By Ethan Shea

As someone who is a bit weary of the supernatural, I tend to keep the season’s ghouls and goblins at arm’s length. If you feel the same, you can check out my blog from last year with some fall films that are far from frightening.

However, this doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate some high-quality Halloween decor! The big question is, when should the autumn adornments make their appearance?

Most people (emphasis on most) can agree that mid-July is too early to assemble the plastic skeletons, but is mid-September premature as well? I feel like everyone has a relative who’s known for either decorating far too early or keeping their artificial cobwebs up for far too long, so this topic carries weight for many.

Now that it’s officially October, it’s safe to say that any and all spooky decor is welcome. In fact, according to Martha Stewart, the first half of October is the most popular time to break out the frightful fall decorations.

However, this all depends on your community. Whether it’s your neighboring dorms or the cul-de-sac you live on, if everyone is up for coordinating some early ornamentation, why not go for it? I personally love when communities coordinate their decoration plans. This applies to all holidays but especially Halloween and end-of-the-year festivities.

Decoration timing also depends on the potency of your Halloween decor. You can probably get away with leaving a mushy pumpkin on the doorstep, but a faux undead corpse propped up in the front yard may begin to turn heads (in a bad way) not too long after Halloween.

Lately it’s been too damp to spend time decorating outdoors, but regardless of the weather, let us know what your thoughts on Halloween decorating are? Is it ever too early for eerie embellishments, and when, if at all, will you be decorating this year?

Ethan Shea is a graduate student in the English Department and Graduate Assistant at Falvey Memorial Library.