He stands eight feet tall and is shrouded in a black, gauzy robe, with his monstrous, orange hands open in a welcoming gesture. His toothy grin, cloaked under a hood, is indiscernible.
Move over, Freddy Krueger. There’s a new Halloween icon in the mix.
Just don’t call him a jack-o’-lantern. His name is Lewis.
The Halloween decoration from Target has become a popular addition for Halloween fans, sharing lawns with other decorations like a towering 12-foot skeleton sold at Home Depot and an inflatable sandworm from the movie “Beetlejuice,” as well as the more demure traditional pumpkins or chrysanthemums.
But it is not necessarily Lewis’s appearance that has Halloween enthusiasts seeking him out. Rather, it is the flare in which he delivers his Halloween greetings.
“I am not a jack-o’-lantern,” he says with a flick of annoyance. “My name is Lewis.”
It’s just one of many phrases that brim with attitude.
“Hello, hello, I’m so happy you could carve out some time to come out tonight,” he says with a deep laugh. He continues, “Happy Halloween my little ghouls” and “Trick-or-treat, all you creepy crawlers.”
Lewis sells for $180 and is already sold out online and in most stores.
But his scarcity hasn’t stopped fans from trying to get a glimpse of the decoration, filming TikToks of themselves falling at his nonexistent feet and pressing on a step-activated button to hear his catchphrases.
After being inundated with TikToks about him, Ariana Osten, 24, had to see Lewis for herself. When she arrived at a store in Omaha, she heard Lewis before she even saw him.
Ms. Osten said she and other young people have found Lewis’s snappy voice to be relatable.
Her favorite line, she said, came a few tries into pressing Lewis’s button: “I fear nothing, night or day, except a strong breeze to make me sway.”
But Ms. Osten, who loves Halloween, stopped short of buying Lewis and bringing him home for fear he would be stolen.
Lewis was introduced this year with Target’s Halloween line, the Hyde & EEK! Boutique.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Target said the company was “thrilled to see excitement from our guests” but would not comment on Lewis’s back story or his booming voice.
For fans online, the lack of details has only made him more appealing.
The product reviews on Lewis’s page are overwhelmingly positive, with comments about uniting community and inclusivity.
That’s something that has rung particularly true to Hillary Mace, 31, who saw Lewis on TikTok a few weeks ago and immediately had to bring him home to her house outside of Cleveland.
“I fell in love with his vibe,” Ms. Mace said.
Some TikTok users, including Ms. Mace, have decided that that vibe might nod to the L.G.B.T.Q. community. She was even considering giving Lewis a Pride flag as Halloween approaches, she said.
“As a gay person myself, I feel like representation in Halloween décor is needed,” she said. “I love his sass, I love his attitude. It isn’t just the fact he says his name is Lewis. It’s the way he says it. It’s the laugh he gives at the end.”
But most of all, she said, Lewis just brings joy to Ms. Mace and her family.
“He’s not a big scary person, he’s just kind of funny,” she said. “He’s very confident. He’s got the ‘it’ factor.”
“The wind will blow, and he’ll be out there talking to nobody and that’s fine,” she continued. “He’s got his own thing going on.”
