Halloween has become a serious holiday for grown-ups, although apparently not serious enough to require getting off the couch.
A new national survey from Ferrero North America, released October 12 from Parsippany, New Jersey, finds that 58% of American adults believe Halloween should become a national holiday. Seventy percent say the celebration belongs equally to children and adults, up from 62% in 2025.
Yet the same research reveals an interesting contradiction. Despite growing enthusiasm for Halloween, 62% of adults say their ideal celebration involves staying home rather than going out.
After years of elaborate costumes, themed parties and increasingly ambitious decorations, the preferred Halloween experience for many adults may simply be candy, a comfortable couch and something spooky on television.
Adults have claimed Halloween for themselves
Ferrero’s third annual Halloween survey suggests the holiday has moved well beyond its traditional association with childhood trick-or-treating.
For the first time in the company’s survey series, a majority of American adults, 53%, identified Halloween as a favorite holiday, up from 47% last year. Among parents, 81% agreed that Halloween is as much for adults as children.
Younger adults are particularly enthusiastic. Among Gen Z respondents, 78% supported making Halloween a national holiday, while 69% said they celebrate over multiple days. Approximately one-third reported having called in sick the day after Halloween.
The enthusiasm reflects how Halloween has developed into an extended season of entertainment, decorating, seasonal food and shared traditions. For many adults, October is no longer merely a countdown to one evening of handing out candy. But increased enthusiasm does not necessarily translate into a desire for larger celebrations.
The Halloween night in
According to Ferrero, 37% of respondents were interested in a cozy night at home with candy and binge-watching, compared with 23% who favored an adults-only party.
Watching horror movies or television shows was among the most popular Halloween activities, selected by 40% of respondents, just behind decorating the house at 43%.
There is something appealing about the idea that adults have spent years reclaiming Halloween from childhood, only to discover that they would rather celebrate it in their living rooms. But the preference makes sense when viewed alongside the broader appeal of seasonal traditions.
A familiar movie, a favorite candy and a decorated home offer much of the atmosphere of Halloween without requiring elaborate plans. The celebration becomes something people can enjoy on their own terms rather than another obligation on an already crowded calendar.
Nostalgia may be the real attraction
Ferrero’s research found that 69% of Americans associate Halloween with nostalgia, rising to 77% among Millennials and 80% among parents.
Those numbers may help explain why Halloween has become so appealing to adults. For many people, the holiday carries memories of costumes, neighborhood traditions, school parties, favorite television specials and the peculiar excitement of a night when ordinary rules felt temporarily suspended.
Returning to those experiences as an adult does not necessarily mean trying to recreate childhood exactly. It may simply mean preserving the parts that still feel enjoyable.
The survey found that 73% of adults purchase Halloween candy even when they do not expect trick-or-treaters. Another 75% described the holiday as an opportunity to enjoy candy without guilt. It’s a holiday built around small pleasures, and adults increasingly seem comfortable admitting that those pleasures belong to them, too.
A holiday without the obligations?
Perhaps the most interesting implication of the research is what Americans may actually mean when they say Halloween deserves national-holiday status.
The survey measures support for that designation, not the specific reasons behind it. It does not establish whether respondents want time off from work, greater cultural recognition or simply a more official place for Halloween on the calendar.
Still, the combination of strong support for national recognition and a preference for staying home raises an intriguing possibility. Adults may not be asking for a more elaborate Halloween. They may be asking for more room to enjoy the one they already have.
Unlike some major holidays, Halloween carries relatively few expectations about travel, formal meals or complicated family arrangements. People can participate through costumes, decorations, movies, candy or simply enjoying the atmosphere. That flexibility may be part of its growing appeal.
Halloween grows up without losing its childhood appeal
The findings come from a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted online August 11–21, 2026, by Golin Ketchum and Savanta on Ferrero’s behalf. The company also surveyed adults in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.
As a major candy manufacturer, Ferrero has an obvious commercial interest in Halloween’s popularity. Nevertheless, the results offer a revealing glimpse of how adults describe their relationship with the holiday.
Halloween’s growing appeal may have less to do with extravagant parties or elaborate costumes than with its unusual permission to enjoy things people loved when they were younger.
Adults have reclaimed Halloween, but they haven’t necessarily reinvented it. They’ve found a way to keep the candy, the movies and the nostalgia while deciding for themselves how much effort the celebration requires.
And if Halloween ever does become a national holiday, a considerable number of Americans already seem to know exactly where they’ll spend it. At home.
Source & methodology
Ferrero North America, “Annual Ferrero Halloween Survey Finds More Than Half of American Adults Say Halloween Should Be a National Holiday,” October 12, 2026. U.S. online survey of 1,000 adults, August 11–21, 2026; reported margin of error ±3 percentage points at 95% confidence. Survey conducted by Golin Ketchum in partnership with Savanta. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/annual-ferrero-halloween-survey-finds-more-than-half-of-american-adults-say-halloween-should-be-a-national-holiday-302903607.html
Ferrero North America, “Annual Ferrero Halloween Survey Finds More Than Half of American Adults Say Halloween Should Be a National Holiday,” October 12, 2026. U.S. online survey of 1,000 adults, August 11–21, 2026; reported margin of error ±3 percentage points at 95% confidence. Survey conducted by Golin Ketchum in partnership with Savanta. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/annual-ferrero-halloween-survey-finds-more-than-half-of-american-adults-say-halloween-should-be-a-national-holiday-302903607.html