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Animal Crossing: New Horizons' spooky Halloween event begins after fall update

Pumpkins, face paint, contacts and costumes arrived Thursday.

Sean Keane Former Senior Writer
Sean knows far too much about Marvel, DC and Star Wars, and poured this knowledge into recaps and explainers on CNET. He also worked on breaking news, with a passion for tech, video game and culture.
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Sean Keane
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The Halloween spookiness has begun.

Nintendo

The Halloween celebrations kicked off in Animal Crossing: New Horizons Thursday, nearly a week after Nintendo revealed it in a trailer. The Nintendo Switch game's free update adds creepy costumes, character customization options and DIY projects ahead of the Oct. 31 event.

You can start growing pumpkins now (starts are available from Leif and Nook's Cranny) and use them in pumpkin-based DIY projects. Costumes are available from the Able Sisters, and you can exchange Nook Miles for creepy face paint and contact lenses

Don't forget to stock up on candy for the Halloween celebrations -- Nook's Cranny will sell you one piece per day. 

Come Oct. 31, your island buddies will dress up, gather in the central plaza and demand candy -- failing to give them those treats might result in you getting pranked (I kinda want to see that though). You'll also get a new visitor: Jack, the pumpkin-headed "czar of Halloween." 

You'll find that Jack has already mailed you a painting of himself, which you can hang on your wall to remind you he's coming. Downloading the fall update also gets you an in-game Ring Fit Adventure controller decoration -- the Switch fitness game became incredibly rare in real life this year, but is back in stock now.

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