As tree leaves fall, people’s favorite holidays begin. Halloween marks the beginning of the busiest time of the year and prepares people for the holidays most love to celebrate.   

Only in a span of two months, Halloween and Christmas, which are arguably the two most recognized and celebrated holidays of the year, are constantly compared and debated. Some say Halloween is better than Christmas, and some say it is the other way around.  

There is a lot to consider for both holidays, from good costumes to opening gifts, but with that and much more taken into consideration, I have concluded that Christmas is better than Halloween. 

First, let us start with some customs. On Halloween, many people take the opportunity to dress up as their favorite fictional character, real-life person, or something else. The truth is, why wait for one day out of the year to dress up as something when you can do it anytime you want? Costume parties and cosplay are just a few examples of dressing up outside of Halloween.  

Now for Christmas, iconic clothing like ugly Christmas sweaters, Santa hats, red and green outfits, and clothes with reindeer antlers or mistletoe on them, can only be worn during this time of year. If you were to wear these during any other time of year, all you would get are confused looks. Besides, there are hardly any other opportunities for you to wear these holiday clothes outside of the Christmas season. 

Next, we move on to some more familiar traditions, which both involve giving. For Halloween, trick-or-treating is a common practice when kids, and even teens or adults, go around neighborhoods and get candy from people. Now, sure it is fun to go get free candy from people you may or may not know, but there is always a possibility of something dangerous being put into your bag, and I am not referring to the razor myth.  

It is very possible for people to sneak another substance into someone’s bucket or bag during trick-or-treating, and it can also give creeps the opportunity to lure unsuspecting people into their house, just listen to Mr. Nightmare’s Halloween videos. Not only that, but you can go and buy candy from the store any time of the year, brand new.  

Now, everyone is familiar with the concept of giving presents on Christmas, and while it is true that you can do this during other times of the year, like birthdays or other special days, this truly is one of the only times of year where people gift things to each other. You can also ask for what you want, and have gift exchanges with friends or family. 

For a little addition to the list, I would like to incorporate a food factor. Okay, so Halloween is a time for parties and small get-togethers, which means it is time for the usual chips, pizza, and maybe some other snacks or fast foods, along with the candy. For Christmas though, it is an amazing time for food, well, at least in El Paso with my family. From tamales to turkey, macaroni and pozole, this is truly an amazing time to eat foods that do not usually make an appearance during other times of the year. Furthermore, there are also way better desserts and drinks as opposed the usual sugar cookies and other generic treats or drinks on Halloween. Being Latino, I am used to bizcochitos, champurrado, buñuelos, ponche and more, all of which are fascinating by the way, that you can only enjoy during the Christmas season. 

Lastly, I want to include some statistics and other information which lead me to believe Christmas is a better holiday than Halloween. The first thing to consider is pedestrian safety. A 2019 study looked at four decades of data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and revealed that pedestrian fatalities, especially those of children, are 43 percent higher on Halloween. Not only that, Halloween is one of the third most dangerous nights of the year for drunk driving or DUIs. Property and violent crime are also characteristics of Halloween and have been for many years as well, due to people being away from their homes, and the whole idea of pranking on Halloween. 

For Christmas, most of the dangers to people are health-related, and involve the weather, work-stress, along with other seasonal factors. However, these causes are perpetrated by individuals to themselves, whereas the dangers on Halloween are between people.  

Overall, Christmas is a unique time of year that has many traditions you will not get to see for the next couple of months, while Halloween traditions can be done anytime. Not only that, but Christmas also has variety when it comes to food, and is a time where less crime is committed, which is why Christmas is ultimately better. 

Elisha Nuñez is a staff reporter and may be reached at [email protected]