Yesterday I drove past a house that was completely decked out for Halloween. There was a skeleton taller than the house itself, a huge spiderweb stretched across the yard, and a giant black widow that looked like she was ready to take over the whole neighborhood.

My first thought was, well, Halloween sure has changed.

And I have to admit, I kind of love it.

Remember When Halloween Was a Little Simpler?

When I was growing up, Halloween decorations were a lot more homemade.

We carved jack-o’-lanterns. We made ghosts out of old white sheets. You could make a pretty convincing scarecrow with Dad’s old work boots, a pair of worn-out jeans, an old flannel shirt stuffed with straw, a pumpkin for a head, and an old straw hat.

Put him on the front porch and you were officially decorated for Halloween.

It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t coordinated. And nobody was worried about whether it was worthy of a picture on social media.

It was just fun.

Halloween Has Definitely Gotten Bigger

Today, driving through a neighborhood during spooky season can be entertainment all by itself.

One house might have a few pumpkins on the porch, a fall wreath on the door, and a couple of little ghosts hanging from a tree.

Then you turn the corner and apparently you’ve entered a Hollywood horror movie.

There are 12-foot skeletons, enormous spiders crawling across rooftops, graveyards covering front lawns, animatronics, lights, fog machines, witches, zombies and things that jump out at you when you get too close.

Some people keep it simple.

Others apparently woke up and said, “Let’s scare the entire neighborhood.”

And you know what?

I’m here for both.

Your Home Doesn’t Have to Look Like Everyone Else’s

That’s one of the things I love about decorating our homes. There really isn’t one right way to do it.

Maybe spooky season at your house means three pumpkins, a cozy fall wreath and a bowl of candy by the door.

Maybe you’ve been waiting your entire adult life for someone to invent a skeleton tall enough to look into your second-story windows.

This is apparently your time to shine.

Your home should reflect what makes you happy.

It doesn’t have to look like a magazine, a Pinterest board or the house down the street. Sometimes the decorations with the best memories aren’t the expensive ones anyway. They’re the goofy homemade scarecrow, the slightly crooked jack-o’-lantern the kids carved, or that Halloween decoration you’ve been pulling out of the same box for 20 years.

Those are the things that make a house feel like home.

Maybe That’s Why We Still Love Spooky Season

As adults, so much of life is serious.

There are bills to pay, houses to maintain, work to do, groceries to buy and about a hundred other things waiting for our attention.

Then October rolls around and suddenly grown adults are putting giant skeletons in their yards and arguing over which pumpkin has the best shape.

And maybe that’s exactly why Halloween is still so much fun.

For a few weeks every year, we get permission to be kids again.

So carve the pumpkin.

Put the silly ghost on the porch.

Buy the candy you secretly hope the trick-or-treaters don’t choose.

Drive around the neighborhood and admire the people who clearly spent way too much time creating their own personal haunted house.

Whether your idea of spooky season is one pumpkin on the porch or a 12-foot skeleton standing guard over the neighborhood, enjoy it.

We spend enough of the year being grown-ups.

Happy spooky season.

Home Joy by Denise

Helping you love where you live, one season and one memory at a time.