Why is Dracula smiling? The Halloween costume titled "Down for the Count" rattled a North County mom so much she demanded it be removed from a local store along with several other adult costumes.
Like almost every mall at this time of year, Plaza Camino Real in Carlsbad has a temporary Halloween costume store. The shop called Halloween Adventure is set up near the mall's kiddie carrousel.
Among the costumes offered in the store were a Dracula costume complete with inflatable doll attached to his crotch and the retired Hooters girls.
The costumes were being sold not far from aisles that carried a large selection of regular costumes for children and adults, according to the North County Times.
When a 9-year old Oceanside girl went into the store with her grandfather and asked him to explain why the vampire was so happy, the girl's mother complained to store management right away.
"I don't care what they want to carry or who their customers are, but you can't even put that kind of stuff on TV," Alyssa Schrom told the paper. "I just thought they shouldn't have put them right at eye level where the kids can see them."
The company reacted immediately and removed the costumes, telling the paper that they never want to offend a customer. They explained however that they had tried to put a sign in the window of the store warning that children should be accompanied by an adult but that mall officials wouldn't permit it.
