NEW VIRUS VICTIM: HALLOWEEN

Already dressed up with masks for Halloween and everyday life looking like a trip to the Mad House, with Al Hallow’s Eve just nine weeks away, still fearful of the COVID Goblin, planned events are being canceled.

Universal Studios Hollywood’s annual Halloween Horror Nights, which runs from mid-September past Halloween night, priced tickets last year from $67 and $102. This year’s even has been canceled.

The Queen Mary cruise ship, now a floating luxury hotel docked at Long Beach, has deep-sixed its yearly Dark Harbor event, which fetched $34 a ticket last year.

The Oogie Boogie Bash, which the Disney California Adventure Park has put up every Halloween, also has been scrapped for this year. In 2019, the 20-night event charged $100 to $145 for a ticket. With state guidelines for events still unclear, there is no longer enough time to plan the bash, the company said.

The Hershey Co., which collects about 10 percent of its annual revenue from Halloween candy sales, will promote “treats for me,” hoping families will buy goodies for themselves even if they expect no children to come to their door.

Halloween falls second only to Christmas in consumers’ holiday spending and reached $8.8 billion in 2019. This year, however, manufacturers and retailers are expecting a scary sales season.

Americans would have spent $2.6 billion on candy, $3.2 billion on costumes, and $390 million on greeting cards this Halloween, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

TREND FORECAST: Just as sports, theme parks, wedding, fairs, conventions, trade shows, music/entertainment events, graduation parties etc., have been cancelled across the nation and around the world, the lost income will not be recovered, and those who depend on them for employment will deeply suffer financially.