October is flush with holidays, fall colors and a host of other ideas that can get your audience engaged. Here are three topics worth investing some time in:

Fall Foliage

• Take your audience to the best leaf peeping destinations with a list and a map. (Chicago Tribune)

• Create an interactive map that allows your audience to see when the leaves will change. (Mashable)

• Provide weekly or ongoing reports on what colors leave will be. If you can build a tool, great, but a simple update would do. (Travel Wisconsin)

• Ask readers to share their fall foliage photos. (Hartford Courant)

• Explain the science behind fall foliage. (Weatherbug)

Halloween

• Provide a guide to help people get the best last-minute costumes (New York Times)

• Create a tour of the spookiest places to visit in your region (KSAT)

• Before you recycle that newspaper, create these spooky crafts with it. (Times Free Press)

• Have an expert share their spookiest Halloween stories. Or just have a local author read one. (NPR)

• Find the best Halloween movies on TV or that are streaming. Do the same for the spookiest podcasts. (CBC and Entertainment Weekly)

• Ask readers to send in photos of their pets dressed up. (Mercury News)

• Ask readers to share their cool and retro photos of their old Halloween costumes (Star Tribune) and their best homemade costumes (Herald Extra)

• Have your staff share their favorite Halloween memories and/or photos. (Daily Press)

• Help readers know where sex offenders might live in their neighborhood before the kids head out. (Click2Houston)

• Is your kids’ Halloween candy safe? Talk to the experts to know what to look for and if the myth of poisoned candy is even true? (KGW)

• What is the best Halloween candy? There are of course lists. So ask your audience in a poll. (Ranker)

Breast cancer awareness

• Help give back by providing a percentage of your sales in October to groups that help find cures and support those impacted by breast cancer. (Wicked Local)

• Make your paper pink all month long and/or put a pink ribbon in the nameplate of your website. (Naylornetwork.com)

• Create content that helps educate your audience around breast cancer. (10news.com)

• Develop a tool that allows your audience to assess their knowledge of breast cancer detection methods. (everydayhealth.com)

• Have readers write personal columns about their battles with cancer. (Huffington Post)

• Have editors explain why and what you’re doing throughout the month with your coverage (Florida Today)