Halloween Outdoor Decor 2026: What Brits Are Searching For, and Where

An Artificial Grass Direct report on the trends, towns and habits behind Britain’s Halloween gardens

Every autumn, front gardens, doorways and driveways turn into stage sets for fright night. We analysed Google search data to see what people are buying into this year, which decorations are rising and falling, and which UK towns and cities showed the most interest in outdoor Halloween decor last year. This page collects the full findings, charts and methodology behind our two press releases.

The headlines

• Outdoor decor searches are up 49%. Searches for “Halloween outdoor decor” reached 14,800 in September 2026, up from 9,900 a year earlier. That is already more than half of last October’s peak of 27,100.
• Bigger is better. Searches for large outdoor decorations are up around 50% year on year.
• Lights lead by volume. Lighting is the biggest category and is up 18% overall, with outdoor projections up 30% and solar lights up 22%.
• Spiders are the last-minute buy. Spiders and webs are the fastest-growing major theme (+24%), and October searches were nearly eight times higher than September.
• Ideas, DIY and “cheap” are falling. Searches for these terms are down 23% to 33%.
• Northampton tops the city ranking with 8,731 searches per 100,000 residents, followed by Warrington, Swansea, Bolton and Plymouth.
• The North West is the region to watch. It is the only region with three cities in the top ten.

What are Brits searching for?

Lights and inflatables dominate. At last October’s peak, lighting-related outdoor decor terms had a combined 119,500 monthly searches and inflatables 63,300, well ahead of pumpkins at 42,700. The table below shows each major theme’s peak volume, how September searches changed this year, and how sharply interest jumps between September and October.

Theme totals combine keyword groups with at least 100 monthly searches in any month analysed. Themes overlap (a pumpkin light counts as both a pumpkin and a lighting term), so they should not be added together. Headline figures refer to individual search terms, so they can differ from the theme totals here.

What is rising

The clearest trend is scale. Searches for large and big outdoor decorations, including outdoor inflatables and blow-ups, rose around 50%. Inflatable Halloween decorations rose 24% and “Halloween inflatables” climbed 22% to 6,600 a month.

Lighting is the second story. Outdoor Halloween lights rose 22% (3,600 to 4,400) and solar Halloween lights rose 22% (720 to 880). Outdoor projections, which turn the front of a house into a moving light show, rose 30% (1,000 to 1,300). Light-up glass pumpkins (+51%) and light-up ghosts (+50%) were among the fastest risers.

A handful of terms starting from smaller volumes are worth watching, though their percentages are more volatile: graveyard decorations (+85%, from 260 to 480), spider-themed inflatables (almost +90%, from 170 to 320) and Halloween stake lights (+88%, from 170 to 320).

What is falling

While big-ticket decor climbs, inspiration and budget searches are shrinking. Searches for outdoor Halloween decoration ideas fell 33% (2,400 to 1,600), Halloween garden ideas fell 32% (1,300 to 880), “cheap” outdoor decorations fell 33% (480 to 320) and DIY outdoor decorations fell 23% (1,300 to 1,000). Skeleton and skull themes fell by around a third in combined volume, from a smaller base.

One reading is that people are searching less for ideas and more for ready-made, statement pieces. Another is that inspiration searching is moving to social media or AI tools rather than disappearing. Search data alone cannot tell the two apart, but the direction is consistent across several different terms.

Spiders, pumpkins and graveyards in detail

Spiders and webs are the fastest-growing of the big themes, up 24%, and the most last-minute. October searches for spider and web decor were nearly eight times September’s, compared with around 2.6 times for lights. People appear to treat them as a late addition once the main display is in place.

Pumpkins remain a staple: the third-biggest theme by volume, but broadly flat (+1%). Within the category, demand is shifting. Light-up glass pumpkins rose 51%, while the broader “light up pumpkin” term fell 17%.

Graveyards are flat overall, but the picture underneath is mixed: graveyard decorations are up 85% while “yard tombstones” fell 19% and “grave yard” fell 33%. Interest looks to be fragmenting across different phrasings rather than growing or shrinking as a whole.

Ghosts rose 18% overall, led by light-up ghosts (+50%).

Which cities are most into Halloween outdoor decor?

To see where interest was strongest, we analysed Google searches for outdoor Halloween decor in September and October 2025 across UK towns and cities, and adjusted for population to give searches per 100,000 residents. The ranking covers the 42 places with populations of 150,000 or more.

Northampton leads by a clear margin, recording 21,260 combined searches across the two months. Warrington and Swansea follow, with Bolton and Plymouth completing the top five. There is a clear gap between the top three and the rest.

Population adjustment changes the picture. Liverpool has the largest search volume of any city in the top ten (23,370), but ranks ninth per resident. Glasgow (33,900), Birmingham (27,280) and London (102,800) record far more searches in total, but rank 19th, 30th and 37th per resident.

A regional picture

The North West is the only region with three cities in the top ten (Warrington, Bolton and Liverpool), and has the highest regional median at 5,221 searches per 100,000 residents. Wales (4,780, from Swansea and Cardiff) and the South West (3,890, led by Plymouth and Swindon) follow.

The south is quieter. London has the lowest score of any region at 1,171, and the South East’s seven cities have a median of 1,772. Across the north of England, the median city scores 4,460 per 100,000 residents, compared with 2,588 across the south of England including London.

The East Midlands is a region of extremes: Northampton is first, but Nottingham and Leicester are among the lowest-ranked places in the country (41st and 42nd).

The data cannot explain these differences. Possible factors include housing types and the number of homes with front gardens, local Halloween traditions and how many households are online searching. Regional medians are also based on between one and seven cities each, so treat them as indicative.

What this means for your own display

• Think big. Interest in large decorations and inflatables is rising, and most places see search activity at least double between September and October.
• Light the route. Solar lights, stake lights and projections are all growing, and they are what trick-or-treaters see first from the street.
• Save the spiders and webs for the end. They are the most last-minute category, so they suit a final touch once the main display is up.

Full ranking: all 42 places with 150,000+ residents

Methodology and limitations

• Source: Google Ads Keyword Planner search volume estimates for Halloween outdoor decor-related keywords. City analysis covers September and October 2025. Trend analysis compares September 2025, October 2025 and September 2026.
• City ranking: combined September and October 2025 estimated searches for each location divided by its population, multiplied by 100,000.
• Why 150,000 or more: per-resident figures for smaller towns can be inflated when Google’s location area covers a wider catchment than the town itself, which makes comparison with large cities unfair. The ranking therefore covers the 42 places with 150,000 or more residents.
• Estimates: Keyword Planner volumes are rounded estimates, and Google’s location areas do not always match official boundaries.
• Trends: headline year-on-year figures use terms with at least 300 searches in September 2025. Percentage changes on smaller volumes are more volatile and are flagged where used.
• What the data does not show: search interest is not the same as the number of homes decorated, trick-or-treating footfall or confirmed plans for Halloween 2026.
• October 2026: full-month data was not available when this report was compiled.