Halloween 2026 Countdown!

[SolidSnake84]

So there are “retail seasons,” by which we know we’re close to Halloween and Fall when we start to see Back to School items in stores.

And there are “candy seasons,” with the patriotic and summer themed candies being the last grouping to appear before Halloween candy.

Today I introduce to you a third type of season that I only discovered just recently: bacon seasons.

View attachment 186310
This is a picture of a pack of small batch a.k.a. “limited edition” HEB hatch chile bacon. On its own, this pack of bacon is nothing special, but I realized that HEB releases these small batch bacons on a set schedule every year.

Winter: Lumberjack bacon (maple & black pepper)

Winter to Spring transition: Churro bacon (cinnamon & sugar)

Spring: Campfire bacon (chipotle/spice)

Spring to Summer transition: Chop House bacon (thick-cut black pepper, red pepper, garlic and onion)

Summer: Pitmaster bacon (robust applewood smoked)

Summer to Fall: Hatch Chile bacon (hatch green chilies)

Fall: Hayride bacon (pumpkin spice)

All of that to say two things: 1) I know we’re close to Fall when I see Hatch Chile bacon hit shelves in HEB, and 2) Bacon is good.

I never in my life knew there were Bacon seasons, but I absolutely love this and it is something I 100% can get behind! I wish we had something like this up here. All we have is Walmart and Martin's. Where I live, the FDA actually has the area classified as a "Food Desert".

 

[SolidSnake84]

DAYS TO JOL DAY: 12
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 44
DAYS TO THE BERS: 75
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 96
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 105
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 135

Good Morning Halloween Friends! Happy Thursday to you! It's dark outside and we are getting some much needed rain, the gloomy skies look downright spooky!

This morning's count update reveals that we are just TWO WEEKS until we begin the FINAL 30 day approach to FALL PRESEASON. That doesn't seem possible to be writing that, but here we are. At least for me personally, the combination of being super worried over Holly's surgery, and then the associated aftermath/recovery, which I am still in at the moment, made the first half of the month go by FAST. I think I am going to treat July 1st as a Milestone day, I know we are all going to be excited when we begin our 30 day slide back into Fall Preseason.

Our next "official" milestone will be on June 23rd, next Tuesday, as we welcome in 100 DAYS TO OCTOBER! And then starting on Wednesday of next week, we will be down to just ONE count that is in the 100's. Say it ain't so!

Have a great Thursday!

 

[Escalation]

Don’t forget about the summer solstice this Sunday! Not an official milestone, but another huge turning point in the year since we can begin watching the days get shorter from that point onward!

 

[SolidSnake84]

Don’t forget about the summer solstice this Sunday! Not an official milestone, but another huge turning point in the year since we can begin watching the days get shorter from that point onward!

It's another huge turning point, no doubt. Sometimes I forget all of the big turning points in the year. I think you and Rich do a great job of keeping them all recorded. Do either of you guys have a formal list? If you do, I would love to look over and see if there's anything "missed" (Although I doubt it, as you both are very thorough", and maybe see if there's something I see as a "turning point" that you guys don't.

Maybe a fun activity here in this thread before we start getting "serious" once Fall Preseason arrives, etc... Could be a nice thing to do here in the final two weeks here before we start that 30 day slide into Preseason.

 

[Edge612]

Hello Halloween Fans! I hope you are doing well. I am home for the next 6 days. A long break. Don't hate me for saying a part of me misses it but I am in the minority I think that has so much fun at my job. But it's nice to have a break. I am taking Damian to the park now. Happy Halloween!

 

[SolidSnake84]

DAYS TO JOL DAY: 11
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 43
DAYS TO THE BERS: 74
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 95
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 104
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 134

Good Morning Halloween Friends! TGIF! We had a great day at the Leesburg Animal Park yesterday. We were lucky as when we got there the rain had just stopped, and just as we were leaving, it got stormy again.

Guys, it's easy to feel like we are on the verge of something BIG. As @Escalation pointed out, the Summer Solstice is on Sunday, a major tuning point for us Fall / Bers lovers. Our Fall Preseason Count gets in the 30's NEXT WEEK! And we are going to see the 100 DAYS TO OCTOBER milestone also and then move to having just ONE count that is north of 100 days!!

Pumpkin people, I hope you are all well this morning. I'm getting anxious as Fall Preseason gets closer. It's not going to be long now! Have a great day!

 

[Iteachpercussion]

Good morning Halloween Fans!

Yesterday my Beetlejuice animatronic finally arrived. I had to contact the company a few days ago because it should have came with the other two I ordered. FedEx recorded that the label was created, but they had no record of the package. However, I emailed the company and explained it to them. I received an email back about an hour later saying there were sending another and were expediting the shipping. Sure enough, it got here yesterday!

Now the question is... do I go ahead and put them up now? Or what until August?

 

[Edge612]

Hello Halloween Fans! I hope you are doing well. I am off work today again although we don't get the holiday. But we are going to the amusement park we go to every summer a few times. First time for the season. Happy Halloween!

 

[Escalation]

Good morning Halloween Fans!

Yesterday my Beetlejuice animatronic finally arrived. I had to contact the company a few days ago because it should have came with the other two I ordered. FedEx recorded that the label was created, but they had no record of the package. However, I emailed the company and explained it to them. I received an email back about an hour later saying there were sending another and were expediting the shipping. Sure enough, it got here yesterday!

Now the question is... do I go ahead and put them up now? Or what until August?

My vote is for now.

 

[Escalation]

I was off of work today (and it’s my daughter’s birthday), so after lunch we decided to walk over to Michael’s since it was just across the parking lot.

And guess what I saw?



This was the only Halloween display they had so far, but there’s a stack of price tags sitting on top of one of those boxes, meaning they’re about to roll out some more stuff.

It’s happening!!

 

[SolidSnake84]

DAYS TO JOL DAY: 10
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 42
DAYS TO THE BERS: 73
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 94
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 103
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 133

WEEKS TO OCTOBER: 14
WEEKS TO HALLOWEEN: 19

Good Morning Halloween Friends! Happy Saturday!

I love seeing the pics in the thread about Halloween items going up in the stores. I know it's just mid June but really I would expect to see those kinds of things, especially as we get into July and the "back to school" begins. You can many times catch the beginning of Fall / Halloween stuff alongside the "back to school".

We inch closer and closer to the 100 DAYS TO OCTOBER milestone, and it will really be something next Wednesday when there is only ONE count left that is north of 100 days.

My prediction for the summer? We are going to watch these counts melt away like we do out in the heat. It won't be all at once. But one day we will update this counts and it will be like "Holy Shnikes".

I hope everyone has a great day today! May you possibly find Halloween items out in your travels!

 

[Edge612]

Hello Halloween Fans! I hope you are doing well. It's a gorgeous day here. Just perfect. Sunshine and warm temperatures (but not hot) and not humid. Just a beautiful start to the weekend and it seems to continue the entire weekend. Happy Halloween!

 

[SolidSnake84]

DAYS TO JOL DAY: 9
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 41
DAYS TO THE BERS: 72
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 93
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 102
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 132

Good Morning Halloween Friends! Happy 1st day of Summer! Today is the longest day of the year, so everyone should know what happens beginning tomorrow.

There's big things happening this week, and it's exciting. Firstly, today we move into SINGLE DIGITS towards Jack O Lantern Day #6! Then on Tuesday, we will reach 100 DAYS TO OCTOBER. Also on Tuesday, our "Days to Fall Preseason" count enters into the 30's , and then on Wednesday, we will have only ONE remaining count that is north of 100 days! Do you think The Count might show up that day to remind us?

Folks, I get to this point every year, but the singular focus on my mind now is JOL Day #5, and that Fall Preseason Count. I love my mental energy in July because I'm literally willing myself through what's left of the horrible heat and humidity! Around here we are under a month to go until we reach what is predicted to be the hottest day(s) of the summer! And in all honesty we've been largely spared from the horrible heat so far like we normally get. Thunderstorms have been chipping away at our rain deficit, and the predictions for us show us exiting the drought early this Fall. Like I said, we're in a good spot right now!

Have a great day, Pumpkin People!

 

[Edge612]

Hello Halloween Fans! I hope you are doing well. The Sunday Group is heading to Yankee Stadium. This is our 2nd of 3 baseball games we got tickets for this year. In the past, we went to 2 games a year but this year we modified it to 3. Happy Halloween!

 

[Rich]

Hello Halloween Fans! I hope you are doing well. The Sunday Group is heading to Yankee Stadium. This is our 2nd of 3 baseball games we got tickets for this year. In the past, we went to 2 games a year but this year we modified it to 3. Happy Halloween!

Have fun!
Go Yanks!

 

[SolidSnake84]

DAYS TO JOL DAY: 8
DAYS TO FALL PRESEASON: 40
DAYS TO THE BERS: 71
DAYS TO SPOOKY SEASON: 92
DAYS TO OCTOBER: 101
DAYS TO HALLOWEEN: 131




Good Morning Halloween Friends! Happy Milestone Eve once again! And it's a big one today, as tomorrow we will celebrate the arrival of 100 DAYS TO OCTOBER! Also happening tomorrow? ONE WEEK TO JACK O LANTERN DAY #5, and our "Days to Fall Preseason" count enters the 30's !!!

But before we can get to all that, we have Monday to deal with. It's my first day back at work since the day Holly had surgery, and she goes back to work as well. My hope for today is that time moves at a fair pace, and doesn't drag. I work this entire week, but next week only work up to Wednesday, as I have an upcoming 4 day weekend.

Pumpkin People, I hope you have a great Monday! We start our journey back to the weekend with the days getting shorter again (ever so slowly), as the longest day of the year was yesterday!