Many adults around the world claim that their favorite holiday is Halloween. There are some at the end of April or early May who celebrate Halfway To Halloween with parties and bonfires.
North Americans alone spend about 12 billion dollars a year on Halloween. It's no surprise that it's emerging to be one of the most celebrated holidays.
My wife and I both love Halloween. We hear other people say that they love Halloween and we're instant friends. I also love seeing all of the Halloween memes on social media. There's something special about that time of year. We're immensely excited when the Halloween season approaches, and we're doomed to an icy loneliness when it's over.
Just to clarify, some people celebrate Halloween at the end of October. Some may even celebrate it the entire month of October. For us, however, we start at the beginning of September and we stretch it out until New Years Eve.
Yes, we're die hard Halloween fans. But what is it about Halloween that fills us with so much spooky joy?
Why Do We Love Halloween So Much?
With all that Halloween encompasses, it's a plethora of elements that bring about one unified love of the season. It's worthwhile to explore each one under the microscope like some mad scientist in a deranged horror film.
To truly analyze that amazing feeling we get when the "ber" months approach, we must take careful consideration to treat each aspect with the merciless scrutiny it deserves.
Horror Movies
One of the best parts of Halloween is the abundance of horror films. Now, we do watch horror movies throughout the year, but there's something special about them during the Halloween season. It hits the nerves just right.
Not only do we watch a horror movie every night of the week during Halloween season, we will also take some time to get retro and watch all of the classic Halloween tv shows.
Cartoons like The Simpsons Tree House of Horror to the campfire classics like Are You Afraid of The Dark? It's great to pay homage to the old creepy shows we grew up with.
Allowing the creativity of others to invoke fear and suspense within you is an art that stands the test of the ages.
Pumpkin Beer
I love when the best local craft breweries issue their special Halloween releases. Some of the major companies also have come around to this new tradition that has been brewing for the past few decades.
With more and more breweries trying their hand at pumpkin beer for Halloween, you're bound to find the perfect brew for your next autumn bash.
We loved it so much that we started to brew our own pumpkin beer, and we even had local brewers in the area compete with us annually at the Pumpkin Brew Offs.
Pumpkin Spiced Everything
While I enjoy my pumpkin brew, my wife loves pumpkin spiced coffee. She anxiously awaits the late summer when they announce they're bringing back the pumpkin spiced lattes.
The excitement in the car when we pull up to the drive thru to get the first pumpkin spiced latte of the year is totally next level. It would make eager children on Christmas morning seem like the height of tedium in comparison.
The list doesn't stop at lattes though. You can literally get anything pumpkin spiced. Cookies, crackers, tea, chips, deodorant, ramen noodles, cough drops, trash bags, etc. You can even get your dog pumpkin spiced treats!
It's exciting to see how weird the pumpkin spiced products will get. But like Hunter S Thompson said, "it never got weird enough for me".
Autumn and Fall Festivals
My wife loves craft festivals all year long, but she's particularly enthusiastic about the autumn and fall festivals. While I usually let that be her thing, I will find myself tagging along on the fall festivals.
I love all the cinnamon, apple, and pumpkin aromas. I love the crisp feel of the outdoors while looking through unique products glorifying the harvest.
Whether you like gore, violence and horror or colorful leaves, woven baskets, and jars of homemade preserves, there's something for everyone.
Some fall festivals will even have seasonal wine and beer tasting. It's a great place to visit, whether drunk or sober, and it truly brings the harvest to life and everything it symbolizes.
Halloween Parties
I'm a sucker for a good party, and fortunately my wife likes them too. The best kind of party? A Halloween Party.
Nothing beats being able to dress up as anything you want while everyone else is also doing it. It's nice to see everyone commit to something.
One year we went as "The Windy Couple", and if you saw us, you'd think we were actually standing in a heavy storm. One drunk girl got out of her Uber while we were standing outside, and for just a moment she anticipated there being strong winds approaching. There weren't any.
When we won in 2018, we were dressed as the trailer park couple. That was truly a fun role to play. Very convincing. Perhaps too convincing.
I love seeing what people can come up with. The homemade original costumes are always the best. Some people can make the store bought ones look pretty good though. Always a good time!
Halloween Decorations
It's a very depressing day in our home when January comes around and we have to finally take down our Halloween decorations. We put them up in September and we enjoy them for 4 months. Yeah, we're those people.
It brings a special ambiance to the home when you can sit around watching horror movies and drinking pumpkin beer with the magnificent glow of orange lights from our LED jack-o'-lanterns.
The doors to the deck we call the gates to hell as it opens up to various creepy and horrible visual delights.
Not just inside our home, but in the neighborhood, the stores, pubs, even the schools and hospitals contribute to the awesome vibe that comes with Halloween decorum.
Be a sport and decorate your home every year!
Haunted Houses
Watching a good solid horror movie to get the blood racing in the comfort of your own home or in the theatre is always fun, but nothing is as quite as exhilarating as the live action horror of the time-tested haunted house.
You never know what to expect, and overcoming the fright and danger is an entertainment you cannot get any other time of year. Some people can't handle it and they burst out in tears and chicken out. Some people have nerves of steel.
Where ever you fit on that line, haunted houses will continue to amaze us. It brings us closer to the things we're afraid of and allows us to confront them in a seemingly safe environment.
Nobody is supposed to touch you or hurt you, but you never know, there could really be a deranged psychopathic killer lurking in the shadows and corners of the haunted house. It's a risk we have to take for the novelty of Halloween.
Trick or Treating
When you're a kid, Trick or Treating is the apex of Halloween. All that preparation culminates with one single magical night.
You spend all month picking out your costume, going to bob for apples at your friends house or school party, pinning eyes on ghosts, eating as much candy corn as you can all for that one special evening when the veil is lifted between the living and the dead. Halloween night.
When you're an adult, Trick or Treating is also fun if you have kids or nieces and nephews. It brings me a great sense of nostalgia watching my god daughter go door-to-door asking strangers for candy like we did when we were kids.
Now we can walk around with our beer and watch the kids have the same fun we did when we were that age.
In our neighborhood we started giving out dog treats to all the dogs who dress up for Halloween too. It's an amazing night for sure.
Unsolved History & True Crime
Now I love history all year round, but there's something eerily serene and hauntingly beautiful learning about unsolved crimes and serial killers on Halloween.
My wife will put on her favorite unsolved crime podcasts in the car while we're driving to a museum about Civil War Medicine. From the mystery of Jack the Ripper to How Edgar Allen Poe died, there's a never-ending supply of weird and haunted history that delights the part of us that likes to be scared.
There are many documentaries, podcasts, movies, and museums that honor the memory of the victims of these horrible tragedies. Halloween is a great time of year to get your history on!
In Conclusion
There is no other Holiday that packs so much into one month, or if you're like us, one quarter. From the products, movies, parties, beer and wine, and festivals, Halloween will forever remain the epitome of mirth. Halloween makes the rest of the year tolerable.
