Lunatics Radio Hour
The history of horror and the horror of history.
Lunatics Radio Hour
Episode 152 - The Dark History of Valentine's Day
Listen in as Abby discusses the dark origins of Valentine’s Day, tracing its roots from ancient Roman rituals to the modern celebration of love. We explore how traditions like Lupercalia influenced the holiday and examine the lesser-known stories of St. Valentine and the evolution of Cupid.
Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord. Check out Abby's book Horror Stories. Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.
Sources
- Time Magazine article by Kat Moon: The Truth About the Connection Between Valentine’s Day and the Ancient Roman Festival of Lupercalia
- NPR article by Arnie Seipel: The Dark Origins of Valentine’s Day
- Time Article by Rachel E. Greenspan: Cherubic Cupid is Everywhere on Valentine’s Day
- Smithsonian Magazine Article by Lisa Bitel The Gory Origins of Valentine's Day
- Historic UK article by Ellen Castelow St Valentines Day
- Good Housekeeping article by Marisa Lascala 15 Best Valentine's Day Horror Movies for People Who Want Their Hearts Racing
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Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Lunatics Radio Hour podcast. I am Abbey Brinker and today I am here alone. But don't panic, I know there's been a few episodes in a row without Alan, but Alan is very much still a part of this podcast. He is around, he is doing well. We're just experimenting this year with a few different episode formats. So tell us what you think and you will hear his voice very, very soon. So don't worry about that. So tell us what you think and you will hear his voice very, very soon. So don't worry about that.
Speaker 1:But today I'm very excited to talk to you about the dark history of Valentine's Day, because this is a topic I've sort of vaguely covered on social media in the past. I've put out videos and done some very high level research and it's always been incredibly fascinating to me and I'm excited to dig in a little bit deeper and kind of bring you guys through the research that I've uncovered here. Obviously, it's no surprise that I'm always really, really fascinated with the history of pagan or pre-Christian rituals and traditions and holidays and how those have been sort of re-skinned or evolved to be modern day hallmark holidays, if you will. But there's also another layer specific to Valentine's Day. I just find it inherently fascinating this juxtaposition of a holiday that we think of as almost like nauseatingly sweet, right, with heart-shaped boxes and Valentine's cards and elementary school and sugary, sweet candy degree sweet candy but then also to look at the very dark and somewhat violent roots, potentially, of this holiday. So I just find that to be really interesting. And of course, there's some really great horror films that are either centered around Valentine's Day or sort of have the same bubblegum energy, you know, as kind of combining this lovey-dovey holiday with something dark and sinister which is, in a lot of ways, again right like an homage to its actual roots. So we're going to get into all of that today. I'm going to caveat this entire episode, probably a few times, but certainly at the top, just to say there's a lot of debate around some of this history and so keep that in mind as we talk through the different histories and theories around this day. It's like so many modern holidays, it has quite violent origins and, again, the most interesting piece to me is that some of these traditions and festivities that we're going to talk about today are just stark polar opposite than how we celebrate Valentine's Day in 2025.
Speaker 1:I have such a love for trying to trace back, like, the reason why we do things today. You know, like, who decided that there should be a holiday for love? Was it consumerism, or did it come about before that? Did it come about after that? The same right. It's kind of similar with Christmas. It's an interesting journey and I'm excited to take you along with me.
Speaker 1:But before we get into it, as always, here are the main sources that I used for this research, and these will also be linked in the episode description if you'd like to read more for yourself, which I always encourage you to do. A Time Magazine article by Cat Moon the Truth About the Connection Between Valentine's Day and the Ancient Roman Festival of Lupercalia. An NPR article by Arnie Seipel the Dark Origins of Valentine's Day. A Time article by Rachel E Greenspan Cherubic Cupid is Everywhere on Valentine's Day. A Smithsonian Magazine article by Lisa Patel the Gory Origins of Valentine's Day. A Historic UK article by Ellen Castillo, st Valentine's Day. A Good Housekeeping article by Marissa La Scala 15 Best Valentine's Day Horror Movies for People who Want their Hearts Racing.
Speaker 1:So again, right at the top of the research, I'm going to disclose that there's actually a lot of debate around whether the pagan fertility ritual that we're going to discuss is indeed a predecessor of Valentine's Day or if it's merely a coincidence that both take place in mid-February. Some historians and scholars claim that there is no connection here at all, but I do still want to discuss it because one, I think it's a fascinating festival on its own and we should all know about it. But two, even if it's not a direct link, I think it's still possible that things can sort of indirectly influence each other. You know, I think history and cultures ebb and flow and meld together in different ways, and I just think it's similar enough that it's worth mentioning and giving a little bit of a nod to. So the feast that I'm talking about is a feast from ancient Rome called Lupercalia, which at its core was a fertility and a purity ritual, and one that is known for being rather intense and ominous.
Speaker 1:Lupercalia is one of the oldest known Roman holidays, with evidence of its celebration dating back to the 8th century. The festival was first known as Februa, meaning purging or purification, before it found the name Lupercalia. Februus is the god of purifications, and he was worshipped by ancient Italians and Etruscans. For the Etruscans, februus was also the god of the underworld. And the Etruscans for those who was also the god of the underworld, and the Etruscans, for those who don't know, since I did not know before researching this were an ancient civilization from Etruria. They are believed to have resided in what is now western Umbria, tuscany and northern Lazio. The civilization lasted from about the 7th century BCE until the 2nd century BCE.
Speaker 1:The Romans also potentially thought of Februrus as the god of fever, which again kind of goes really well with the theme of purification and the sweating out of the toxins. So we can kind of see the through line there. So this connection right between the god of Februrus, the month of February and Lupercalia is very important, I think, to understanding the root of these traditions and celebrations that occurred during this time of the year. And even if we do all leave this episode feeling like Lupercalia didn't actually have anything to do with the origins of Valentine's Day, which again I'm not entirely sure I believe. But if that's kind of what scholars say, I think what we're still doing here is looking at the history of the different festivals and traditions that were celebrated around the same time. In a calendar year that Valentine's Day is celebrated right, so that's not nothing.
Speaker 1:In addition to the Purification Festival that happened for the god Februis, in mid-February another festival took place. This was a Roman festival for Faunus and also a festival for the she-wolf that nursed Romulus and Remus. I'll explain more about that in one second. But in honor of Faunus, sacrifices and other purification rituals took place, again thematically quite similar, but because the celebrations for Faunus and Februa were so close together and similar, some believed that these gods were really the same entity, meaning that these two entities became less distinct from each other, even though they were, at one point, two distinct things Fabrua and Faunus.
Speaker 1:But let's talk a little bit about Faunus, a god who predated the more well-known entity, pan. Faunus is a precursor for Pan and if you've seen the Hellier series, this might be particularly interesting to you. He was also known as Innes I-N-N-U-S. Faunus, or Innes, was one of the oldest Roman gods. He was believed to be the god of fields, plains and the forest, which makes total sense, of course, because at the time that he was, you know, truly, really believed in people would live and die by crops and fields and plains and access to natural resources. So I think that it makes sense that he's thought to be a very powerful god. He was also believed to make livestock and cattle fertile again, something that would have been incredibly important to the quality of life for people who believed in him as Innes. Interestingly, he was also the god of sexual intercourse, maybe a little bit of a precursor.
Speaker 1:There we can thank Livy, or Titus Livius, who was a Roman historian born in 59 BC, who connected this entity to Lupercalia. So, from the texts that we have available to us, right, historian Livy, who his name comes up, I would say, quite often in research of this era, lived many, many years before us, but also many, many years after a lot of the stuff we're talking about, so kind of a bridge in the middle. But he is the one who connects this entity of faunus, or innus, or precursor to Pan, to the festival of Lupercalia. So I'm going to quote from his writing. Quote naked young men would run around venerating Lycian Pan, who the Romans then called innus, with antics and lewd behavior. End quote One of the festivals in his honor was celebrated on February 13th on the island of Tiber, while Lupercalia was mainly celebrated on February 15th.
Speaker 1:So, again February 13th, we have a festival in the honor of Faunus right and Innes, who is the god of sexual intercourse. And then on February 15th we have the Festival of Lupercalia, which we're going to talk about a little bit more now. I wanted to go through all of that backstory and Roman entity god stuff because I think it's important to understand all of that a little bit before we talk about what Lupercalia actually was, because, again, it's highly debated. There are even some connections that historians point to between Lupercalia and the ancient Greek festival of Arcadian Lycaea, which was a wolf festival worshipping the Greek equivalent of Faunus. And it's sort of a funny thing, the strange connection here to these festivals and the worshipping of wolves or wolf-like creatures. In some accounts Faunus is described as he who wards off wolves. So some of these are festivals in honor of wolves and right, in some are festivals in honor of somebody who is known to ward off wolves or keep them away. And things get even murkier because there was a female goddess called Februata who was believed to rule over this time of year, right, but we're just going to put that aside for now because there's a lot going on here already. The wolf theme isn't totally random because it does tie in the Roman belief that this date was connected to Romulus and Remus.
Speaker 1:The short version goes that Romulus and Remus were twin brothers said to be founders of Rome. According to legend, they were the sons of Mars, the god of war, and Rhea Silvia, a Vestal virgin, a priestess in ancient Rome dedicated to the goddess Vesta, the deity of the hearth, home and family. Their uncle, fearing they would challenge his rule as king, ordered them to be killed and they were abandoned in the Tiber River. A she-wolf rescued and nursed them until a shepherd found and raised them. So this she-wolf entity initially brought them to a cave called the Looper Call. See where we're going here. As adults, the brothers decided to build a city, but disagreed on its location. Romulus wanted the Palatine Hill, while Remus preferred the Aventine Hill. Their dispute escalated and Romulus killed Remus. Romulus then founded Rome on April 21, 753 BCE, naming it after himself and becoming its first king.
Speaker 1:Quoting from the Timecom article by Cat Moon, quote what is known about Lupercalia is that it started with an act of sacrifice. Priests of the god Lupercus, called the Luperci, would take off their clothes and slaughter goats in the Lupercal, the cave that Roman legend held to have believed the location where the city founders Romulus and Remus were nursed by a wolf. The Luperci would then cut the goat's skin into strips and run around the Palatine Hill in Rome striking women with the goat's skin, end quote. So I just really wanted to throw us into what this festival was. Cold turkey, right, but let's talk about it in a little more detail.
Speaker 1:This hitting of women with the goat's skin wasn't done without a purpose. It was believed that it would make the women more fertile and able to give birth to more children. And there's even more debate here, right, because some scholars believe that this act of striking was done symbolically and was not meant to be overly violent or harmful, but more of like a gesture towards right, the inherent meaning of the act. In addition to the fertility aspect, the festival also served another purpose. It's believed by some historians that this served as the sexual initiation of young men, a transition into adulthood.
Speaker 1:But I can't stress enough that Lupercalia is a bit of an enigma, right, not only for modern scholars, who debate the purpose behind these rituals and traditions, but also for Romans at the time. According to the Time article by Cat Moon, there is evidence that even modern Romans at the time were confused by the acts of the priests during this festival. So, just to reiterate what we've covered so far, lupercalia itself started as, like, a very specific cult festival in ancient Rome where these priests priests of the god Lupercus, who are called the Luperci would take off their clothes, slaughter animals, you know, and hit women with the skins. And we've talked a lot about the sort of precursor gods that came before this festival, but let's talk about Lupercus, right. So, again, the Luperci were priests that were dedicated to the god Lupercus. Lupercus was, of course, a Roman god. He was the protector of farmers, wild animals and harvesting Again, very, very similar to Faunus and some of the other gods that we talked about that are associated with this time of year. He was primarily worshipped, as you can imagine, by shepherds, because he was thought of as someone who would protect these flocks of animals and also encourage fertility in these flocks of animals. And the Lupercal, which again, is that cave where the she-wolf took Romulus and Remus to nurse them back to health. This was thought of as his sanctuary, and it is also why Lupercalia was a celebration that helped pregnant women. But you can also see, to some degree, right, the leap that was made from. Okay, there's this tradition around this time of year of worshiping this God who protects shepherds, who encourages fertility and animals, because that's something that's important to people at this time and you want to translate that fertility and animals to people, right? So we're going to skin these animals in like the sacrificial way and use those skins and that essence to hit these women, and that's you know, again, sort of very roughly how we ended up there. Also, really similar to Faunus, right? Lupercus is also sometimes looped in with the god Pan in Greek mythology, another really cool kind of through line between these different things we're talking about.
Speaker 1:In addition to the fertility aspect, the festival also served another purpose. It's believed by some historians that this served as the sexual initiation of young men, a transition into adulthood. So if you Google the history of Valentine's Day right now, a lot of the articles will generally point you towards Lupercalia because, again, it is a festival that was celebrated around February 15. Here we are, february 14, right mid February, celebrating Valentine's Day, and oh, oh, look, this festival has a lot to do with fertility and and initiations into being an adult, sexually, right. Okay, I can understand why we would think that, but there's also this really interesting aspect of Lupercalia which I think sort of seals its fate, whether or not it's totally true that it is the precursor of Valentine's Day, and that is the fact that some say Lupercalia included a matchmaking ritual where men would pull the names of women out of a jar or an urn and remain coupled up with that person for the duration of the celebration, and maybe even longer if there was actually a match there.
Speaker 1:This information comes from the NPR article by Arnie Seipel, but again, there's conflicting beliefs on this one. Some scholars even reject that this matchmaking ritual existed entirely. But regardless of this piece, it's certainly a festival filled with drunken debauchery, as most Roman festivals seem to have been, if sources are to be believed. It's also interesting to note that the festival seemed to calm down a bit as time went on. So while perhaps at its peak it was this naked, drunken, violent you know extravaganza, for lack of a better word Over time it became a little bit more subtle. The people would tend to wear clothes instead of stripping naked, and women were hit on their hands instead of anywhere on their bodies. I'm not saying that that's entirely better, I'm just saying that that seems to be kind of a bit of an evolution, with the festival Jumping ahead to the 5th century, pope Galatius officially declared February 14th to be Valentine's Day.
Speaker 1:So how did we get there? Some believe this was part of a plan to convert this pagan tradition again the tradition of Lupercalia to a more quote-unquote, civilized Christian version, something we see with many major pagan holidays from antiquity. But there are a few different and fun reasons why the name Valentine may have gotten dragged into this whole thing. So I want to talk to you a little bit about some of the urban legend and folklore of what kind of happened, but we'll know that there's a bit of a plot twist at the end.
Speaker 1:Perhaps the most romantic of these stories dates back to the 3rd century AD, when Emperor Claudius II was so frustrated that his soldiers missed their spouses and children so much while they were away at war that he banned marriage. And so, again you know, claudius had all of these men and boys out fighting and they were pining over their lost loved ones and their wives and their children. And he grew so frustrated with this, which he saw as a weakness, and he decided to ban marriage as an easy fix right. He thought all relationships were distractions from his army and from war and fighting and protecting your home. But a priest named Father Valentine refused to honor his ban and continued to perform clandestine wedding ceremonies. Forever a romantic, I would say. And so the story continues that Emperor Claudius II figured out what Father Valentine was up to and had him arrested. While the priest awaited his execution date, legend has it that the couples that he wed would visit him in prison and pass him flowers and trinkets through the bars of his cell.
Speaker 1:But things get even mushier. Father Valentine was scheduled to be put to death on February 14th, but it turned out that he had fallen in love with the daughter of his captor. Of course, some even claim that he was able to restore the sight of his jailer's blind daughter. So some say that he really was quite talented. So of course, he left her a letter before he was killed, which he signed from your Valentine. You can see the through line here to our modern day tradition of giving out Valentine's cards to classmates and crushes, but of course also this idea of claiming someone as your Valentine. Right, will you be my Valentine. And all of this is well and good. But sadly for Father Valentine, he was eventually beheaded in Rome.
Speaker 1:It's estimated that he died sometime during 270 AD, and though some legends connect the date of his execution to February 14th. It's more likely that Valentine's Day falls on February 14th because of Lupercalia, and, not to exclude anyone, there are actually other saints to consider here. So I'm going to quote here from the Smithsoniancom article by Lisa Battelle the Gory Origins of Valentine's Day, quote ancient sources reveal that there were several St Valentines who died on February 14th. Two of them were executed during the reign of Roman Emperor Claudius Gothicus in 269 to 270 AD, at a time when prosecution of Christians was common. How do we know this? Because an order of Belgian monks spent three centuries collecting evidence for the lives of saints from manuscript archives around the world. Jumping ahead in the article a little bit here, but continuing the quote, quote the earliest Valentinus is said to have died in Africa along with 24 soldiers.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, even the Balandists, who are the monks collecting this data, could not find any more information about him. As the monks knew. Sometimes all that the saints left behind was a name and a day of death, end quote. So I think that gives us a little more understanding about why things are so murky and why there are so many different versions of these kind of romantic events, that that happen surrounding and leading up to Valentine's Day. Even these monks who are compiling this information hundreds of years ago sort of understand the shortcomings of the of the data that they were given, and they say that it's likely that it's not actually these three different saints named Valentine who are separately executed in all of these different lingering stories. It's likely that this information was written down different ways, with different information, but it was all based on one source event, right? And so that's the thing that we don't have a ton of information about, beyond what these monks have collected. And so all of the legend that I just talked you through, right, the imprisoned priest being able to heal the blind, or performing these secret Christian marriage rituals or passing notes between you know, different Christian lovers All of this is thought to be a bit more romantic than what happened in actuality and a bit of urban legend, but I like to include it because I think that it is quite fun, right, and it's a good story, and if you've ever been to a very old historic church or monastery across Europe, you know a lot of them have what they claim to be relics of saints, and there are quite a few that claim to have relics of St Valentine. Because, again, it's just such a sprawling history that has not been very well documented or contained, and so the imagination has been left to run wild. And I want to share a fun tidbit from that article, called St Valentine's Day, by Ellen Castillo, and this is on historic-ukcom Quote.
Speaker 1:The first real association of St Valentine's Day with romantic love or lovebirds derives from Geoffrey Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls, dating from 1382. Chaucer celebrated the engagement of the 15-year-old King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia via a poem in which he wrote True to form, though it was a Frenchman who is recorded as sending the earliest surviving Valentine's note to his sweetheart Charles. The Duke of Orleans was writing to her from his prison cell in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In the poem, the Duke talks of his love for his wife and refers to her as my very sweet Valentine. So again, obviously this is a very similar piece of history, right? And I would say that the version I shared moments ago about the priest is probably a bit more folklore. Well, this has more historic proof behind it. Ellen Castillo, in her article, also points out that by 1601, this holiday appears to be a pretty established part of English tradition right and kind of makes an appearance in William Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Speaker 1:Okay, jumping ahead to modern times, let's take a moment to shed some light on the infamous icon of Valentine's Day, cupid. You're probably already familiar with Cupid, a cherub god of love and attraction. The ancient Greek version is Eros. Cupid has been adorning cartoons and greeting cards for decades, and Cupid's heart-tipped arrow has become a symbol of Valentine's Day. But who decided that a baby in a diaper should be the symbol of the most romantic day in the calendar? A question that we deserve an answer to.
Speaker 1:It seems like folks have sort of tried to rationalize this decision away by assigning meaning to his quality. So, for example, this decision away by assigning meaning to his quality. So, for example, it's said that he carries an arrow and torch because of the often harmful and inflammatory side effects of love and passion. His wings represent the fickleness of lovers. Cupid's arrows have two types of powers His golden tip arrows can inject and instigate love, while his dull lead arrows can cause a lover to retreat.
Speaker 1:But because it's so interesting, let's talk a little bit about the history of Cupid. So, like I said, cupid started out as the Greek god Eros and was later re-skinned by the Romans into Cupid. Eros is the Greek word for desire. Eros' parents were Aphrodite and Ares or, on the Roman side, venus and Mars. Either way, his parents are the gods of love and war, blending into a fiery, passionate sun. Quoting from the Time article by Rachel E Greenspan. Quote the original Cupid was more of a heartthrob than a cherub.
Speaker 1:Traced back to 700 BC, this character of legend was called Eros, the Greek word for desire. In the archaic period, eros, the son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, would play with the hearts of mortals and gods. So this was seen right as somewhat of a sinister, ominous quality, as a punishment. Quoting from Hippodiles, a 5th century BCE play by Euripides, quote I pray that love may never come to me with murderous intent, in rhythms measureless and wild. End. Quote. And in this case the word love translates to Eros or Cupid. So again, this real fear that this god of love would come to you and match you with somebody as a punishment right, instead of matching you with somebody as a wonderful thing.
Speaker 1:But around the fourth century BCE there was a shift in popular perception of Eros. Before this point in history, he was described as incredibly powerful, a being to fear, despite his associations with love, and while perhaps his reputation can be traced back to the power of his father, it's actually the power of his mother that softens his image. It came to be a common belief that Eros answered to his mother, the goddess of love, and if that's true, then there was nothing to fear. This shift in perception softened his image quite significantly. Another way to limit his power and strength is, of course, to depict him as a child. So if he truly is an entity that people live in fear of, then of course it makes sense to try to figure out some way to make him seem less threatening. And by the time he was Romanified, if you will, he was already seen as a cherub. Cupid's popularity surged again with the Renaissance painters, who seemed to be particularly taken with him, always painting him as a child.
Speaker 1:Quoting one more time from Greenspan's Time article, this time on the more modern history of Valentine's Day, quote the industry really hit its stride in the 1850s after Congress voted to decrease postage rates in an effort to circumvent the privatization of the postal service. This postal reform made it possible for everyday Americans to send and receive mail, while the Industrial Revolution brought the advent of printing press technology. So when Hallmark began manufacturing Valentine's Day cards in 1916, this mass production meant sending postcards was much cheaper and easier. As Valentine's Day became more convenient, cupid imagery only continued to grow, end quote. And just a side note that I didn't know and I thought it's interesting Hallmark actually started as a postcard company in 1910.
Speaker 1:There is so much more to each of these myths and legends and it's very, very complicated, and there's, I kind of think of it as three different pillars. Right, there's the first pillar, which is Lupercalia, which again is highly, highly debated. A lot of people think there's just absolutely nothing there besides this kind of tangential thematic alignment, that it really has nothing to do with the history of Valentine's Day as we know today. Okay, but I still maintain that there is a history and a precedent across thousands of years to have celebrations mid-February, right? So even if it's just the choosing of a date, I think that that's important. Then we have the second pillar, which is really what we don't know about St Valentine, right? And how many St Valentines were there actually? And are any of these different stories true to St Valentine? Or was it actually this Frenchman right in the 1800s? And so there is a lot of ebb and flow here, but we do know St Valentine was a person and they were executed. But there's so much to fill in here and obviously urban legend has done the trick. And then the third pillar, I think, is really modern day, valentine's traditions, right, and Cupid really brings us into modern times.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, the commercialization comes through, with the things that we do today, sending chocolates and flowers and roses and cards to each other. You know, I think that's something that has a through line, you know, and growing up in the 90s, bringing your little Valentine's Day sheets to people was super fun and I enjoyed doing that. You'd punch out the little cards and fill them in and send a carnation to your friends, which was maybe highly toxic, but you know what I look back in fond memory. Okay. So of course, we have to talk about horror films that play with Valentine's Day and, unlike some topics on this podcast, which really tried to trace back a horror trope to its historic roots, this is a little bit different, but there are still some really fun Valentine's Day horror films, so let's talk about them. The first is the Love Witch from 2016, which was directed by Anna Billier and it stars Samantha Robinson. It tells the story of a witch who uses ritual spells to incite love. I mean, the best part of this movie to me is this beautiful pulp novel aesthetic and while it's not a thousand percent a film about Valentine's Day, it's got that icky sort of sticky, lovey-dovey mushiness, but like in a horrifying way. I 10 out of 10. I cannot talk about the Love Witch enough. That is a whole topic on itself. Raising Cain from 1992 by Brian De Palma is also a really good Valentine's Day film and it takes place on Valentine's Day, so it's much more related, and it stars John Lith Lithgow. 10 out of 10. Couldn't recommend more.
Speaker 1:My Bloody Valentine from 1981. And then there's a 2009 remake as well. This film is usually at the top of the list for Valentine's Day horror movies. It tells the story of a local urban legend in the form of a killer that comes to be on Valentine's Day and for something a little bit different Picnic at Hanging Rock from 1975. It's based on an Australian historical fiction novel by Joan Lindsay. It's famous for its very soft and dreamy visuals and it tells the story of a group of girls from the Victorian era who are taken on a picnic by the headmistress of their private school Until, of course, something horrible happens.
Speaker 1:Valentine from 2001,. Right, an early 2000s slasher movie which we always love, and this one stars Denise Richards and Katherine Heigl. It was directed by Jamie Blanks and it tells the story of four young women looking for love on Valentine's Day and also shout out to our friend Kate Rotunda. Kate is really I like to call her our horror encyclopedia friend. She knows every horror movie and is such a great resource and helps us with some of the research for different lists and things that we put out and and it's just all in an amazing person. But she also added to her list this year which will be coming out on social media, lisa Frankenstein and Death Becomes Her. I would say it's interesting. Usually Kate and I have totally different lists for these topics, but Valentine's Day was pretty close and I would also sign off on Lisa Frankenstein and Death Becomes Her and Jennifer's Body. Actually she added that as well. I feel like I think about Valentine's Day horror movies in the same way I think about Halloween horror movies, in that obviously, jennifer's Body is not really a Valentine's Day horror movie. However, it's very fun and it's love themed and that alone kind of makes it right for the holiday. Lisa Frankenstein I actually saw in theaters on February 13th last year, so to me it will always be associated with Valentine's Day.
Speaker 1:Every year, thousands of people send letters to arrive on Valentine's Day to Verona, italy. All of these letters are addressed to Juliet, the leading character in Shakespeare's infamous play Romeo and Juliet. These letters don't remain unopened. Quite the opposite, they are opened and responded to by volunteer members of the Juliet Club. Each year the club awards the title of Cara Giulietta, dear Juliet, to the letter they find to be the most touching and moving. We all know that this year and the next few will undoubtedly be scary and difficult. I think for a lot of us right now things already feel scary and there are certainly bigger fish to fry than the history of Valentine's Day. But I wanted to leave us with this cute little story about Verona, italy, and the letters to Juliet, because one art really can endure and two art really can make a difference, and finding little moments to celebrate love in all of its forms and shapes is a very powerful act. So for anyone who does celebrate Valentine's Day, happy Valentine's Day to you and for anyone who doesn't.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening, because I think at the root of all of it is that things are not what they seem. Traditions are never what they seem. The reason why we celebrate things today is never the reason why something started to be celebrated thousands of years ago. And I think all of that just speaks to the need for humanity to adapt and change as time goes on. And I'm not saying that we shouldn't celebrate Valentine's Day, but I am saying that we should be open-minded and shift our thinking and have conversations with those around us and make sure that we are adapting as things change and as we learn more about the world and what people need. Thank you guys for listening. I hope this solo episode wasn't totally boring without Alan's interjections every few minutes throughout. Don't worry, he will be back soon. I hope all of you are staying safe, staying well. We will talk to you soon. Bye. Thanks for watching.
