Code Orange: Halloween Has Officially Invaded Lubbock, Texas

I am both thrilled and a bit scared: Halloween is just around the corner.

After an amazing lunch at Portillo’s, we decided to walk it off a bit at the store awkwardly named At Home in Lubbock. I happened to have a friend who worked there, so I kind of know the inside skinny on how they operate. That’s why I said, “Let’s go see if they have Halloween stuff.”

You see, in terms of holidays people really decorate for, there’s not much to mention between the 4th of July and Halloween. Sure, there’s Labor Day, but it seems like the leftover red, white, and blue stuff from Independence Day is good enough for that.

What this means is that stores like At Home generally flip right from the 4th of July to Halloween. This also means sometimes the spooky stuff arrives early and they get a head start.

We were bummed when we didn’t see anything in the usual aisles. We then went to the back to look at carpets (trust me, that wasn’t my idea) and started to walk dejectedly toward the front of the store.

Lo and behold, I saw a guy unloading boxes that had orange jack-o’-lanterns on them. I couldn’t see what he was taking out, so I said, “Wait, what do those pumpkins mean?”

He simply answered, “Halloween.”

He then pointed out a small display he was working on and let us know that they also had some of the larger items over in the patio section.

We were stoked. We were treated to skulls, pillows, and other tabletop-sized Halloween items. This giddiness propelled us through the store, where we saw the most beautiful Cerberus and gargoyle statues. We also spotted a nice-sized skeleton groundbreaker and some other front lawn stuff.

It is such a joyful sight to see Halloween celebrated so fully in Lubbock, Texas. I’ve been around here long enough to know that at one time, only the creepy people down the street dared put a paper skeleton on the door. Now, we have people who are as head over heels for the holiday as I am.

If you’re reading this on the date it was published, June 17th, we are 136 days from Halloween, but we all know it really gets underway about the time the South Plains Fair ends in September.

Until then, we’ll take every little pumpkin, skeleton, and monster we can get our hands on.

Read More: Why Portillo's In Lubbock Is A Must-Try For Hot Dog Lovers

Happy Halloween, boys and ghouls. Go get you some spooky stuff!