Every year, I give myself one dedicated “Spooky Week.” A full week to slow down, enjoy fall, do all the haunted, nostalgic, pumpkin-coded things that make October feel magical. It’s become one of my favorite personal traditions. I feel that it’s a little seasonal ritual that marks the transition into the coziest part of the year and let’s me take time to reflect on the past year, and start thinking about what I want the next year to look and feel like.
This year’s Spooky Week felt like a perfect blend of concerts, horror movies, baking, haunted attractions, and small town fall charm.
Sunday
I kicked the week off with a good friend at Franklin Music Hall for a Streetlight Manifesto concert. Of course we stopped at Silk City beforehand because… at this point, it’s basically law for us. The grilled cheese & tomato soup are my go to. Something about starting spooky week with live music just feels like setting the tone correctly. Loud horns, ska energy, glitter lighting, and the feeling of this is the beginning.
Monday
Movie night. Another friend and I watched the Fear Street movies. Horror marathons always feel like they reset my brain into fall. The movies are good and for everything I watched this month, you can check out my Letterboxd list.
Tuesday & Wednesday
I spent both days in my favorite kind of cozy domestic fall mode: baking. I tested a new apple pie recipe and some cookie experiments. There is just something romantic about baking in mid-October when it’s fully dark out by 6pm and the oven becomes like its own tiny fireplace.
Recipes: Cupcakes | Apple Crumble | Cookies were Pillsbury
Thursday
Another friend and I went to Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary. We were immediately thrown into four houses back to back before we were allowed a break. When we finally got one, we devoured Down North pizza like we just survived an apocalypse. After that, we watched The First Omen, The Strangers, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022), and then Fear Street Prom Queen. Horror movie comfort is real. Prom Queen was truly not a good movie at all, just skip it.
Friday
Merrymead Farm Day. We attempted the giant maze…and only found stations 4-7. No idea where 1-3 even went. The hayride was easily one of the prettiest sunset views I’ve seen in PA. There’s a softness to the way fall sunsets hit here. The sunset looks like a painting. We ended the night with farm food, the kind that always tastes better because you’re surrounded by fields and chill air.
Throughout the week, I also painted pumpkins and admired the weird little gourds that sprouted in the front yard like nature’s small goblin creations. And I made Boo Bags again this year, and gave them out. Spooky season is meant to be shared, in small sweet ways.
Spooky Week always reminds me why I love where I live and why seasonal rituals matter. You don’t need to chase giant bucket list moments to make a season meaningful. Sometimes it’s ska concerts, badly written horror sequels, getting lost in a corn maze, and giving little gifts just because it’s October.
Here’s to more Spooky Weeks every year.
I am planning on making spooky week 10/18-25 in 2026.