All October posts are part of the Countdown to Halloween!
Halloween 2026 is almost in the books, and before we close the chapter on this season, I want to do what I do every year: look back at what resonated most with you and share a few of my own favorites from the past few months.
This year felt different in the best way. The content we made together — the series, the deep dives, the posts I was genuinely excited to write — landed with you in a way that was really meaningful to me.
Thank you for being here, whether this is your first Halloween with SLH or your 11th.
Here’s to one last dose of spooky goodness before October is over.
5 Most-Read Blog Posts for Halloween 2026
Wondering what the most popular blog posts were on Spooky Little Halloween this season? Here are my top five most-read posts.
5. 11 Savory Recipes for Your Halloween Party
Savory Halloween recipes are genuinely hard to find, at least the ones that feel creative without being gimmicky. This roundup pulls together 11 of my favorites from around the web, from a roasted garlic cheeseball coated in black poppy seeds to skull-shaped marinated mozzarella to a candy corn veggie tray that’s actually cute. If you’re planning a party menu and don’t want to serve mummy dogs again, start here. READ MORE
4. 15 Killer Halloween Party Themes
After 10 years of hosting my own Halloween party, I’ve learned that the theme is everything. It makes every other decision easier. This post rounds up 15 solid theme ideas you can actually pull off, from a gothic dinner party to a Hocus Pocus watch night to a murder mystery evening I’ve been planning in my head for years. If you’re still trying to figure out next year’s party, bookmark this one now. READ MORE
3. The Ultimate Halloween Playlist
Still going strong, still where it belongs in the top five. This playlist started somewhere around 2009 as a running list of songs I loved for my own parties, and it has grown to more than 1,100 tracks and over 58 hours of music. It’s basically my personal Halloween radio station at this point, and I add to it every year. If you haven’t listened yet this season, tonight’s the night. READ MORE
2. 31 Halloween Books to Read This October
You all went deep into the archive for this one, and I love that for you. Whether you’re looking for fiction, non-fiction, short story collections, or a deep dive into Halloween history and traditions, this list has something for every kind of reader. READ MORE
1. 100 Things to Do This Halloween Season
Number one again, and honestly I’m not surprised. This is the post I update every July 23 and the one I hear about most from readers who use it as their actual season guide. One hundred ideas, from the simple to the ambitious, for making the most of every day between now and October 31st. If you haven’t checked off everything you wanted to this year, there’s always 2027. READ MORE
My 5 Favorite Blog Posts of Halloween 2026
When you’re a Halloween blogger, being asked to choose your favorite post is like picking a favorite pet or child – impossible! So here are 5 of my favorite posts I wrote this Halloween season.
5. Halloween 101 series
This seven-part beginner series was one of the most intentional things I’ve built for this site in a long time. From decorating your porch to throwing a party to figuring out how much candy to buy, Halloween 101 covers everything someone new to celebrating needs to know…and honestly, a few things the veterans among us could stand to revisit too! I’m really proud of this one as a complete resource. READ THE SERIES
4. Halloween Music History mini series
Three posts, three songs, three origin stories that are wilder than you’d expect. “I Put a Spell on You” almost didn’t happen. “Thriller” was a last-ditch attempt to save sagging record sales. “Monster Mash” was written in 30 minutes. This series scratched an itch I didn’t know I had, and I want to keep going with it next year. If you love Halloween music and you haven’t read these yet, clear your evening. READ THE SERIES
3. Halloween is a Season (and the Numbers Finally Agree!)
I’ve been saying Halloween is a year-round lifestyle since 2015. This year, a survey from HalloweenCostumes.com finally put the data behind it, and I’ll be honest — reading that 64% of people consider Halloween season to have started by early October or earlier and that one in six people are already celebrating by July or August, felt a little like vindication. This post breaks down what the numbers mean for people like us. READ MORE
2. The Feelings of October: A Love Letter to the Best Month of the Year
This is the post I wanted to write for a long time and kept not quite finding the right way into. It’s about why October matters so much to those of us who love Halloween — the belonging, the memory, the 31 days when the world finally matches what’s already inside your head. It’s personal in a way a lot of my posts aren’t, and I’m glad I wrote it. READ MORE
1. The Halloween Burnout Survival Guide
This one hit. I wrote it because I genuinely needed it. The phenomenon of loving Halloween so much that you exhaust yourself trying to hold all of it at once is real, and it’s something I’ve felt and heard about from readers for years. If you arrived at October 31st running on empty this year, this post is for you. And if you want to arrive at next year’s Halloween with something left in the tank, it’s worth a read now while you’re thinking about it. READ MORE
Thank you for another incredible Halloween season together!
Whether you’ve been reading since the beginning or just found SLH this year, I’m glad you were here for this one.
Halloween doesn’t end here. It never really does around this corner of the internet! If you need your daily dose of spooky stuff year-round, spookylittlehalloween.com is always open.
I’m also over on Patreon with bonus content, behind-the-scenes posts, and the Spooky Little Clubhouse community all year long.
And for a weekly Halloween treat in your inbox every Friday, sign up for my newsletter, Treats Not Tricks.
