(NEXSTAR) – A new analysis from ConsumerAffairs has determined New Hampshire to be the most “Halloween-obsessed” state in the country, based on factors including the number of haunted houses, pumpkin patches and Spirit Halloween locations per capita.
Absolutely no thought, however, was given to the frequency of sultry vampires attempting to abduct and/or turn members of the general populace.
Despite this glaring oversight, the analysis did indeed account for Halloween-related search activities in each state, with an emphasis on searches for decorations, costumes, movies, candies and even pumpkin-spice lattes, according to ConsumerAffairs. The weighted scores from each category were then used to create a final score of 1–10, or a “Terror Tally,” as ConsumerAffairs called it.
“Considering its size, New Hampshire is packed with corn mazes, haunted hayrides, ghost tours and costume stores, and you can find Halloween-related events almost every day in October,” the analysts wrote in the report, adding that New Hampshire has the most Spirit Halloween stores per capita of any state in the country by a significant margin.
Rounding out the top five were: Maine, which has the most pumpkin patches per capita; Utah, which has the most search interest in scary movies; Idaho, which scored fairly high for Halloween-related searches, and West Virginia, where folks showed the most online interest in Halloween music and decorations.
The ConsumerAffairs list of the 10 most and least “festive” states can be found below. A full ranking of all U.S. states can be found on the ConsumerAffairs website.
Most festive
- New Hampshire
- Maine
- Utah
- Idaho
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- Vermont
- Indiana
- South Dakota
- Montana
Least festive
- Washington, D.C.
- New York
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Maryland
- Texas
- Washington
- California
- Mississippi
When focusing on individual categories, several other states were determined to be quite festive this time of year despite not taking the top spot. Kentucky, for instance, has the most haunted attractions per capita, while Vermont is ranked first when it comes to candy searches. Colorado is also the most interested in pumpkin spice lattes, according to the report.
When it comes to sultry vampires, though, ConsumerAffairs remained oddly silent about where they might be throwing their masquerade balls or where curious locals in need of some company might be able to find one on a cold, lonely Halloween night.
Other information, including the methodology and complete metrics, can be found on the ConsumerAffairs website.
