There’s a little over five weeks left until Halloween. Here at Popcorn Horror, it’s our busiest time of year promoting and supporting the awesome horror content created for the season. Halloween has always been my favourite holiday, and I’m sure we’ve all felt the annoyance of seeing Christmas tat being peddled long before All Hallows Eve is over. But the season is just getting into swing, so as the nights get darker, we take a look at fifteen ways you know that Halloween is coming!

1. Everything turns orange.

You might not be the biggest nature-lover, but the colours of the Autumn trees are a definite sign that spooky times are ahead.

2. Halloween displays start popping up.

The first store you spot putting out their Halloween display each year has a special place in your heart. Even though it happens every year, the first time that wall of orange and black hits you in the supermarket – it’s officially go-time to start planning your costume.

3. Horror films are shown on TV

While some of the people reading this might not even know what the TV guide pictured below was – Halloween is a time that horror fans of all ages plan their viewing pretty carefully. Whether your memories are of flipping through the guide, or scanning the menus, this is one one time of year horror is taken seriously.

4. Your favourite candy gets a spooky makeover.

A few weeks before the big event, candy companies start pushing out the Halloween editions of their products. When you see Cadbury Screme Eggs, Candy corn M&Ms and Nestle’s ‘Scaries’ start to pop up on store shelves, the big night can’t be far.

5. Every coffee shop introduces a pumpkin product.

Pumpkin spiced lattes, pumpkin teas, pumpkin cookies – coffee shops start to give the big orange guys some love a few weeks ahead of Halloween.

6. Speaking of pumpkins, you’ll notice some really strange products popping up.

There are some things that are not improved by pumpkin,

7. Like, really weird.

WTF. Toilet paper really has no business being ANYTHING spiced.

8. Every single shop sells these.

And nobody really likes them, not least the kid who gets a bag of them for Trick R Treat from health conscious neighbours.

9. Your local theatre is showing horror movies.

If you’re lucky there’s a cinema nearby that shows classic and indie horror movies in October.

10. And if you’re really, really lucky you’ll hear about a nearby horror fest.

Comic book fans are catered to the majority of the year, this is the season for Leatherface cosplays and spending a fortune on Freddy figurines.

(Fun Fact – this is from Liverpool Horror Fest which we attended!)

11. And if you’re really, really lucky – there might even be a local haunt starting to go up.

And every year you marvel at the creativity of some people and resolve to build your own one day.

12. You start seeing everything as having Halloween potential.

“Don’t throw out that table-cloth – I can make a cape.”

13. Pinterest fills up with Halloween craft and cooking ideas.

Though yours never really turn out like the ones in the picture.

14. Then, a few weeks before the big day, the pumpkins show up.

And you spend far too long in the store analysing the weight, size and shape of your future Jack O Lantern.

15. And finally, certain areas of store start permanently smelling of plastic.

Everyone’s childhood smells like a 99p mask! You know you all remember the scent!