October 30 Holidays

National Candy Corn Day celebrates the tricolor sugar wax candy that George Renninger of the Wunderlee Candy Company invented in the 1880s — a confection that the National Confectioners Association estimates sells more than 35 million pounds annually despite being the most polarizing Halloween candy in survey after survey. Mischief Night is the informal pre-Halloween night on October 30 when teenagers in parts of the Northeast and Midwest traditionally engage in harmless acts of mischief — toilet-papering trees, egging houses, and moving yard furniture — a custom documented since the early 20th century. Frankenstein Friday celebrates Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus — the founding text of science fiction, in which Victor Frankenstein creates and then abandons a living creature assembled from cadaver parts, raising questions about creation and responsibility. National Text Your Ex Day was created as a humorous observance — the question of whether contacting a former partner during the spookiest season is cathartic, ill-advised, or both is left as an exercise for the reader.