Home Depot launches 2026 Halloween collection months early online

Home Depot is pushing its 2026 Halloween collection online and on its app July 16, with stores set to follow later in August, as retailers race to capture seasonal spending before summer is over. ABC News’ Sam Champion got an exclusive preview of the lineup, which leans hard on the giant décor that has become a social-media fixture.

The Atlanta-based retailer said the viral 12 FT SKELLY returns with custom sounds, light and servo motor movements, giving the oversized skeleton a technology update as it heads back into yards and front porches. Home Depot also added an 11 FT Giant-Sized Mummy and an 8 FT Perilous Plant Monster to the giant décor lineup, widening the range beyond Skelly and giving the chain more oversized pieces to drive traffic and attention.

The early rollout fits a pattern that has been building across big-box retail. Target, Walmart, Lowe’s, TJ Maxx, Costco and Spirit Halloween have all been part of the move to put Halloween merchandise out earlier, with some items appearing as early as April or around the July Fourth holiday. Home Depot itself already tested that appetite in April with a “Halfway to Halloween” collection, and last year its 2025 Halloween assortment went on sale online on August 4.

The timing reflects more than a taste for out-of-season decorations. Retail analysts have tied the acceleration to consumer demand, social-media buzz around oversized displays like Skelly and retailers’ desire to pull forward seasonal spending in a cautious consumer environment. Tariff pressure has also complicated pricing and inventory planning, making earlier launches a way to lock in sales before costs or uncertainty change the equation.

Halloween remains one of retail’s biggest seasonal bets, with consumer spending estimated at more than $12 billion a year and some 2026 projections reaching about $13.1 billion. That scale helps explain why chains keep inching the calendar forward, turning what was once an October category into a summer marketing fight for attention, traffic and basket size.