I love Halloween, and I always have. It’s that one time of year when kids get to explore their imaginations, become an entirely different person (or creepy thing) and bribe adults into giving them as much sugar as they can handle. Now what can be wrong with that?

The older kids have fun as well. They enjoy scaring themselves (and each other) with pranks, scary movies and urban legends that always happened right here in this town. (I always like the one about the guy with the hook for a hand who just escaped from the mental institution. It’s a classic.) Unfortunately, for some time the fun side of Halloween and the scary side have been mixing, and I’m not sure I like the results.

I know instilling fear in people, about anything from terrorists attacks, biological warfare, and new infections that are resistant to most antibiotics seems like the norm, but when fear mongers start attacking Halloween, that’s where I draw the line.

For years, children have been warned of the hidden dangers that could lie in their Halloween basket.