October has always been my favorite month of the year. I love Fall and all things Halloween, so this is the time of year when I feel like the rest of the world is more in tune with me. Read on for 10 reasons why I love October, and leave me a comment with your favorite thing about this spooky Fall month!

1 – Feeling the First Hint of Fall

I’m in Florida, so Fall doesn’t arrive quite as spectacularly as it does farther north. It shows up as the first cool breeze in the morning. Just a little hint that cooler weather is coming. Then that cool weather will come and go, with one day being 60 degrees and then 90 the next. Or it will be freezing and 40 degrees in the morning, only to heat up to 80s later on. Florida is all over the place with Fall temps but we at least get a little reprieve from the relentless heat.

2 – Halloween Decor Everywhere

I love seeing all the Halloween decorations! My neighborhood does a good job of decorating with lots of houses getting into the spirit of Halloween. We decorate our house more for Halloween than we do on Christmas.

3 – Costumes Are Perfectly Acceptable

October is the one time of year that wearing a costume anywhere is pretty normal. No explanation needed- it’s Halloween season! I also love the way some kids keep wearing their costume even after Halloween. Oddly enough, my son is not one of them and he usually likes to come up with his own “costume” which is usually some sort of superhero t-shirt plus accessories. I never want to force a costume on him, so I let him wear what he wants.

4 – Dressing Up is More Fun

I have a whole collection of Halloween-themed dresses, and I keep adding new ones. I like to wear them when bringing my son to Halloween parties and events. I also usually try to match his outfit with something easy to wear. I share many of my Halloween finds on my Amazon Cosplay Page.

5 – Spooky Things are Everywhere

Scary books and movies, haunted house tours, ghost stories and general focus on all things spooky all month long just makes me happy. It’s the one last thing before everything turns into Christmas. And while I enjoy Christmas too, there’s just nothing like Halloween time.

6 – Pumpkin Patches and Fall Festivals

I love the fall festivals and pumpkin patches. My favorite thing is to get out of town and visit the real pumpkin patches where you get to take them right off the vine. It’s not quite the same here in Florida, where they are all already picked and set up on piles. But that can still be fun too- hunting for just the right pumpkin.

We do have several farms in the area that do fun fall festivals with corn mazes, a big bin of corn to play, lots of games and fall activities. We had a great time at the Amazing Grace Family Farm Fall Festival.

7- Pumpkin Everything

I am a dedicated fan of the pumpkin spice latte. I also love pumpkin bread and pumpkin spice scented candles. I love all the pumpkin things! But I have found two things I do not like: pumpkin beer and pumpkin pie.

8 – Carving Pumpkins

After the visit to the fall festival and pumpkin patch, it’s time to carve the pumpkins! I have a trusty pumpkin carving kit with a good scooper and several different sized cutting knives. One year I tried something different and painted the pumpkins black first! It looked pretty neat with the orange showing through where it’s cut. You can see the step-by-step on how I did it here: It’s Halloween! Carve All the Pumpkins!

9 – Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

And the last of my pumpkin themed activities comes after carving the pumpkins. That’s when it is time to roast the seeds! If you want to know the secret to making them taste amazing, check out this post: The Best Pumpkin Seed Roasting Recipe

10 – Trick-or-Treating

And the grand finale of the list and the month: Trick-or-Treating! I’m really looking forward to taking my son trick-or-treating again this year. It’s one of the bonuses of having little kids. I love wandering the neighborhood with it all lit up with Halloween things and everyone running around in costumes. It reminds me of all the fun I used to have on Halloween as a kid. And I am happy I get to keep having fun even as an adult.

We also do trunk-or-treating, which is a new thing for me. I think some churches may have done it when I was little, but it wasn’t as popular as it is now. We have already started working on our haunted pirate ship theme for this year. We did pirates last year, but I mostly threw it together at the last minute. But this year I have a vision!