Spirit Halloween may have packed up its rubber masks and animatronic nightmares for another year, but somebody has moved into the abandoned storefronts. Tubi is taking over the seasonal retailer’s vacant zombie stores with a new batch of banners declaring “Terror on Tubi.” Because even an empty retail space isn’t safe from horror.
The streaming service shared photos of the takeover on its official X account, showing the familiar former Spirit Halloween locations covered with large orange Tubi banners. The message printed across them is simple: “Terror on Tubi.” Tubi also included the wonderfully appropriate tagline, “Where Horror Feels Like Home.” These banners are done in a parody of Spirit Halloween’s iconic logo, so it definitely makes you look twice. There’s not even a smidge of Turple on there (dude, listen, that is the official name of the purple color Tubi uses, they did a whole press conference about it).
It’s a pretty clever way to play with one of the internet’s favorite annual traditions. Spirit Halloween has become famous for moving into vacant storefronts every summer, transforming former department stores and other empty retail spaces into Halloween headquarters. Then, almost as quickly as they appear, the stores disappear after October 31, leaving behind another collection of empty buildings and plenty of jokes about what will move in next.
Tubi is getting in on that post-Halloween moment by giving those locations another horror-themed identity. The company has also published a new article announcing that Halloween may be over, but its Terror on Tubi collection is just getting started. The streaming service’s dedicated horror hub offers a year-round selection of genre movies, including classics, slashers, supernatural thrillers, and Tubi Originals like my favorites Psycho Side Chick and One Night Stand. So while the neighborhood Halloween store might be gone, there’s still plenty of creepy stuff waiting for anyone who isn’t quite ready to put away the nightmares.
Tubi isn’t the only operation looking at those empty Spirit Halloween storefronts and seeing an opportunity. Some of them are about to get a much more festive makeover.
Spirit Christmas is expanding again for the 2026 holiday season, with 44 planned locations across 15 states. According to Retail Dive, 39 of those stores are being converted from Spirit Halloween locations. The Christmas offshoot is entering its third season after launching as a smaller experiment in 2024 and expanding to 30 stores last year. This year’s locations will sell holiday decorations, apparel, ornaments, inflatables, animatronics, games, and other seasonal merchandise. And, oh, yes, that iconic Freddy Fazbear animatronic will be making a return as well.
That means some former Spirit Halloween stores are trading their creepy costumes for Christmas cheer, while Tubi is using the same familiar retail phenomenon to remind horror fans that their favorite season doesn’t have to end. One storefront gets Santa, another gets a giant banner advertising free horror movies. The holiday retail cycle moves pretty quickly.
If you’re still mourning the disappearance of your local Spirit Halloween, Tubi would like you to know that the scares are sticking around. And if a Spirit Christmas opens in that same building, well, at least the animatronics will still be there.
