I read somewhere that parents should carefully check the candy their children obtain begging door to door.  Someone shared candy that must’ve been in the pantry for several years and there were worms in it!  Others fear drugs might be laced into the candy.  There’s also a call out to warn the kids that you may be giving them something that contains peanuts or other things that children may have allergies to. Why would you even take your child out to gather treats if they had allergies?

What used to be a fun time for kids, now has to be monitored by the candy police.  Several churches host “Trunk or Treat” events, which allow folks to congregate in their parking lot and hand out treats from the trunks of their cars.  A party with games and prizes usually follows.  It seems like all the mystery and scariness of Halloween should be celebrated, yet whatever they get for nothing is subject to scrutiny.  I could write an entire article on how our welfare system compares to trick or treating, but that would be a digression of what I wanted to talk about today.

We often ventured into unknown neighborhoods of people who could’ve meant to harm us, but we didn’t care.  We were invincible.  As we became teenagers, the costumes turned darker, the makeup hid every ounce of who we were and still we clamored from house to house.  Some were accused of mischief, but for me it meant a whole sack full of treats which would satisfy my sweet tooth for at least a month.

It’s kind of sad that kids can’t seem to have that element of adventure in their lives anymore.  That being said, we had two children at our door last night.  I planned for many more, so now I have a basket full of candy that may turn wormy if I let it sit too long.  Since I have absolutely no food allergies, guess who’s going to be eating all that junk?

I gave up waiting for hoards of children and tuned into TCM.  Last night they featured a host of Vincent Price movies. “The House of Wax,” The Pit and the Pendulum,” and another Poe thriller, “The Mask of the Red Death.”  My husband went to bed, so I was alone in the darkness with only the blue glow of the TV.  I got to thinking how fun it used to be to get scared to death.

As I watched these melodramatic movies, I had to chuckle at the over acting, but at the same time, it was fun recalling my own childhood – remembering that when I was young, there wasn’t a constant fear of being bullied – being terrified by a mind altered, gun wielding individual who would threaten lives or just being part of the group.  The only concern for us was getting as much free stuff as we could and sitting huddled together watching old scary movies.  For a short time, I was reliving my youth.  It took a lot of tossing and turning before I actually fell asleep.  Nothing like a scary movie to get your adrenaline going.