Yesterday, as I was driving through Pittsburgh, I noticed a Spirit Halloween store preparing to open. As today’s special, a bakery I frequent is featuring pumpkin bread. And through the front window of my house, I can see a small branch of red leaves on an otherwise green tree. Is it Halloween in July or what?
As a purveyor of a weird travel blog, it’s probably not surprising that fall is my favorite season. That being said, unlike the vast majority of people, I must admit my dislike of summer. I loathe the heat and shun the sun (with its implicit dangers of sunburn or even just sun damage). From Memorial Day through Labor Day, all I can do is dream of harvest moons.
As a result, I’ve long been a proponent of Halloween in April. After all, if there’s Christmas in July, why shouldn’t Halloween enjoy a brief renewal in the spring? But maybe I shouldn’t be so impatient, considering that the Samhain festivities seem to start earlier and earlier each year. Within the next month, haunted attractions will unbolt their creepy, cobweb-laden gates. Pick-your-own apples will commence. And pumpkin-flavored everything will be as ubiquitous as flip flops are right now.
However, while I come from a family so macabre that Edgar Allan Poe would be proud to break bread with us, this fandom of early Halloween is not universally embraced in my lineage. Specifically, my father–the one who inspired my love of all things spooky–believes that Halloween should wait its turn. He says that not until after Labor Day should we celebrate the best of holidays. That makes it more special, he claims. To appease us both, I initiate my own festivities at the start of September. That seems more than autumnal enough.
So what do you think? Does Halloween come too early these days? Or are you just waiting for October 31st all year long? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Either way, happy Halloween in July!