COSTUMES FOR KIDS. Downtown Eau Claire's Black Kettle Tea Shoppe is collecting kids' Halloween costumes, an offering for those in need ahead of this year's festivities. 

As summer creeps into fall, one downtown Eau Claire storefront has already had its eyes set for the October spooky season ahead. Black Kettle Tea Shoppe (217 N. Barstow St., Eau Claire) has been home to a community-donated “costume drive” to help families during its favorite holiday season: Halloween.

“Costumes are expensive; some families can’t afford to buy their kid a Halloween costume every year,” Brianna Vodvarka, the owner of Black Kettle Tea Shoppe, said. “We decided to have a drive where people could drop off used or new costumes to pick up — no questions asked.”

The costume drive was initiated in July of this year — during the North Barstow District’s “Sidewalk Saturdays” — and quickly expanded to include varying costume racks for all ages. The costume racks — now housed inside of the storefront — now offer a wide variety of sizes and themes, bringing the Halloween spirit to life (or should we say from the dead?), Brianna said.

Owner Brianna Vodvarka, pictured, is accepting new or gently used costume donations all month long.

From fairytale princesses to space rangers and monsters, “we have (costumes) ranging from baby sizes to teen sizes, which is nice; we've got quite a variety.”

All through the month, customers are welcome to drop off new or gently used costumes to the racks, or pick out what they need for this year’s trick-or-treating. Brianna hopes the good-spirited cause will remain a tradition and fixture at the “bootique” to provide greater accessibility to enjoy one of her favorite times of the year.

Below Black Kettle Tea & Shoppe, a “Vampire Ball” will soon descend upon 6 Feet Under — the shop's adjoining venue — as a gathering of unalive monsters takes center stage. For just a $10 entry fee, at 8pm on Oct. 18, you too can dance the night away with local DJ artists who will be “playing all of the spookiest hits.”

After hosting its initial “Goth Prom” in June at the venue space, Brianna said she aims to offer more horror and frightful-themed celebrations for folks in the community to enjoy.

To embrace their vampiric spirit, 6 Feet Under encourages attendees to dress in their finest Victorian attire or contemporary garments their vampy self would feel comfortable in. The “non-living” guests can look forward to refreshments in the form of spared blood bags (including mixed beverages and mocktails) along with complimentary vampire teeth to complete their looks.

Spoopy, Black Kettle Tea Shoppe's shop cat, gettin' a whiff of our photographer Alex. (Stinky.)

For ongoing updates on Black Kettle Tea Shoppe’s (217 N. Barstow St., Eau Claire) costume drive, visit their social media platforms online (@blackkettletea). Tickets to the Vampire Ball on Oct. 18 at 6 Feet Under will be available at the door; visit the Facebook event page to learn more.