The harvest moon has shone, the autumnal equinox has passed, and spooky SZN has truly arrived.

Yes, it is still September and Halloween is still officially more than a month away, but those are only technicalities. Take Thanksgiving: how many of us put up a tree for the holidays even though the holiday season isn't in full swing for another month? Halloween is just important and fun as any other holiday, so go ahead; put on A Nightmare Before Christmas, string up those orange fairy lights, and visit Pinterest for some DIY inspiration for decor or spooky snack ideas.

With my birthday being just under a week before Halloween, October is one of my favorite months - and I can't say that my birthday is the best part.

Truthfully, there's nothing like the feeling you get when that empty store in a local shopping center suddenly has a bright Spirit Halloween banner above the door. If you think about it, that ghastly specter reaching out those skeleton hands isn't all that different from Santa Claus, bringing his bag of gifts to town...

Trust me. Halloween is extremely underappreciated, but in recent years there seems to be a lot of love going towards spooky SZN - especially in 2019. Just look at the marketing that businesses like Starbucks, IHOP, and Target have been up to: viral spooky cups, special Addams Family menus, and even haunted houses for our feline friends!

IHOP's Addams Family menu!https://hip2save.com/2019/09/17/ihops-addams-family-menu-halloween/

Without a doubt, having more commercial products for Halloween is awesome for lovers of the holiday such as myself, but there are so many more great things about this season. Finding the perfect costume, tuning in for movie marathons like AMC's FearFest and Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween, creaking jack-o'-lanterns, and visiting haunted houses, trails, or special theme park events are all hallmarks of October and gearing up for Halloween; that doesn't even begin to cover the awesome bonus of getting discounted candy the day after!

All this to say, it's officially time to start celebrating - break out your black nail polish and find a cute witch hat, because spooky SZN is FINALLY here!