Top 5 Spooky Season Activities
Even though it's only the beginning of October, it's never too early to get in the mood for Halloween. For a large amount of people, including myself, the fall season means completely immersing yourself into all things spooky. Whether you like toned down “spooky” endeavors or the thrill of getting a good scare, there are plenty of options to get in the Halloween spirit! Here is a compilation of the best activities to do this October to get the real spooky season effect.
1. Halloween Movies Heading link
This is the perfect time to get all of your friends together and have a Halloween movie marathon. Whether you are into the more humorous scary flicks, light horror everyone can enjoy, or truly frightening films filled with gore and jump-scares, there is definitely a Halloween movie for you. Some classic movies include Hocus Focus, Beetlejuice, and my personal favorite, The Nightmare Before Christmas. However, if you are looking for classic thrillers, Halloween and Carrie would be my recommendations. Currently, the hype seems to be all-around psychological thrillers. Noteworthy psychological horror films that came out recently include Get Out, A Quiet Place, and Hereditary. Some other honorable mentions I feel were left out of these categories are The Sixth Sense, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. So gather all your friends, make some popcorn, and enjoy these scary Halloween movies!
2. Decorating Heading link
In my opinion, decorating for Halloween is one of the best ways to get into the mood for the season. Decking out your space with spooky decorations is fun and reminds you of spooky season every day.
For Halloween, pretty much anything goes for decorations. You can decorate with cute autumn-centered decor resembling Halloween or go all out with things that are actually quite frightening- it’s completely up to you. The worry for a lot of people with this is that is can seem expensive having to buy all of the materials, but that doesn’t have to be the case. The best decorations come from finding and making items completely unique to your space. A cheap and easy idea is just printing out pictures that remind you of Halloween and make a collage on your wall. Additionally, Amazon is a great source for finding cheap decorations shipped to your door including spooky lights, fake spider webs, and window stickers. Another festive idea is simply buying mason jars and stuffing them with your favorite candy. If you want to step it up, you can gather your friends and paint the mason jars to create simple, creative, and low-cost Halloween decor. Lastly, if all of this seems a little too much for you, the Target one dollar aisle has a bunch of cute items to decorate for spooky season.
3. Carving Pumpkins Heading link
This activity is related more so to the fall season than the others, but it still centers around Halloween. You can make a whole day out of going to a pumpkin patch with your significant other, your friends, or even by yourself. Pumpkin patches have great food and are usually not too expensive. Once you buy your pumpkins, there are tons of inspirational ideas for carving on sites such as Pinterest, Tumblr, or through a simple Google search. However, if you are less skilled with a carving knife, like me, painting pumpkins is another great option! There are so many different techniques you can use to decorate pumpkins no matter your skill level. Plus, what truly matters is that you are getting into the festive Halloween mood- not how great your pumpkin turns out. Once the pumpkins are done, they can be used as decorations on the front porch of your home, put on a window sill, or even just used as a cute Instagram photo.
4. Haunted Houses Heading link
If you are the type that loves the thrill of spooky season, going to a haunted house is the perfect activity for you! Depending on how scared you get, there are plenty of options to go to so you don’t end up completely traumatized. Specifically around Chicago, there are plenty of different haunted houses to choose from. Located in the south suburb of Aurora, there is “Basement of the Dead” which is known for being one of the scariest haunted houses in Illinois. “Dungeon of Doom,” located near Great America, prides itself on providing guests a full sixty minutes of jump scares and chilling intensity. In Melrose Park, there’s a haunted house called “13th Floor,” which is also known for being very intense and not meant for children (speaking to how scary it is). However, if you don’t want to get too spooked, other options include going to a haunted corn maze or even Six Flags Great America’s Fright Fest.
5. Music Playlists Heading link
Even if this isn’t necessarily an activity, I had to include it because music is one of the best things to play to get in the mood for something. Personally, I like to create a playlist for absolutely everything, as seen in last week’s blog. My spooky playlist is a compilation of several different types of songs, all of which remind me of spooky season. Some classic Halloween songs on the playlist include “This Is Halloween” by The Citizens of Halloween, “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, and “Spooky, Scary Skeletons” by Andrew Gold. However, most of the songs are just songs that remind me of Halloween or from Halloween movies, including “I Put A Spell On You” by Nina Simone, “Time Warp” by Rocky Horror Picture Show, “Season of the Witch” by Donovan, “I Would Die 4 U” by Prince, “Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran, and “Heads Will Roll” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.