Earlier this year, we looked at the rise of Summerween and how spooky season is starting earlier each year. Now, in continuation of the theme, we’re looking at how a big chunk of Halloween split off from the rest, and spooky season became cozy and comforting.

There have been over 2.2 million mentions of "cozy Halloween" across social media since last September. It's also diversifying across more social platforms and into far more specific formats and rituals than it was a year ago.

What is the cozy Halloween conversation actually about?

To get to the bottom of what cozy Halloween is, we looked at data across social platforms from August until mid-October this year.

People mostly want to be cozy at home, and this is reflected in the data, with decor/the home being the most-mentioned topics. Then comes retail, which in this case we have classified as the act of buying and selling anything. Fashion comes in third, followed by books, food/baking, and film & TV, all of which have a similar SOV.

Socializing, which covers everything from sleepovers to book clubs to date nights, is at 12%. And ‘horror’ itself only turns up in 15% of posts, which tells you a lot about how the mood has shifted.

What people post about the most isn't what gets the most attention, though. Film and TV account for a fifth of the posts and two-fifths of all engagement, the widest gap in our data. And when we analyze what people actually comment on rather than just watch, books and coloring come out on top.

On TikTok, retail, fashion, and socializing posts get watched, but the typical one gets no comments. And in strange news, adult coloring is staging a comeback. It’s now one of the fastest-growing categories in our search, mostly thanks to a very female community built around Cocowyo books and Ohuhu markers.

Who's selling cozy Halloween, and how?

Retail is a big chunk of this conversation, and it's mostly small sellers. Sellers' own sites and link-in-bio shops are named in more posts than anywhere else, ahead of both TikTok Shop and Etsy.

The big US chains (Target, Walmart and HomeGoods) all show up here, but no one brand dominates. In the UK, it's the value chains instead: Home Bargains, B&M, Primark and TK Maxx.

The most talked-about product is the Halloween tee, followed by blankets, food, boo baskets, coloring books and candles. Almost everything in this category is affordable and feels like a ‘little treat’.

If you’re someone who works in retail, it’s time to pay attention, as we have some stats for you. 

August belongs to TikTok Shop. It's named in 14% of August's selling posts, many of them carrying TikTok Shop's own campaign tags, and hauls and "TikTok made me buy it" posts are at their peak. By October, TikTok Shop has halved to 7%, and sellers' own sites and link-in-bio shops have taken over (up from 17% to 30% of selling posts). The products follow suit. Tees drop from 18% of selling posts to 10%, while food, coloring, candles, and books all climb. People buy the things they'll wear for spooky season in August, but they buy the things they'll use up in October.

And then there are boo baskets

For the uninitiated, a boo basket is a Halloween-themed gift basket (think Easter basket, but autumnal). It grew out of the American "you've been booed" tradition of leaving treats on a neighbor's doorstep, though these days it's morphed into buying presents for friends, partners, and kids.

Also, they are huge on social. There were nearly a million mentions of boo baskets across all platforms over the past year, and Exolyt shows around 62,000 new #boobasket videos and 683 million views in the last two months alone. Boo basket season starts in August and peaks in early October, a few weeks before Halloween itself.

Daily TikTok views for #boobasket, 24 July to 22 October 2026. Source: Exolyt.

Looking at our data, we can see that a typical basket is composed of: something to eat, fuzzy socks or slippers, a mug, a candle, a blanket, a book, and something soft to hold (Warmies, the microwavable plushies, are the unofficial official filler). The color story is pinks, lavenders, and browns. Classic black and orange barely appears; this is very much spoopy and not spooky.

The ‘hint post’ "The person that sent you this wants a boo basket" (and its many cousins) accounts for 5% of the content and nearly a quarter of the engagement, making a lot of boo basket content a very public nudge.

Below you’ll see Exolyt’s hashtag overlap data for #boobasket. 

The most interesting thing we found in the basket was the rise of squishies. Squishies are the seventh most connected tag, particularly dumpling squishies. This is being driven largely by Needoh, a brand that makes relaxation/fidget relief squishy dumplings and has a Halloween range. 

When we couple the squishies intel with the adult coloring and blankets conversation, we can surmise that a significant chunk of cozy Halloween is really all about stress relief.

There's a mum-and-toddler cluster within boo boxes too (#MomsOfTikTok, #toddlerboobasket); boyfriends are heavily involved (#boyfriend turns up more than four times as often as #girlfriend). Finally, the Boo basket isn't just a US phenomenon either; the tag appears across the UK and most of Europe.

What can brands learn from this?

The big phrases and tags just don't cut it anymore. Posts in this conversation are using fewer ‘big’ hashtags than they did a year ago, and "cozy Halloween" now works more as a phrase people search and save under than a tag people post with.

Track what people are buying and what they are doing instead. The growth is happening in the specifics, like boo baskets, squishies, Warmies, coloring, toddler baskets. Hashtag overlap is the quickest and easiest way to find them, because it shows you what your category is actually sitting next to directly from the people making the content.

Start before Summer. We build the moodboards and wishlists over the summer, and TikTok Shop is most visible in August, before most brands launch any Halloween-related content.

And make sure your copy stays soft. This is a conversation with almost no negativity, where the scariest thing in most posts is a ghost wearing a bow.

Happy (cozy) Halloween, pals!

This is a guest article compiled by Kim Townend, an award-winning social strategist and social listening consultant with 20 years of social-specific experience. She's worked with brands, broadcasters, and governments worldwide and is an expert in turning data into insights and insights into strategy. Find her at her website: https://kimtownend.com/ or LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimtownend/