Earlier this week, you may have seen a letter circulating online that appeared to be from Spirit Halloween claiming their stores wouldn’t be opening in 2020 due to COVID-19. The letter turned out to be a hoax, but how it came to be is actually rather interesting.
Thought the letter gained momentum and began circulating online this week, it actually originated in an April Fools Day joke by Mark Ralston on his YouTube channel Haunt Former this past April. In the video, which you can watch below, Ralston shares the fake letter which he created as part of his annual April Fools Day prank.
Fast forward to this week, and someone, somewhere captured an image of the letter from the video, shared it online and it went viral. Naturally, folks went into panic mode thinking they wouldn’t be getting their annual dose of Halloween goodness from Spirit. To make matters worse, when asked about it on social media, Spirit Halloween wouldn’t deny the claims of the letter and instead offered the following canned response to literally everybody that asked:
As the letter continued to gain momentum, and without an official response from Spirit Halloween, Ralston took to YouTube to explain how his April Fools Day video had somehow turned into a massive Spirit Halloween hoax.
It would be a total of two days before Spirit Halloween officially responded to the hoax. Meanwhile, an alleged statement from the Halloween store began circulating to debunk the fake letter, but it too appears to have been fake.
Today, Spirit Halloween finally responded to the letter, though indirectly, with the following statement on social media:
We heard you're crushed. Well, don't worry, the rumors aren't true. WE ARE BACK & WE GOT THIS COVERED.
— Spirit Halloween (@SpiritHalloween) June 26, 2020
We are safely preparing the best in-store experience possible & can't wait to welcome you back at our 1,400 locations. Come early & help make this year the #BestHalloweenEver pic.twitter.com/gbxvp54i6M
Whether this is the “spooky surprise,” which was referenced in the canned responses users received earlier in the week when asking about the letter, is still to be determined. The only other post from the Halloween retailer today was an announcement about the return of their Uncle Charlie animatronic.
So, long story short? You can breathe a sigh of relief, Spirit stores will be opening this Halloween season. But let this be a reminder that you can’t believe everything you read on the internet!
