Halloween- costumes and trick or treating, pumpkin carving, pumpkin spice, gorging yourself on a party pack of chocolates that were intended for the children inevitably knocking at your door sometime in the night. Horror films (or spooky kids’ films, if you’re a horror-phobe like me) and ghost photo shoots. It’s not to say that I don’t like Halloween, it’s most definitely one of the better holidays, it’s just that Valentine’s Day is- well- superior.
In more recent years, as Valentine’s Day has moved from a celebration of strictly romantic love to a celebration of love in all its forms, I’ve found myself enjoying the holiday more and more. It’s something to look forward to in a bitter winter. A warmth to hold onto and appreciate all the wonderful people in your life just as the hope that the sun will ever return withers.
I’ve spent plenty of Valentine’s days not centred on my significant other- if anything, I prefer them. The year I spent eating wonky homemade cake at a very drizzly park picnic with my best friend, the year I crocheted little hearts to give to all the important people in my life- the year I spent with my dog, taking her out on one of her favourite walks before letting her snuggle up on the sofa with me, treats ready for both of us.
The appearance of the cheesy heart-shaped novelties in supermarkets, the red and pink plastered on anything and everything- a wonderful highlight of the holiday. If Halloween is your favourite because of the hardcore aestheticism it’s got going on, then I encourage you to open your heart to the motifs of love too. Because there are hearts everywhere. It’s hard not to feel the love and let yourself run away with the idea of it all. Take pretty rose-toned photos to replicate the iconic ‘ghost photoshoot’ seen all over TikTok when Halloween begins to rear its head. Even better- dress up as Cupid and let heart-shaped bows be the iconic image of the holiday.
Perhaps the most compelling argument against Valentine’s Day is how expensive it can be. The expectation of presents for significant others, the meals that mysteriously double in price, the extortionate asking for a box of chocolates. I hate to break this to you, but Halloween is expensive too. The bags of sweets you’re required to buy to give out to strangers in the form of neighbourhood children, the costume required to attend a party. The expense of the party (or club night) itself, only for your costume to be doused in alcohol (and/or vomit) so that it’s ruined and a new one must be bought the following year anyway.
Halloween as a child is great, it just means dressing up and free chocolate. But Halloween as an adult takes a turn towards heavy drinking and peer pressure to go out. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good themed club night as much as the next uni student, but as I’ve aged out of trick-or-treating I have found the pressure to drink gets stronger and stronger. From the strange limbo of young teenage-dom to now, the discovery that Halloween parties aren’t as fun as they seem to be on TV is particularly anti-climactic. All I longed for as a hopelessly uncool teen was to attend one of the glamorous, drama-filled nights in which people got incredibly drunk, slept together, and truly realised what the holiday was all about (some form of hedonism, I believe.) What happened in my idealistic coming-of-age fantasy is that I cried outside a club dressed as Poison Ivy for reasons I still cannot remember. The hopelessly uncool teen becomes the hopelessly uncool young adult and realises that Halloween is best as a memento of childhood. A nostalgic reminder reminisced upon in smaller doses that allows superior holidays- such as Valentine’s Day- to be ruminated on and enjoyed. A move away from the selfishness of youth to a more wholesome day centred on appreciating loved ones (and how cute hearts are.)
So it’s not to say that Halloween is bad, just that Valentine’s Day as a holiday focuses on how much I have gained as I have gotten older, on all the people I have to love and support and receive the same in return. It’s a holiday focused on celebration and happiness rather than material pleasures and it truly is a joy to experience.