Halloween is an overrated holiday
Photo courtesy of cottonbro studio/Pexels
October brings with it cool breezes, falling leaves, and a heightened anticipation for its holiday: Halloween. Many of us find joy in putting up spooky decorations, carving jack-o-lanterns, and planning our costumes for the occasion. However, the holiday also brings with it many stressors and aspects that I, personally, believe make it one of the less enjoyable holidays.
Like most holidays, the advertising for Halloween begins incredibly early; USA Today noted that Halloween decorations and candy might enter stores as early as the second week of July. This creates a strong pressure to prepare for the holiday in advance—including the task I enjoy but dread: choosing and preparing a Halloween costume.
In choosing our Halloween costumes, we are all confronted with a difficult choice: do I dress in a “basic” costume (Disney princesses, pirates, witches, vampires, etc.) that may be comparatively easy to gather materials for, or do I pursue a more niche costume, which might be more fun creatively, but I may need to spend the whole night explaining to every person I come across (believe me, I have been there)? Making this decision—and trying to find a costume that is not overdone but is still understandable—can be challenging. Furthermore, many people pursue group costumes, which adds another layer of difficulty in the decision-making process, requiring every member of the group to be on board with the proposed idea. Impossible.
College students have also made this task particularly difficult, with the shift from simply celebrating the day of Halloween to celebrating the entirety of “Halloweekend.” Some may choose not to participate in every single night, or might choose to rewear a costume for several of those nights; nonetheless, many find themselves struggling to put together three or even four unique costumes to wear, making an intimidating task even more daunting.
Additionally, Halloween costumes provide an undeniable strain on our savings—which, as college students, are often quite limited. This strain can be alleviated by shopping second hand, maybe at our local Goodwill (which I took advantage of this year), but you might not be able to find exactly what you are looking for, particularly for costumes that are less common. Confronted with this conundrum, many students turn to sites like Shein or Temu to purchase their costumes, posing concerns about the holiday and unethical purchases of cheaply made materials produced through the exploitation of workers. Nonetheless, students might feel like this is the simplest solution, as they would like to avoid draining their savings while also being able to participate in the Halloween celebrations.
Ethical concerns are similarly raised regarding the environmental effect of purchasing—and often subsequently discarding—those costumes. According to Waste Managed, a 2019 study found that 83 percent of Halloween costumes used “non-recyclable oil-based plastics” which meant that “they were destined to end up in a landfill.” Additionally, polyester, the plastic polymer used in “over 63 percent of these costumes,” can take “anywhere between 20-200 years to decompose.” The best Halloween costumes are those that can utilize materials you already own, or ethically produced/purchased materials you know you will be able to use again. Still, in most cases, costumes are purchased cheaply and then immediately discarded following the conclusion of the holiday, contributing further to the incredible amount of textiles in landfills and heightening environmental degradation.
Halloween can be a fun time to dress up and have fun with friends and family. I am looking forward to the holiday myself, and I enjoy the fall activities associated with its arrival (including but not limited to: pumpkin picking, corn mazes, haunted houses, etc.). Even so, the lead-up to the holiday is often uniquely stressful, and the consumerist and environmental implications of our practices are important to consider. Ultimately, while I do not think Halloween is necessarily a bad holiday, and can bring with it many fun activities with friends, I do believe it is hugely overrated.