Most of us look forward to holidays. Whether you’re more of a Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years’, or even Fourth of July type of person, these special days give us a small breather from the reality that is life.

For me, one of the most exciting holidays of the year is Halloween. The distinct difference between it and the rest that we celebrate is the ‘season’ that leads up to it. For a month, or even more, families decorate, plan their costumes, watch their favorite scary movies, and stock up on candy.

The month-long build up is better than the holiday itself. The hype around Halloween usually begins as early as September for me. I start watching some of my favorite horror films including Scream, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. I also put some thought into what I want to dress up as for the holiday, something that’s always been exciting since I was a kid.

As you get older, however, it’s more common to go to parties or hangout with your friends on Halloween, rather than go trick-or-treating. The unfortunate part about trick-or-treating when I was younger was the terrible weather that somehow decided to come every Halloween. I remember how annoyed I would feel to have to wear a coat or gloves and “mess up” my costume. Don’t even get me started on having to carry an umbrella.

While this was the unfortunate truth for most Halloweens I’ve celebrated, one thing that is guaranteed is the favorable fall weather. Watching the leaves change from green to shades of orange, yellow, and red, is one of the most distinctive features of autumn and a sure sign of the coming of Halloween.

A day is only 24 hours, while a month is roughly 740. Believe me, 740 hours of scary movies, pumpkin flavored food/drink, costumes, and leaves changing colors is much better than 24-hour roll of the dice on bad weather and rain that ruins your trick-or-treating experience.

Another great point is how rather stress-free the season of fall is. Autumn, for me, symbolizes new beginnings as the school year unfolds. Halloween is about relaxing and having fun, something I definitely can’t say about Christmas.

While Christmastime can be great, it undoubtedly results in extra stress on most people across the country as they worry about the expectations of family and friends as well as the annual stress of buying gifts for everyone.

This is never really the case with Halloween. The holiday can be fun for just about anyone, with little stress or expectations involved. Just buy a couple of bags of candy and you have gifts for everyone.

Then comes one of the worst parts: the day after. You eat your Halloween candy and start to feel regret after you’re finishing your 10th Hershey Bar or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of the day..You just kind of sit there and think about how fun the past month was then it’s all gone in the blink of an eye until next year.