The Hallowe’en 2020 Shop and Hop event is back, with 16 sims groaning with free gifts for you! Every booth has at least one free gift, and a few of them offer more than one! This popular shopping event runs from Oct. 6th to Nov. 1st, 2022. Here’s a handy alphabetical list of all the vendors participating.
As before, I am NOT going to cover the Shop and Hop event in detail here on the blog. Instead, I have compiled a notecard of my picks for the best and most fabulous freebies, free store credit offers, and gift cards, and posted it to the Second Life group I maintain, called the RyanSchultz.com Steals, Deals & Freebies group (the group costs L$50 to join; more information here). My notecard includes the exact SLURL for each freebie, for you to pop in, pick up your gift, and move on to the next score, for the most efficient freebie shopping experience! (Note that SL’s list of stores in the paragraph above has several SLURLs which stick you behind store walls!)
As always, there are many offers of free store credit and gift cards; here are my picks:
Addams – L$300 (group join fee L$5)
Blackstone – L$300
GGVG – L$500
Luna Chelsea – L$500
MALified – L$400
Mirage (home decor) – L$500
Nuve – L$300 (expires Oct. 31st, 2022)
Poison Rouge – L$350
Paper Sparrow – L$500 (join group for free; credit expires on Dec. 1st, 2022)
PRO TIP: Grab that L$500 gift card for Luna Chelsea and head over to the footwear section in their main store (exact SLURL), where you can pick up five L$99 fatpacks (over 70 colours!) of a wide variety of women’s shoes and boots, like these Destiny classic leather pumps (which also come in patent leather and suede versions):
Stock up on shoes using the L$500 gift card at Luna Chelsea, and you may never need to buy shoes for your avatar again! (Haha, just kidding, of course you will…)
Here’s a completely free vampire outfit I was able to pull together, using a combination of free gifts and free store credit, and taking advantage of discounted prices at the Hallowe’en Shop and Hop:
the Blood Vamp outfit is the gift from the Be Bold booth, and it includes the boots (there’s also a L$250 gift card if you join the Be Bold store group for L$50);
the red-lined black high-collared Bento animated cape I purchased on sale using the free credits from the MALified booth; and
the perfect finishing touch of the Sweet Death Crown, which I bought on sale using the free credits from the Poison Rouge booth.
Happy freebie shopping! Obviously, most of the gifts this round are Halloween-themed, with ghosts, bats, witches, and pumpkins galore. Boo!
In a virtual world where you can be anybody (or anything) you want, Halloween is a bigger holiday than Christmas in Second Life! Today I will be giving a quick rundown of many of the events taking place across the grid.
First, if you haven’t done so yet, be sure to visit the Halloween Shop and Hop event before Nov. 1st, 2021 to pick up some fabulous free gifts, including free store credit for a variety of stores! Here’s my blogpost showing just a few of the gifts available.
There’s also numerous Halloween-and-fall-themed hunts! You can get further information on seasonal hunts posted on the HuntSL and SL Hunts websites (two places with all the latest up-to-date information on hunts in Second Life).
SL’s Top Haunted Places Tour and Hunt is something I try to go and do every year! Starting at Shady Manor, click on the large sign to receive a folder containing five notecards with SLURLs to no less than 83 different scary and spooky places to explore! Many have at least one free gift for you to find, several spots have several, and some of them are quite nice!
For example, among the free gifts from the Crazy Cajun Hallowe’en Hangout is a mini-cauldron Mystery Brew drink, complete with a Bento drinking animation!
Second Life has posted a blogpost listing a number of official Halloween events you might be interested in. Among them are:
A trick-or-treat on the Linden Homes continent of Bellisseria (more details here);
Many SL clubs will also be holding events on October 31st! Do a keyword search for “halloween” under the Events tab in Search in your Second Life viewer to find out what’s going on, where and when.
This avatar is wearing:
Mesh Head: Cleo by Akeruka (a previous group gift; the Akeruka group costs L$150 to join)
Mesh Body: Juliet by Altamura (a previous group gift; the Altamura group costs L$100 to join)
Hair: Que Bella in abyss black from Hairoin (a store which is unfortunately no longer in Second Life; I bought this many years ago and I forget what I paid for this)
Dress: black Karla harness dress (one of many free group gifts from DM Design; the DM Design group is free to join)
Have you joined the RyanSchultz.com Steals, Deals & Freebies group yet? I will be posting EVEN MORE news and tips on finding fabulous freebies and bargains in Second Life than I post here on the blog! More information on this brand new SL group here.
There’s no less than 14 shopping sims at this year’s Halloween Shop and Hop event in Second Life! At every merchant booth, there is a free gift for you—many are Halloween-themed, but others are not. Below, Vanity Fair models a selection of gifts which I think you’ll enjoy.
Once I saw the generous Shop and Hop gifts from Sintiklia and AtaMe, I knew that I would be taking this picture! The Yasmine hair from Sintiklia comes in a fatpack of regular and Halloween shades, with styling options for both normal and windswept looks! And the stunning Lilly gown fatpack by AtaMe includes a HUD to change the texture of the bodice to five different metals, as well as select both the colour (6 shades) and the transparency (4 levels) of the swirling skirts. The Lilly gown comes in sizes to fit Maitreya, Legacy, and Kupra mesh bodies.
Strike a pose! The Lilly gown by AtaMe and Yasmine hair by Sintiklia
There’s several beautiful ballgowns at the Halloween Shop and Hop for you to pick up! From the SOFIA booth comes this sexy red Anne Star gown (sizes: Maitreya Lara, Belleza Freya Perky, Slink Hourglass, and Meshbody Legacy).
The Anne Star gown package includes a set of cream-coloured Eden jewelry (earrings, necklace, a ring and even a clutch purse!), which Vanity Fair is wearing below with the gift from Sascha’s Designs, a romantic cream gown with an optional flexiprim skirt attachment:
You’re all set for your next fancy event in Second Life in this ensemble! The gown comes in sizes to fit Maitreya regular and Petite; Legacy regular and Perky; Slink Physique and Hourglass; Belleza Freya; Tonic Curvy and Fine; and Kupra mesh bodies, as well as a medium-sized standard fitmesh version. (Please note that when you add the unpacker HUD, it rather disconcertingly fills your entire viewer screen, so attach it to your right hand instead, right click on the HUD and select Edit, then drag what versions you need from the Contents tab to your inventory.)
The gift from Bee Dumpling and Solas NaGealai of Silvan Moon Designs is this Anais Saturna gown, which comes with an optional coat and a chain belt in three colours: black, gold, or pewter as shown (the dress and coat comes in Maitreya Lara and Slink sizes).
The Anais Saturna gown by Silvan Moon Designs
From the TO.KISKI booth comes this complete outfit (dress, shoes, cat head band, and an animesh floating heart for your hand), plus a black voodoo rabbit doll!
This sexy red metallic dress with matching heels is sure to be a hit at the nightclub! The dress and shoes come in sizes to fit Maitreya, Belleza/Hourglass, and Legacy/Classic. Here’s s short video showing you one of the six different animesh hearts in action:
The generous gift from Essenz is a complete fatpack of these Aranea pumps, adorned with a spiderweb and dangling spider! Perfect for a dressier Hallowe’en outfit! These shoes fit Legacy, Maitreya, and Belleza mesh feet.
Among the many gifts from the Petrichor booth are a set of Azre weedcrowns, which come in no less than 36 different colours!
If you’re trying to pull together a witch look this season, here are two gifts for either end of your witch! (Do you know which end of your witch is which? 😉 ) The witch heels are from Hilly Haalan (they come in two colours, black as shown and green, sized to fit Maitreya, Belleza, and Slink mesh feet), and the wonderful witch’s hat and rigged mask are from Giulia Design. Click on each picture to see them in a larger size, and appreciate all the details…
And if you’re feeling devilish, perhaps you’ll want to snag these delightful purple horns from AERTH, which feature an animated orange swirling pattern! You’re sure to stand out in any crowd of demons! 😉
I leave you with the present from Jian, which is a keeper! It’s a cat sleeping on a pillow. If you click on it, you can change the texture of the feline’s fur, as well as the colour of the pillow! It’s adorable, and instantly earns a place in my Linden home.
The Hallowe’en Shop and Hop is on until the end of October, of course, so there’s no hurry! I’d suggest waiting until later on in the shopping event, when it’s less crowded and laggy.
UPDATE 3:30 p.m.: I forgot to mention that there are also a number of free store credit offers available at the Halloween Shop and Hop! The following list is courtesy of SL vlogger NovataSecondLife—thank you for compiling it!
You can pick up one of these lovely Flora tea dresses (which come in six different floral patterns) for free using the L$150 gift card available from the Ghee booth at the Hallowe’en Shop and Hop event
UPDATE Oct. 4th, 2021: One last fabulous freebie! Check out these truly glorious red wings, part of a complete outfit from the Alter booth at the Hallowe’en Shop and Hop! The outfit comes in sizes to fit Maitreya Lara; Belleza Freya, Isis and Venus; Slink Physique and Hourglass; and Meshbody Classic/TMP mesh bodies, plus five standard sizes. (The dress in the picture below is the gift from TO.KISKI, which I discussed earlier in this blogpost.)
Because I will be working all weekend of various work projects for my full-time paying job at my university library system, I regret that I will not have time to browse through the Second Life Hallowe’en Shop and Hop event, which runs from October 2nd to November 1st, 2020. (Sorry, guys!)
However, thanks to the fast-working Russians over at Second Life – FREE (which is a little-known-about Russian-language group on Vkontakte, the Russian version of Facebook; use the Russian-to-English translator in your Chrome browser), I have seen pictures of most of the gifts available from the participating vendors. Using this handy list of SLURLs to take you directly to the vendor booth by name, I wanted to highlight three gifts which you might be interested in, which are not necessarily Hallowe’en-themed.
Baiastice
First up is the Baiastice booth, which offers the following low-cut, slinky gold minidress, with a HUD allowing you to change the gold to any of eleven other colours. Very versatile, and wearable in all seasons, not just Hallowe’en!
Bumblebee
Bumblebee has a panel in their booth which, when clicked, gives you a L$500 gift card, which you can use to buy anything in the Bumblebee store. (You can also combine it with the free gift card available in the store, if you have not already picked that up; more details here.)
Addams
Addams is another store offering L$500 in free store credit at the Hallowe’en Shop and Hop! Just click the sign at their booth, and the credits will automatically be added to your Addams account, for use on your next shopping trip!
