10 Reasons Why Halloween Is The Best Holiday Ever

Photo by Łukasz Nieścioruk on Unsplash

It's the most wonderful time of the year...aka HALLOWEEN! It's my absolute favorite holiday and in honor of it coming up on Monday (so sacrilegious to have it be on a Monday! It's almost as bad as Halloween falling on a Sunday), I have decided to compile a list of all the reason why Halloween is the best holiday ever (it's better than Christmas! Christmas, I say!!!). So put on a scary movie (for some background ambiance, of course) and settle in to read all about the most spookiest and most fun holiday out there! 

1. The Weather
Where do I start: falling orange, red, and yellow leaves, the crunch of them beneath your feet, the smell of fireplaces burning, that crisp fall air as the cold starts to set in, the days are shorter, the sky slightly overcast...all signs point to fall (or autumn) and you know what that means: Halloween is near! Screw snow, falling leaves are way better!

2. Pumpkin EVERYTHING
Whether you love it or hate it, once you start seeing pumpkins everywhere (Starbucks menu, most likely), you know sh*t is about to get real. Real spooky! (See what I did there?) Sure, pumpkin flavored everything is a bit much, but there's no denying that it gets you in that fall mood, meaning it gets you in the Halloween mood. Plus, there's nothing cuter than a pumpkin, big or small, decorative or real. And don't get me started on how much I love jack o'lanterns. This blog post would never end!

3. Costumes and the Parties
When else do you get to dress up as something funny, or scary, or just plain ol' punny? Bonus points if you were super creative with coming up with your costume and then actually making it! (I'm so jealous of you crafty people!) And where do you go to when you're all dressed up? (As an adult anyway, since apparently it's frowned upon to trick or treat as a grown up; see below entry) A Halloween party with all of your friends! And if you're lucky they'll have a costume contest and you'll win ALL of the prizes from all the different catergories. Because your costume was that good.

4. Candy and Trick or Treating
Chances are you're probably too old to trick or treat now, but back when you were young enough and did, oh man, those were the days! Dressing up in your finest costume (or hand me down or hastily made costume, in my case), and walking all around the neighborhood to knock on doors and demand treats from annoyed neighbors was the best! As you got older you got to walk further out into different neighborhoods and therefore get more candy. And oh, the candy! The finest mini candy bars (unless you were treat or treating in a nice neighbordhood and they gave away full sized candy bars! Then score!) and fun sized treats were all waiting in your treat bag when you got home, until you dumped them on the floor or table and started to sort them into different catergories (just me? I also gave the gross candy aka Good n Plenties and Mounds/Almond Joys to my parents) and you promised yourself you would ration your candy this year but you knew that well before Christmas it would all be gone and you'd be filled with sadness until you realized that Halloween was only 10 months away and you already started plotting your next costume and your new neighborhood treat or treating route (for optimal candy gathering, of course). Oh, the memories... Now I just have to settle for handing out candy to treat or treaters now. The circle of life, people.

5. The Decorations
Spooky or fun? Cute or sophisticated? From fake cobwebs to full blown blow up lawn figures and animatronics, there are so many different ways you could go with Halloween decorations! I personally prefer a mix of vintage and scary. And my hat goes off to the people who really go all out with the Halloween lawn decorations! (There's always at least one in the neighborhood!) We thank you and salute you for creeping us out everytime we have to walk (very quickly, because you never know) past your house at night. That's how you know they've done a good job! (Talk about #halloweendecorationshousegoals!)

6. Ghost Stories
The original way to get scared. Swapping stories with your friends at a sleepover, or around a campfire, and of course, on Halloween, either at a party or before or after you go trick or treating. Whether it's a story about a vengeful spirit haunting someone on All Hallow's Eve, or the more topical urban legends, Halloween was (and is!) a time to be spooked by scary stories but try to play it cool and act brave, then just end up jumping at the slightest sound or shadow for the rest of the night. (And you know as a kid you definitely slept with a light on on Halloween night!) Even now that you know that ghost stories are just made up (or are they???), you still get those fun goosebumps as you read a click bait article about exorcisms gone wrong or a Creepypasta that is most definitely fake but it still makes you look over your shoulder for the rest of the day. Just in case.

7. Being Scared
A chill crawling down your spine, the feeling of being watched, the sound of floorboards creaking towards you as you lay in bed late at night... All the classic feelings of being scared. But not "I fear I'm going to die" scared sh*tless, but fun scared. Some people have roller coasters, I have haunted houses! (Which are way less dangerous than roller coasters. Except if one of the actors in a haunted house is a murderer. But that's a whole other thing and probably doesn't happen that often. In Final Destination 3 the roller coaster was the bad guy- well, Death was the bad guy but the roller coaster was the catalyst so basically roller coasters are scarier than non-excistent real life murderers in haunted house attractions. Glad we got that cleared up!) And speaking of movies...

8. Scary Movies
While it's always okay to watch horror movies all year round (at least in my book!), you'll still get a lot of strange looks when you suggest a slasher film to watch on a date night (if so. you dump him!) but around Halloween...it's totally acceptable and actually encouraged! No one wants to watch a rom-com on Halloween! People want ghosts, they want murderers, they want creepy children and dolls! So give the people (aka YOU) want they (YOU) want and watch that horror movie! Have a scary movie marathon! There's no better way to get in the Halloween holiday spirit than turning off all the lights, some snacks, some friends to shriek and jump with, and putting on a scary movie! (And then not sleeping afterwards, but that's part of the whole thing. Sorry, you can't have one without the other, you know)

9. Embracing Fears  
Halloween forces us to face what we fear most- and embrace it. Instead of fearing death, ghosts, and ghouls (or whatever scares you!) we make light of the things that scare us. We decorate our houses with gravestones, skeletons, and homemade ghosts made out of soccer balls and sheets. For one night, we're surrounded by skulls, spiders, cobwebs and people dressed up as the Grim Reaper or the Devil (and that one weird guy who always seems to go as a different serial killer. Who invites this guy???), and it's totally fine. It's morbid and dark, with a touch of gallows humor but we're okay with it. And most of all, it's kind of fun to embrace your fears and make them silly and over the top. It's a way of conquering them and showing them you're not scared of them. (At least for one night of the year, but still!)

And last but not least...

10. Halloween Lets You Be You
As weird as this sounds on a day when you dress up to look like someone or something else, Halloween is a time for you to express and embrace yourself. Who cares what other people think? If you want to dress up as something funny, cute, strange, scary, or even a little risque, go for it! If you want to dress up as your favorite fictional character that literally no one else will get but you and then you have to field questions all night? Do it! Or how about your favorite food? Do you love Nutella and want to make sure everyone knows it? Then make yourself a giant jar of Nutella costume and strut your stuff! Or maybe you're feeling a creepy (not sexy) doll costume? Paint your face, wear some pigtails, throw on some fake blood like you just murdered the little girl that owned you- you're a doll, remember- and look as terrifying as you can. Don't worry about what anyone thinks, this is Halloween! If you want to look scary, you look scary! Have fun with all of your eccentricities and go nuts! Halloween is a holiday focused on all things scary, but it's also your chance to have fun and be you. Embrace your inner weirdness and just let everyone see it. If you can't be yourself on Halloween, then when can you? (The answer is everyday :) )

Thanks for reading and I hope you liked my list of all of the reasons why I love Halloween. Hope your Halloween this year is frightful, fun, and filled with your favorite candies! ♥

Stay Weird,
Emily

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