It's almost time for the witches, vampires and ghosts to come out of hibernation.

Halloween is a week away, and one of the scariest parts of Halloween this year may be the amount of money people plan to dish out on costumes, decorations and candy. Many Americans have tightened their belts on holiday spending.

According to the National Retail Federation, shoppers plan to spend an average of $56.31 this year, $10.23 less than last year. The nonprofit foundation conducts research, develops education and work force development programs and promotes retailing as a career destination. The survey found more Americans are either making their costumes or reusing old ones.

Tina Phillips, manager at Record Wear House, 1401 S. Belt Highway, doesn't seem very skittish about this year's sales.

"I think the economy definitely impacts how people spend on Halloween," she said. "I think what you're going to find is that every parent is still going to take their child out for Halloween, but they may say, you know what, we are not going to spend a lot on a costume; either we can dig through the closet and find something that your brother or sister wore last year, or we can afford a few things, but not a lot.

"But it's still not going to keep anybody from celebrating."

Ms. Phillips said the die-hard Halloween fans buy their costumes early, while the majority of shoppers wait until the last minute. She said there's a mixture of consumers who are price-conscious and those who are willing to spend more on a costume.

The retail federation reported that nearly one in three consumers said the state of the U.S. economy will influence how much they spend on Halloween items. The largest majority - 88 percent - plan to spend less overall. The survey indicated that 46 percent will spend less on candy, 35 percent will use last year's decorations without buying new ones, 15 percent are going to reuse last year's costumes, and 26 percent are not participating in as many Halloween activities.

For shoppers who want to spend less, Ms. Phillips said consumers can purchase inexpensive makeup and "turn your face into something scary. You can go and shred old clothes that maybe your parents have that they don't care about. Do your face in black and white and you can go as a ghoul."

One store that sees sales increase during Halloween season is the Salvation Army Thrift Store, 810 N. 22nd St., according to manager Sharon Johnson.

"Halloween is one of our good seasons for shoppers to come in," she said. "Sometimes this is the only place you can find a certain thing.

"You know, if you wanted to be Frankenstein's bride, you sure don't want to pay a big amount of money on a wedding dress, so you can come here looking for one."

Ms. Johnson said the store sees many families looking for already-made costumes for their children, while others like to be creative and design their own.

Sarah Lawson can be reached

at slawson@npgco.com.