Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Police officers, escaped convicts…and Donald Trump: Aberdeen’s bestselling Halloween outfits

The P&J spoke to the Granite City's fancy dress shops, who told us that Halloween business is booming - thanks to some peculiar outfits.

Trump masks: Popular in Aberdeen. Image: Shutterstock
Trump masks: Popular in Aberdeen. Image: Shutterstock

Police officers and escaped convicts. Throw in Donald Trump, and you have the Halloween costumes flying off the shelves at Aberdeen’s fancy dress shops this year.

This week marks the busiest time of the year for Partymania and The Fun House, both on George Street.

While Scream masks and killer clowns remain popular, there’s a growing trend for non-horror outfits.

Another growing trend is the sheer popularity of spooky season.

We spoke to both businesses to find out more.

The Fun House and Partymania on George Street, Aberdeen. Image: Craig Munro/DC Thomson

Donald Trump: Big in Aberdeen (at least at Halloween)

Graeme Thain runs Partymania.

“We’ve sold a load of ghost masks and Scream masks,” he said. “But people also want to be escaped convicts and killer clowns.

“Anything creepy really, but we’re seeing more and more people simply looking for fancy dress.

“So we’ve sold quite a few police outfits, for example. And ladies seem to like anything with wings.

“Back in the day, people were looking more for Halloween-themed outfits. Whereas now I’d say Halloween has become a national fancy dress day, essentially.”

Probably the most interesting thing to fly off the shelves at Partymania are Donald Trump masks, perhaps as people gear up for his second tilt at the White House next year.

‘I’ll risk doing a John Lennon and say that Halloween is now bigger than Christmas’

Surprisingly, Graeme said Halloween had now surpassed what we all assumed to be the biggest party season of them all.

“I’ll risk doing a John Lennon and say that Halloween is now bigger than Christmas,” he said.

“It’s by far our biggest time of year. We’ve been here 25 years and seen it ramp up year on year.

“It’s led by the States and all things America, really.

“We’re just crazy busy just now.

“You just need to look at all the people putting on Halloween events. Anyone who owns a pub or club, they’re thinking, ‘lets get a Halloween theme, get people in the door.’

“So it’s as hectic as you’d imagine. I’d just advise people still to sort their costume to get here quick, because there’ll be queues by the weekend.”

Scream masks: “An old faithful.” Image: Shutterstock

And owner of The Fun House, Michelle Houghton, said Halloween business was booming.

Her biggest seller this year has been police uniforms, which she said had become increasingly popular in recent years.

Close behind are convicts’ orange boiler suits, angel wings, and Scream masks – “Scream masks are an old faithful.”

Halloween – like Christmas minus the stress

She said: “It’s not just Halloween-themed these days. It’s a real mix. People will come in for a grim reaper costume and then come out with something completely different.

“We’re definitely getting busier at Halloween. It seems to get bigger year-on-year.

“I just think it’s the sort of thing both adults and kids can get into. Adults in particular are really getting into it.

Michelle Houghton runs The Fun House in Aberdeen. Image: Paul Glendell/DC Thomson

“If you compare it with Christmas, there you’ve got the stress and pressure, the turkey to cook, all the presents, the financial side.

“At Halloween, you come in and get your costume, and go out and have a blast.

“It’s just right good fun for everyone to get involved in, even babies. Students will go out, parents will take their kids out, just good vibes all round.”

She added: “We’re really busy but it’ll be madness by Friday-Saturday. We’ve already got folk queueing outside to get in.

“It’s fantastic for us, because without Halloween there wouldn’t be a shop. But more and more come in to stock up at this time of year, they’ll happily queue to get in.

Covid was obviously a difficult time, but things have really picked up since then.”

Conversation