i believe it extends to any month you want it to. even february. spooky valentines day hello!

I saw Christmas decorations showing up (the decorations were for sale, not store decor) last month. Anything is fair game.

I used to consider it starting on Oct 1, but I've started going to Dragon Con (which is absolutely chock-full of cosplay) so now I'm just letting it be bookended by that.

obligatory Every Day is Halloween.

i count spooky season as the entire autumn season, and autumn starts on the 1st of august where i am 🍁👻🍂

Most of the US retail stores follow the pattern of changing over to the next holiday about the next week or two after the last one so they have maximum time to shovel out the cheap plastic crap.

Labor Day isn't much of a retail holiday, so it adds some distance between Independence Day and Halloween. As we approach Labor Day, retailers get set up to switch over to Halloween.