Home Depot’s limited-edition Halloween version of its iconic orange Homer Bucket has prompted a rush of in-store shoppers and viral social media posts as the retail giant moves into the autumn season.
The two-gallon bucket, priced at $2.98 and sold in stores only, features printed jack-o’-lanterns, bats, ghosts, spiders and spiderwebs. Videos on TikTok showing the item have drawn millions of views and sparked a wave of online enthusiasm, with users posting that they wanted the bucket for trick-or-treating, party displays or as novelty "boo" baskets for partners.
"Girlies, run to the Home Depot," one TikTok video with about 1.7 million views advised. Other users wrote in comments that they planned to use the buckets to pass out candy or to display seasonal items, with one person saying, "Adult Halloween buckets!! Yess i need one for my candy while we’re out taking our littles trick or treating, I get candy too." Another wrote, "I need one, idk for what but I need it."
Home Depot executives acknowledged the early interest. "As the season gets closer, we’re not surprised that the new Halloween version of our iconic orange Homer Bucket is gaining popularity with customers across TikTok and other online platforms," Home Depot Merchandising Vice President Chris Waits told USA TODAY.
The Homer Bucket craze is the latest example of how seasonal items can become cultural moments as social media amplifies demand. Home Depot has in recent years become known for large-scale Halloween offerings such as "Skelly," a 12-foot skeleton sculpture that has sold out annually since its 2020 debut. This year, however, shoppers have focused excitement on the comparatively modest Halloween-branded bucket.
The viral attention for small, collectible holiday goods dovetails with a broader market in which homeowners and small business owners are monetizing Halloween demand. In Dallas, a stay-at-home mother turned seasonal decorator said the business she began five years ago has expanded into a busy side enterprise.
Forty-one-year-old Heather Torres told SWNS that she decorates front porches for clients and began taking paid orders after neighbors complimented her own home displays. She said she starts accepting orders in July and charges clients between $325 and $1,350, depending on the scope of the display. Torres described using specialty pumpkins with varied colors and textures, naming examples such as pink porcelain doll pumpkins, gray jaradelle pumpkins, red Cinderella pumpkins and white Cinderella pumpkins to create layered front-porch arrangements.
Torres said demand has grown substantially over the years. "When we started, I was doing two or three porches a day. Yesterday I did 89 porches alone," she told SWNS. The work illustrates how the season can support small, local businesses that specialize in holiday décor and installations.
Retailers and decorators alike have shifted timelines to capture early interest. Some stores introduce Halloween products months in advance to accommodate enthusiasts and contractors who stage homes and events. Home Depot’s Homer Bucket, sold in stores only, appears to have tapped into that early-adopter market this year, driven in part by social posts that portray the bucket as both functional and collectible.
Industry observers note that viral attention can create surges that strain in-store supplies even when the item itself is inexpensive and simple. Social engagement around novelty items also helps shape other parts of the seasonal economy: costume makers, prop sellers and independent decorators who arrange front-yard and porch displays report higher booking rates and sales when a trend gains traction online.
As Halloween approaches, retailers are weighing how to balance product availability with promotional momentum. For shoppers, the viral Homer Bucket is emblematic of a broader appetite for festive, shareable items. For entrepreneurs like Torres, the seasonal surge offers expanding opportunities to turn curated decoration into paid work.
Home Depot’s seasonal merchandising and grassroots decorators appear likely to remain intertwined this fall, with social media acting as the accelerant that sends modest products and local services into wider public view. The company did not disclose how many limited-edition Halloween Homer Buckets it stocked or whether it plans to restock stores, and decorators said bookings remain concentrated in the months leading up to October. Demand for both small seasonal items and full-scale displays is expected to keep retailers and local decorators busy through Halloween weekend.