Halloween decor you can use on your layout: Menards

Fall is on the way, and the Halloween decor is starting to appear on store shelves. I'm going to visit a number of stores and scour their shelves for Halloween items you can use on your layouts! No matter what your budget or if it's a permanent or temporary display, I'll likely find something you can use.

First, some background. My husband Jim loves Halloween. In fact, our 3-rail layout in the basement is Halloween themed (it was featured in the pages of CTT back in 2002). We put out a lot of Halloween decor both inside and out, so once the back-to-school items are off the store shelves, you can find us looking for spooky stuff.

My first stop is the regional chain hardware store, Menards. Yes, the same Menards that sells toy-train products. I realize that not everyone has access to a physical Menards store, but they do have an online store and the Halloween items are listed there. In fact, there are some buildings that weren't in my local store, so you may want visit the website first. They do offer free ship-to-store if you order online.

Nearly all of the items are Lemax branded under the "Spooky Town" name. The good news is that most are very affordable. Figures cost just a few bucks while the largest building costs around $100. If you wait for sales or an 11% off sale, you'll save even more. Keep in mind that none of these items are exact "scale" models. The figures are generally larger than O gauge (though with a Frankenstein or mummy figure I give a lot of leeway). Most of the structures are near to O gauge size. 

If Halloween isn't your thing but you'd like to add a little fall color, Menards sells maple trees for about $4 each that have red leaves. I'd spray the trunks with some Testers Dull-cote myself, but for the price they're a steal. If you have a cemetery, there's a crypt building that appears to be just a stone structure. The guy pushing a wheelbarrow with Venus fly traps could be a humor piece left out year round too.

Check out all of the photos and captions. Click on any to enlarge. And yes, I came home with a piece myself--the Batty About Pumpkins tree. 

How about a load of Venus fly traps? You could likely leave this figure out year round for a little humor.

This horse and wagon is oversized, but it's something I hadn't seen before.

Buy some inexpensive fall maple trees (left) or get creepy with the tree on the right.

The fall camper is a fun piece, and so is the water tower. I only wish the water tower lit up, but it doesn't.

Menards has a great selection of Halloween figures. They're all oversized, but really, who knows how big a witch or mummy is anyway?

There are some great village pieces. The witches' house in the right rear has fun movement of witches circling on their brooms.

This structure has some great lighting effects.

A pumpkin-themed camper.

Now who would TP a dog's house?

A tree with a skeleton couple walking their dog.

Any dog lovers out there? This dog store may be just for you!

This crypt structure could be something that resides on your layout year round, especially if you have a cemetery.

I came home with this tree. It's called the Batty for Pumpkins Tree.

While the cat is obviously too large, I liked the details near the base.

What goes nicely with a Halloween-themed tree? Why a Dots boxcar, of course!

Stay tuned for more store visits. If you know of a store that sells structures or other items useful to toy train fans, leave me a comment. I may add it to my list.