Don't be spooked if you think it's too late to decorate for Halloween. With a little bit of effort and a few dollars, you can scare up some fun decorations in no time, and you won't have to mortgage the broom to do it.

Indoors and outdoors, Halloween decorating has become increasingly popular over the past decade. The National Retail Federation reports that Halloween is second only to Christmas in terms of consumer spending. Even with financial woes at the forefront of their minds, folks are escaping from the everyday stresses of life for a bit of fun by planning Halloween haunts.

"Halloween is a good, fun season," said Jack Wellman, owner of Party America. Sales of Halloween decorations and costumes make up the largest portion of his store's annual sales.

"So far, we seem to be on par," Wellman said. "Halloween is one that you have to look at through the end, though," he added, as there are a lot of last-minute sales. Typically, parents bring their children in to purchase costumes early on, but many adults wait until the last minute to purchase costumes and decorations.

Wellman said he expects more people may be planning Halloween parties since the holiday falls on a Friday this year.

"A lot of people are decorating their homes with props and scene-setters," Wellman said. Props include foam tombstones, hanging plastic chains, foam pumpkins, skeletons and monsters.

Scene-setters are rolls of vinyl that depict a particular scene, used to create a backdrop on walls in garages and homes. Costs vary from $2.99 to $19.99 for a roll in a theme such as a graveyard or spider's lair. Tack up a scene-setter in the garage, add some props such as fake tombstones and hanging spiders, and you have created a party place. Add a fog machine (under $25), some spooky sounds on CD and the scene is set. Switch out light bulbs to red or orange to further darken the scene and change the mood.

Sue Benson at Jolly Lane Greenhouse has a cauldron full of ideas for Halloween decorating.

"We have corn stalks and straw bales, pumpkins in different sizes, squash that are kind of animal-looking, some warty and kind of creepy looking," she said.

Turkish turban squash, some bright orange and some striped, and ornamental Indian corn are other items Benson mentions when talking about decorating ideas that make Halloween more festive and that will stretch on through Thanksgiving.

"I use squash for decorating indoors or outside," Benson said. "They will last indoors. If it gets too cold outside, you will want to cover them up."

Bring jack-o-lanterns and uncarved pumpkins and squash inside if there is frost in the forecast. Benson said pumpkins and gourds won't withstand a hard freeze, even if they appear fine.

"They won't show signs right away, but when you go to move them, they turn to mush," she said.

As for jack-o-lanterns, "I wouldn't carve it but a couple of days beforehand," Benson said. Besides the fact that the jack-o-lantern will begin to dry out and cave in (which can be all the more creepy!) it will attract fruit flies.

For $5 to $7, you can get a bale of straw or a corn shock (a bunch of dried corn stalks, gathered together and bound with twine). Thrifty folks can stretch this expense throughout the fall and winter, according to Benson.

"You can use it in dog houses, mulch over your plants, use it in your mangers," she said.

Benson said Halloween shoppers haven't been frightened away from shopping this year, and she thinks it is because decorating can be simple, fun and inexpensive. "They need a pick-me-up."

Contact Marinell Scott Thornburg at 394-8280 or marinell.thornburg@rapidcityjournal.com.