. I just know it. Like, how could you not be? Talking about the upcoming spooky season, I just can't wait. Anyways, let me know what you think about my perfect 2026 year, and I will see you in a week, ghouls and ghosties, for the shopping guide. Goodbye.

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