Looking into Gift Adventures, 137 E. Beaver Ave., a five-foot figurine of Igor stares at window shoppers, inviting them inside to indulge their curiosity while offering them a plastic spider appetizer.

Inside, patrons step through cotton cobwebs and discover costumes for devils, doctors, fairies and fairy godmothers. Its sister store, Rude Boyz, 200 W. College Ave., is also decked out with Halloween decorations.

"Between the two stores, we pretty much got everything covered," said Gary Filkins, co-owner of Gift Adventures and owner of Rude Boyz.

Some local businesses are changing their décor to blaze oranges, reds and yellows, matching the fallen leaves hovering on their front sidewalks. Halloween has already been creeping up on State College and downtown stores are getting ready to cater to the creativity of anxious trick-or-treaters.

"There's a lot of people that come in not knowing what they want to be," said Amy Falck (senior-journalism), manager of Metro, 324 E. College Ave. "We'll throw some outfits together and be creative as long as they have an open mind."

Metro's Halloween inventory ranges from full-body costumes to skimpier garments, yielding some peculiar products.

"The oddest thing we have in the store are Nippits -- covers for your nipples," Falck said. "It's like a Band-Aid."

Each year brings a new fad that is easy to market, Filkins said. Popular items this year are angels, medieval or Renaissance attire, and gladiator gear.

"We have to do new things every year," Filkins said. "This year, I'm sold out of sexy police outfits."

But some things never get old.

"Pimps and hos always sell," he added.

Deciding on dressing up as something or someone original can be tricky, so Gift Adventures tries to offer a solution to some people's confusion.

"We also rent a lot of costumes," Filkins said. "Generally, people will rent costumes rather than buy them because not everyone wants to be a caveman every year."

One looking for "regular clothes" at Rude Boyz right now will have to turn elsewhere -- the entire inventory will consist of Halloween costumes and supplies.

"For 21 days, Rude Boyz sets up as a Halloween store," Filkins said, adding that a large area of Gift Adventures will continue to carry its conventional merchandise.

Other stores in the area are temporarily adjusting inventory for Halloween.

"Everything you can think of for Halloween we sell. We carry costumes, centerpieces, candy and crafts," said John Wilson, manager of Wal-Mart, 1665 N. Atherton St. "We set up Halloween a month ago. It'll go until Halloween eve. Anything leftover will be sold as clearance."

One new item in particular is selling rapidly.

"We have a mist machine that fogs up a room from a skeleton mouth," Wilson said. "The eyes glow red."