Life is not a Disney afterschool movie.

I find October to be an absolutely delightful month. In theory, at least.

It speaks of pumpkin patches, German beer festivals, crisp evenings, honking geese, glittering costumes, and miniature candies. October epitomizes my lifelong fantasy of an East Coast autumn, with kids jumping in piles of red and orange leaves, moms offering hot cups of apple cider, and siblings huddling under the covers reading spooky stories. October makes me want to wear a brown velvet blazer and smart boots while strolling through a frosty, twilit meadow—or a red scarf while cheering madly at a college football game on a cold day in golden-warm sunshine.

Of course my autumns have never lived up to these fairytales, but that doesn’t mean I can’t imagine that the Halloween decorations on the brownstone stoops of New York signify real magic.