Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and Saturday hours are short... Crystal Ball shuts at noon, 123 Plus at 3:30pm, The Lolly Shop at 4pm. The smart run happens in the week. Hours for every stop are below.
Mission 1The Costume
123 Plus
Start here. 123 Plus has costumes on the shelf at bargain prices, surrounded by the rest of the variety-store universe... flags, souvenirs, school supplies and the things you didn't know you needed. If the brief is "something by Saturday, under budget", this is door number one.
But here's the secret... the best costumes on the street aren't in a packet. They're $4 on a SaveMart rack waiting for scissors and imagination. A thrifted blazer becomes a vampire. An old bridesmaid dress becomes a ghost bride. A bedsheet becomes, well, a classic. The full op-shop circuit has the route... here's the raw-materials shortlist.
Then the pro move: get it fitted. Hem the cape, take in the waistcoat, shorten the robe so the wizard doesn't trip on the front step... walk-in tailors exist, and the WestSide has two of them.
Mission 2The Face
Spotlight Hastings
Spotlight runs a Halloween range at this time of year... face paint kits, special-effects make-up and costumes. And because it's the craft warehouse on Avenue Road, the felt, fabric and trims for a homemade costume are a few aisles over. Skeleton, witch or zombie, the whole face is one stop.
COSMIC
For the hair: COSMIC stocks wild hair dye, the colour that turns a costume into a commitment. It's a specialist vape store first, so it's R18 at the door... this one's a grown-up errand.
Mission 3The Lollies
The Lolly Shop
The anchor. Bulk confectionery, gluten-free options for the kid down the road with the allergy, and open seven days. Buy more than you think... the maths of a good street is brutal.
Two backups. A big glass jar from Q Variety turns a bag of lollies into a cauldron at the door. And if you run dry on the night itself, Heretaunga Convenience Store on the 300 block is open seven days with confectionery on the shelf.
Mission 4The Decorations
Q Variety Store
Q Variety is a variety and scrapbooking store full of craft supplies, odds and ends, and things you didn't know you needed until you saw them... which is exactly what a homemade haunted house is built from. Card stock becomes a colony of bats. Jars become specimen jars. Go in for one thing and leave with a plan. It faces Spotlight across Avenue Road, the pair our Craft Quarter guide calls the warehouse and the treasure hunt.
Backup bargains: 123 Plus on the 200 block for cheap variety, and The Dollar Warehouse at 329 for novelties at prices that won't hurt. Spotlight's seasonal range runs to decorations too.
Mission 5The Properly Spooky Stuff
Crystal Ball
Crystals, tarot decks, incense and a reader with 43 years of experience... the one shop on the strip where Halloween is just October. If your night leans more candlelight than plastic pumpkin, this is where the atmosphere lives. Bring curiosity, browse with respect, and leave with incense for the doorstep. It opens early and shuts at noon on Saturday, so make it a weekday mission.
Mission 6The Night Itself
Hobby Lords
Not every kid wants to knock on doors, and not every parent wants to walk the block. Hobby Lords is the trick-or-treat alternative: board games, role-playing and tabletop... ask the crew for something with a spooky streak. It's open till 9:30pm Thursday and Friday, so the Friday before Halloween is a ready-made game night.
Dinner sorted with zero cooking: the takeaways guide has the whole strip, late list included. And once the costumes are off, the parents' debrief is Zabeels on King Street, pouring till 2am, or pizza and pool at Cru Bar on the corner of King and Eastbourne.
- Do the op shops early... the racks strip bare by the final week
- Lollies last, so they survive until the 31st
- Park once... the 200 block, Avenue Road and Queen Street are all a short walk apart
- Check who's open before you make Labour Day weekend plans
- Costumes needing alterations in by the weekend before... that's Labour Day weekend, 24–26 October
Hours, stock and prices can change without notice. This guide reflects published information at the time of writing. Phone ahead for the freshest intel.
One street, one afternoon, fully haunted. The doorbell's ready. Are you?