Think about this for a moment. On August 1, Halloween is officially just under three months away. Well OK, one day shy of three months if we want to be technical about it.

And even though the weather’s still hot that time of year, it’s prime time for Spirit Halloween to announce all their store locations for the season. Too early? Not really.

When you really think about it, Spirit Halloween is only around for roughly three months out of the year – August 1 through October 31. It’s important that they establish their locations well ahead of the big spooky holiday so shoppers know where to go as October 31 gets closer.

With that said, not all stores will open right away. It’s usually a rolling rollout through August and September. But usually, by the end of September, all Spirit Halloween locations are open for business.

And this is very much the case once again for 2024 in the Great Garden State. As of August 1, all the store locations for Spirit Halloween have been announced. Now, could there be additions made? Sure. But for the most part, the locations have been locked for the season.

As for New Jersey? It does appear there aren’t as many stores as there were in 2023. But even then, there are still more than 40 locations set to open in 2024.

Here’s a look at all those major city and town locations where you’ll find Spirit Halloween in New Jersey for the 2024 Halloween season.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.

VENTNOR CITY, N.J. (CBS) — Hurricane Ernesto is hundreds of miles away, but its effects will be felt at the Jersey Shore this weekend. The storm is expected to kick up the threat of rip current risks and make for rough surf.

Ventnor City Beach Patrol Captain David Funk expects swimming to be restricted to waist-deep water, if allowed at all.

“The ocean’s going to wake up and be very angry this weekend,” Funk said. “Exercise extreme caution when you come down to the beach.”

On Friday, swells at the beach were two to four feet high. They’re expected to substantially increase on Saturday and Sunday.

“I feel pretty safe with the lifeguards around,” Brooke Kaffenberg from Cinnaminson said. “Whatever they say is what they follow.”

There are 11 towers where lifeguards will keep a close eye on swimmers. They’ll also be patrolling up and down the beach.

“We’ll still be on the beach,” Kathryn Mountis from Northeast Philadelphia said. “We’ll still enjoy the sun.”

However, staffing is becoming an issue since Ventnor City Beach Patrol relies heavily on high school and college students, who will go back to school.

“Over one-third of our beach patrol is under 21, so we lose anywhere from 10 to 20 lifeguards between last week and Labor Day,” Funk said.

The beach patrol will shift instructors and lieutenants into lifeguard positions to continue keeping beachgoers safe.

“I want to go in the water and use my boogie board,” Kalli Hatziathanassiou from Northeast Philadelphia said. “It’s pretty fun.”

Many families are heading to the shore to squeeze in one last beach trip before the first day of school.

“I’m kind of sad, but I’m also excited but summer is always nice,” Olivia Zegen from Cherry Hill said.

Freelance writer and editor Kim Kavin was at the Peapack train station in Somerset County on July 30, excited for a night out in New York City with a friend from California she hadn’t seen in years.

Unfortunately for Kavin, she was planning on NJ Transit getting her to and from the city. But after a 20-minute delay, the train was canceled. Kavin, who had already bought a round-trip ticket, asked NJ Transit to refund her $36.50 and has yet to hear back.

Kavin does not think much of Gov. Phil Murphy’s Thursday announcement that, as an apology for the transit agency’s abysmal performance this summer, all riders will get free trips on NJ Transit for a week starting Aug. 26.

“I don’t need a ride. I needed a ride when my friend was visiting from California. Now I need my $36.50 back. That’s what I want from Phil Murphy,” she said.

Listen, riders aren’t itching to get one or two train or bus trips for free; they want good, reliable public transportation year-round. And the prospect of a few on-the-house NJ Transit rides the week before a holiday weekend will not reassure them that, after the fare holiday ends, service will get any better.

“This fare holiday is a gimmick,” said Alex Ambrose, a policy analyst with progressive think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective. “It does nothing to actually address the structural problems that exist in NJ Transit, one of the biggest of which is that lawmakers have neglected to adequately fund transit for decades.”

This is a rare issue where progressive wonks and business leaders agree.

Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, also opposes the fare holiday, though for a different reason. Siekerka hates it because it represents a bait-and-switch by Murphy’s administration.

Murphy helped push through a new surtax on some of the state’s most profitable businesses, which he said would help give the financially beleaguered NJ Transit a steady revenue stream for the next few years. Instead, Siekerka noted, the $1 billion the surtax is expected to generate in its first year is going to the state’s general fund — not to NJ Transit.

“If there was such a desperate need, why did we money-grab a billion dollars from the business community to stick in surplus for a year? It makes no sense,” she said. “It’s illogical, it’s nonsensical, it’s irrational, and it’s very, very difficult to have a legitimate discussion about.”

It’s not just the business community paying more to help fund public transit. NJ Transit approved a big fare hike this year — some fares rose 15% — and will tack on 3% fare hikes annually starting next July.

So after raising taxes and hiking fares to rescue NJ Transit from its a budget crisis, the Murphy administration will take $19 million the agency was expected to make from fares the last week of August and flush it down the toilet.

What sense does this make?

Murphy offering an apology to NJ Transit users is good, though he undercut it with his don’t-blame-me attitude (“A lot of this is out of our hands,” said our powerful governor who claims to have a close relationship with the president of the United States). What the apology should come with is not a gimmick to appease riders for one week, but a concrete plan to make sure NJ Transit service is frequent, reliable, and accessible. Hopefully we see that soon.