When Does Spooky Season Start?

I started celebrating Shocktober in 2016. Halloween had long been my favorite holiday, but it never occurred to me that I could begin celebrating it on October 1st. This was not a novel idea, but it changed my Falls for the better. I’d spend the whole month watching nothing but horror movies and shows, reading horror books, and eating all the Halloween candy I could get my hands on.

You can celebrate Halloween whenever you want. Do it all year round. Human beings have always had that right, but it was less acceptable socially. However, like comic books and fan fiction, things that used to get you made fun of have become more mainstream. Celebrating Halloween earlier than mid-October used to get you labeled as a questionable individual. Now, it’s got its own damn season.

Spooky Season did not replace Shocktober. They both occupy the same space on the calendar, but Spooky Season takes up much more real estate, which happens to include Shocktober. The social advancement of Spooky Season is in large part thanks to capitalism! Since this (somewhat) niche idea of having a longer Halloween-driven celebration became more popular, capitalists saw profits to be had. They’ve embraced Spooky Season in a way that looks to turn it into another Christmas Season.

The signs are all there. Streaming services start promoting their horror content in early September. Location scouts for Spirit Halloween are frothing at the mouth as early as August, and they aren’t alone! I started seeing Halloween candy in my local Walgreens the second week of August this year. The second week! That’s crazy! Not “Christmas Commercial in October” crazy, but pretty darn close!

What’s worse is that Halloween merchandise is being taken off the shelves and replaced with Christmas stuff earlier and earlier. I don’t need to see Santa on October 27th. The Christmas season doesn’t start before Halloween! But that begs the question: when does it start? When does Spooky Season start? Are we going to get more of these? Will I have to suffer through Fourth of July season (you know it’ll be something stupid like “Freedom Season”)?

You don’t need capitalism to tell you when to start enjoying things, so the real answer is: it starts whenever the hell you want. Christmas, Halloween, I’m sure there are some Valentine’s fans out there, get those decorations whenever you need to lift your spirits, be they figurative or literal. If someone doesn’t want to see a giant skeleton adorn a yard in July, that’s their problem.

That includes me. I may not want to see Christmas stuff too early, but if that makes people feel happy, have at it. I also won’t lie and say I don’t feel a whiff of acceptance at seeing something I love pushed on such a corporate level. Fill those shelves with spooky sh**. But don’t wait for the stores. Follow your spooky little heart.