Spider-Man wraps up costume contest

Area residents won't need any acute Spidey senses to see all the wall-to-wall web slingers this Halloween.

Spider-Man is the most sought-after costume of the season in Cape Girardeau, several stores say.

"I had a Halloween party this past Saturday, and I had six Spider-Men walking around in my house," said Marsha Medlin, customer service leader at Target. "We're selling beaucoup Spider-Man this year."

Cape Girardeau's Kmart and Wal-Mart employees also named SpiderMan as their top-selling costume. Adult costumes are already sold out at Kmart.

Stores report a swing in customer interests away from scarier costumes and toward heroes and light-hearted themes.

"One thing that is down in sales are the witches and other scary costumes," said Sis Williams, a staff member at Younghouse Distributing. "The Disney-themed costumes are doing really well, and we've sold several Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam costumes this year too."

Medlin has also picked up on the trend away from scary costumes.

"I don't know if it is because of the events of Sept. 11 or not, but everybody has toned down their costumes," Medlin said. "We've been selling super-hero costumes big time. It's more about having fun this year."

Scooby-Doo, another veteran cartoon character featured in a major film this year, is running a close second to Spider-Man in costume sales at Younghouse.

"We sold out of him already, probably because of the movie," Williams said. "Of course, we always have our old standby of Elvis. Everybody wants to be Elvis."