From fear to fall vibes: four October stories—support kids through seasonal scares, navigate darker commutes, explore historic towns, and track treat & décor trends.
Holiday and event-related stories are often a big hit with publishers, especially when editors can plan them into their coverage ahead of time. Some brand newsrooms are perfectly positioned for specific holidays, while others require a bit more creativity.
Keep reading to find out how four brands figured out how to create content that appealed to our publishing partners this October, and what you can do to
Therapist-enablement technology platform Blueprint got ahead of the game by publishing a parenting-focused story on helping children manage fear on Oct. 6. Halloween is one of the few holidays in the U.S. with a roughly month-long lead-up, meaning kids may start feeling scared well before the big event. Publishers could have picked up this timely and relevant story at any point in October—and 326 did.
This serviceable story references research and the expertise of a mental health clinician to explain why young children may experience fear when they come face-to-face with scary decorations and happenings that older kids and adults know are all in good fun. It also offers tips on how parents can recognize when things have become too much for their kids, and what steps they can take to reduce anxiety in the moment and long term.
CheapInsurance.com also took a service journalism approach with a useful story on navigating dark roads, extra pedestrians—small and large—cloaked in dark costumes, and under-the-influence partygoers. This story hit the wire on Oct. 17, giving publishers a week to work it into their coverage and leading to 255 pickups.
Find a Neighborhood went down the lifestyle and travel lane with a list of towns around the U.S. known for their spooky history and traditions, published on Oct. 14. The story, which was picked up by 255 publishers, focuses on 10 locations, giving a brief overview of what landed each on this list, but it also offers a few other resources on finding Halloween travel destinations and activities. This piece doesn’t only have appeal for those looking to book travel—it also charms readers interested in history and Halloween tales.
Instacart, which has internal sales data that illustrates consumer habits, is perfectly positioned to tell a story about some of Halloween’s biggest stars—candy and decorations. The story utilizes colorful data visualizations that reveal data points, such as which candies are the most popular across the country and in each state, as well as offering insight into how states feel about what is perhaps the most divisive Halloween candy: candy corn.
It’s an entertaining story about consumer behavior that clearly appealed to many publishers, as it was picked up 301 times. Also, a local series based on Instacart’s data offered localized versions of this story to publishers in each state: [state]’s Halloween sweet tooth: 2025 candy and decor trends from Instacart data.
Brands should take these impressive pickup numbers as inspiration to start planning stories for upcoming holidays. Remember, any story with a strong news or holiday peg should be published on the Stacker Newswire at least a week before the big day—but as you can see with some of the examples here, the earlier, the better.
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