Skip to content
Ghostly Activities
  • About
  • Map
  • Contact
  • Podcasts
    • Ghostly Activities
    • Monster Bureau

Ghostly Activities

The Spookiest Corner Of The InterWebs

The History of “Spooky Season”

The History of “Spooky Season”

October 6, 2025 Jacob Rice Comments 0 Comment

The phrase, “spooky season,” affectionately refers to the month of October with the climax on Halloween (and a few days after to celebrate The Day of the Dead). But when and where did this phrase come from? Find out after the jump.

Spooky Season Origins

“The spooky season of the year is now at hand, when ‘the mystic moon is chill, and the spooks and phantoms wander out to do their magic will.” – Franklin Reporter, Oct. 23, 1913

That quote comes from a Franklin Grove, Illinois newspaper in 1913, and “spooky season” directly referred to Halloween. My have times changed …

Let’s get into some origins before we proceed:

The word spooky in English originally meant ghostly, eerie, or spectral. It comes from “spook,” a word referring to ghosts or apparitions. The Oxford English Dictionary traces “spook” back to Dutch (spook) and German (spuk), and it was in English by the early 1800s.

As for the season bit, well, that is a more recent addition. The “season” part of “spooky season” is obviously literal: a time period, often a stretch of months or weeks. Combining that with “spooky” to describe a season tied to Halloween.

There’s a lot of variation in the season duration. Ghostly Activities took a poll to determine when the season starts. Most folks think it could be the fall equinox (~Sept. 23rd) or October 1st, and then it runs through the Day of the Dead (November 2nd). I like the fall equinox start date myself.

Over to the chronology …

Spooky Season Timeline

Early 1800s

Spooky For Ghosts Emerges

“Spook” and “spooky” enter the English language from Dutch and German roots. This is the first time the phrases have directly related to ghosts and apparitions.

September 1905

“Spooky Season” used in England

The English begin to use the phrase to describe uncanny autumn events, but it doesn’t refer to Halloween just yet

November 1, 1905

Newspapers begin to use it for Halloween

In Whittier, California, “spooky season” used to directly reference Halloween

1913

Refers to October with Halloween highlighted

Many US newspapers and books begin to use “spooky season” to refer the entire month of October

Mid-Twentieth Century

Sporadic Usage in Midwest

“Spooky season” sporadically used every 10-15 years, mainly in the Midwest

Late 1990s

“Spooky Season” Returns

The phrase starts to become common place online, books, magazines and marketing

2000 – present

“Spooky Season” Becomes Common

Nowadays, “spooky season” is commonly used across the US and Canada. It’s taken on a cozy characteristic as Halloween becomes the second most popular holiday

Spooky Season Hits America Earlier Than Thought

spooky season phrase used in whittier california in 1905

Hold on a second … There’s a reference to “spooky season” in California?! In 1905?!

Actually, I found quite a few published from Pennsylvania to California and a bunch of states in between during the early 1900s, using Newspapers.com. So, maybe “spooky season” was vernacular way earlier than I thought …

After those early appearances, Grammarphobia notes that the term reappeared roughly every 10–15 years, until more frequent use began in the late 20th century.

The use of “spooky season” really ramps up toward the late 1990s, and then heavily in the 2000s and 2010s. Google Ngram data supports this: few occurrences earlier, then increasing steadily in books and print.

Part of the boost is social media and Internet culture making seasonal phrases more shareable, meme-able, and marketable. “Spooky season” works well for branding, decorations, party themes, etc. It becomes a kind of catch-all for all things Halloween, fall, eerie vibes.

Also, lists of “seasons” (pumpkin-spice season, cozy season, decorative gourd season, etc.) in popular articles often group “spooky season” among them.

Side note: I mean, I really get sick of pumpkin spice lattés kicking things off in August … jeez … the pumpkins aren’t even ready to pick.

Which is unfortunate: We’ve shifted from a purely eerie, scary, uncanny and frightening connotation to … cute.

As a result, I’ll add some more scary to my spooky this season.

Sources

“‘Spooky Season’—Grammarphobia.” Grammarphobia, 18 Oct. 2021,
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2021/10/spooky-season.html. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

“What Is Spooky Season?” Spooky Little Halloween,
https://www.spookylittlehalloween.com/blog/what-is-spooky-season. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

“When Did ‘Spooky Season’ Become a Name for Halloween Time?” Reddit: r/etymology, 15 Oct. 2020,
https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/jadep7/when_did_spooky_season_become_a_name_for. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

“The ‘Spooky’ Season.” Light: A Journal of Psychical, Occult, and Mystical Research, vol. 25, no. 1286, 16 Sept. 1905, p. 445. HathiTrust Digital Library,
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000533434. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

“The Spooky Season of the Year.” Franklin Reporter (Franklin Grove, Illinois), 23 Oct. 1913. Quoted in Grammarphobia, 2021.

“No Effort Was Spared in Making the Spirit of the ‘Spooky’ Season Truly Manifest.” Galena Daily Gazette (Galena, Illinois), 29 Oct. 1915. Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections,
https://idnc.library.illinois.edu. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

“Spooky Season—Wordorigins.org Discussion Forum.” Wordorigins.org, 22 Oct. 2020,
https://wordorigins.org. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

“Google Books Ngram Viewer.” Google Labs,
https://books.google.com/ngrams. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

“Bramble and Maggie: Spooky Season.” Candlewick Press, 2014. Google Books,
https://books.google.com. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

What’s your take on spooky season? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading Ghostly Activities. Much appreciated and take care!

Last updated on October 6, 2025 by Jacob Rice

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon

Related


Discover more from Ghostly Activities

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Jacob Rice, paranormal writer and documentarian
Jacob Rice( Ghost Hunter )

Jacob Rice is a ghost hunter searching for ghosts, monsters, and hauntings since 2009. He has published 3 books and produced nearly 20 documentaries on the subject. Jake currently lives in the mysterious Pacific Northwest.


Haunted History

Post navigation

PREVIOUS
Welcome To Spooky Season!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

RECENT POSTS

  • The History of “Spooky Season”
  • Welcome To Spooky Season!
  • ghost hunting equipment for september 2025New Ghost Hunting Equipment For September 2025
  • Working On The Commenting System …
  • Puget Sound Shipwrecks With The Spookiest Reputations

Top Posts

  • 8 Ways To Get Rid Of Evil Spirits & Ghosts
    8 Ways To Get Rid Of Evil Spirits & Ghosts
  • Plants That Ward Off Evil Spirits
    Plants That Ward Off Evil Spirits
  • Hexes and Curses in American Folk Tradition
    Hexes and Curses in American Folk Tradition
  • The Dead Bell Ghost Hunting Equipment Review
    The Dead Bell Ghost Hunting Equipment Review
  • Haunted Objects And How To Break Attachments
    Haunted Objects And How To Break Attachments

Archives

Categories

© 2025   Jacob Rice | This content is protected. Attribution required for summaries, quotes, or reuse.