Is Halloween defunct?
Spooky season is upon us, and people have already gone all out for their Halloween parties, sharing their outfits on IG. But is Halloween even relevant, with the rise of Christmas?
Any person will tell you that Christmas is a bigger holiday than Halloween, most obviously, you get a day off for it as a national holiday. But Halloween is currently on its last legs, with Christmas items in stores from as early as September. Mince pies, Christmas decorations, you name it - it's already in any supermarket worth its salt. For me, I was in TK Maxx, and they were playing Christmas Tree Farm by Taylor Swift, in mid-October!
There used to be a time when the holidays came in order. Halloween first, then Bonfire Night on November 5th, and then you could have your Christmas celebrations. But now, we seem to be celebrating Christmas months in advance, resulting in Halloween to be overshadowed by its popular younger brother.
Perhaps it's the times: with so many things happening in the world, people want to skip ahead to Christmas, to elongate the 'festive spirit' in a time it is needed most. But poor Halloween shouldn't be neglected, the next generation of children should know what it is like to dress up for trick-or-treating and watching horror films and live in terror of cardboard figures they thought were real people.
Maybe Halloween is losing relevance over time, but social media could be its key to revival. Without the need to share our Halloween moments and parties with others, would there be a point in having events for the sake of Halloween?
What do you think? Is Halloween becoming defunct? Leave your thoughts in the comments and enjoy your Halloween, guys and ghouls!
*Header photo was taken by the author on Oxford Road, Manchester. Special thank you to the students for letting me take a photo of their brilliant Halloween outfits! To find them: @emilynewby9213 @k.pilling42 @itzxat 
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