Spirit Halloween returns to Uptown in former Forever 21 location

’Tis the season for ghosts, costumes and animatronic creatures that jump out at you when you least expect it.

While most Victorians are still basking in the summer sun, Spirit Halloween is already preparing for the scary season.

The seasonal retailer opened its Victoria location in early August, returning to Uptown after several years away. This year, Spirit Halloween has taken over the former Forever 21 store along the boulevard.

Spirit Halloween has previously operated at Uptown, but its Victoria pop-up has spent the past several years at Tillicum Centre. It was housed in the former Bed Bath & Beyond location for a time before moving into the former Mr. Pets store last year.

The company is well known for appearing inside vacant retail spaces seemingly overnight, a tradition that has inspired countless jokes and memes online. A business closes its doors and, before long, Spirit Halloween arrives with costumes, decorations and towering animatronic monsters in tow.

While they are only using one level of location, the Uptown storefront gives the retailer plenty of space to showcase its familiar collection of Halloween costumes, masks, decorations, props and other frightening merchandise.

 

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Spirit Halloween currently has two Vancouver Island locations listed for the 2026 season, including the new Uptown store in Victoria and another location in Nanaimo.

Halloween may still be more than two months away, but for those who start planning their costumes before summer is over, eerie season has officially begun.