Kristen Fuddy strolls along Beaver Avenue, passing window after window. Pausing at Tinderbox Gifts, 137 E. Beaver Ave., she wrinkles her nose in bemused disgust.

In the window is a mannequin sucking down a long, thin worm. More worms spiral on a plate on front of him. Nearby is a platter of fresh brains, ready for consumption.

"I kind of judge a store by what its windows look like," Fuddy (senior-science) says, as she moves next door to the array of masks staring from the window of Uncle Eli's, 129 E. Beaver Ave.

The windows of those stores are just two examples of the many displays that add interest and variety to downtown State College -- especially during the trick-or-treat Halloween season.

"I don't know where the ideas come from," said Steve Artz, the Tinderbox Gifts employee responsible for the store's inventive displays.

Artz said that a good display begins with an interesting product. Then he tries to come up with a new and creative way of displaying it.

The store's current window features a ghoulish family settling down to an equally ghoulish dinner. For the observer, the display is touched up with witty details, such as macabre family pictures sitting on the mantle, a skeleton peeking in through the dining room window and, in a pop-culture nod to Andy Warhol, a can of Campbell's soup.

"It's a very important aspect in this type of business," Artz said of the window displays. "It says something about the store."

Katie Dawes, the woman who creates the displays at Kitchen Kaboodle, 104 W. Beaver Ave., agrees.

"It's supposed to draw the customer into the store," she said. "If it does, then great, it's done its purpose."

Dawes compares a window display to a preview of coming attractions.

It gives people walking by just a hint of what they'll find when they come inside, she said.

Her windows for Kitchen Kaboodle feature elegant dinnerware and elaborate kitchen gadgets, such as juicers and garlic presses.

Peering into Tadpole Crossing, 101 E. Beaver Ave., Fuddy said she notices windows that have interesting displays and show off unique items.

Among the unique items on display are miniature figurines of woodland animals and napkin rings in the shape of rainbow trout.

"They draw you in," she said of the windows.

After taking another quick glance at the figurines, Fuddy turns the corner and walks down Allen Street, looking into every store window she goes past.