MORE BOO FOR THE BUCKS FREE-SPENDING SPIRITS GIVING RETAILERS A TREAT.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

Halloween isn't looking as scary as predicted, with shoppers spending with ease on their costumes, pumpkins and candy.

Surveys by two major retail trade groups showed the year's second- largest holiday season would be muted, at best. The International Mass Retail Association had the gloomiest news, with a recently released study showing the average consumer would cut Halloween spending nearly in half from last year. But local consumers are bucking the trend, dressing up and decking out with little regard for price.

``When it comes to Halloween, money's no object for me,'' said Brian O'Connor, a North Hollywood auto mechanic and student. ``It's the only time of year people see things my way, one of the only times they have fun.''

He plans on laying out $70 for a skeleton costume, with flaming juggling torches and a handmade mask for flair. This puts him well above the average $35 projected by IMRA and the $44 spent by those studied by the National Retail Federation. But according to Pedro Diaz, assistant manager for the Woodland Hills branch of Halloween Adventure, O'Connor's expenditure's a minor one indeed.

``We opened a few weeks ago and we've already had five people spend over $1,000 on decorations,'' Diaz said. ``I've rarely had someone ask for the least expensive costumer. They want the big supplies.''

Not all shoppers are rushing to transform their homes into haunted castles, however. Alex Krasnoshtein, a recreational therapist from Granada Hills, plans on paying $25 for his daughter's princess outfit. He'd rather hang onto the money for the holiday season, so he's eschewing decorating his house as well.

``I don't want to spend $100 on a costume, this is only once a year,'' he said. ``I've got a big family to buy for, so it's definitely an issue to save for later.''

At Magic World, a costume rental firm in Chatsworth, owner John Tolson hasn't seen business drop off at all. While bad news often causes shoppers to mind their finances at other times of the year, he figures it's actually helping him now. Even as a premium shop, featuring surplus movie costumes and other expensive fare, his sales are right on target.

``People are looking for something to distract their minds from the worries of the world,'' he said. ``They're trying to escape for a night. We have some lower-end costumes, but with the high-quality stuff you can't find anywhere else it doesn't seem to be a problem for people to pull out the plastic.''

They've been pulling it out at the Granada Hills Hows Market, as well. Though assistant manager Casey Lynch would like to see sales pick up a bit on costumes, he's found them to be unexpectedly strong in his candy aisles.

``I'm already worried I'm going to need more candy,'' Lynch said. ``I've had my display up since the first of the month, and I'm running pretty low. And the big push is in the next week, too. Candy corn always does good, the caramel dips are selling, and the fun sizes are flying out.''

Jacqui Cisco, manager of Stu Miller's Seasonal Adventure pumpkin lot in Woodland Hills, still hasn't grown accustomed to the ceaseless spending.

``We've been selling $55 Big Mac pumpkins, where people say: 'What the hay, it's only once a year,''' she said. ``It just blows our minds, the amount of money that gets spent on Halloween.''

With candy sales, costumes and decorations, the NRF estimates Americans will spend a total of $6.9 billion for the holiday. This came as no surprise to Al Guerrero, a sheriff's deputy from Reseda on the hunt for a `'Lord of the Rings'' ring wraith costume for his son.

Talk of a war, he said, shootings in the Beltway and stock market fluctuations won't be so important on Oct. 31.

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Brian O'Connor of North Hollywood looks over some Halloween masks for sale at a Woodland Hills shop on Wednesday. Below, plump pumpkins await Halloween shoppers Wednesday at a lot at Victory Boulevard and De Soto Avenue in Woodland Hills.

(3) A particularly gruesome, and for some, extravagant, mask is on display at a Halloween shop in Woodland Hills.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer