Is trick-or-treating dangerous now, with the threat of poisoned candy from all of the real-life monsters out there? That is the impression of many parents. Actually, though, all that talk of poisoned treats is an urban legend. It’s not true. Needles and razor blades in apples, though, have been found, though very rarely. I know what some of you are thinking: But that happened to a friend of a friend of mine! But such second-degree sourcing is a mark of… Read more

On an earllier blog post, I complained about how Halloween is getting ever more gruesome, sexualized, and taken over by adults. But now I read that companies are making–and apparently parents are buying–sexually-oriented costumes for little girls! Pre-teens! As young as 8! Read this and be appalled: Gabby is 11. And the Playboy Racy Referee costume was only the latest that her mother had vetoed one pre-Halloween-crazed afternoon at Party City in Baileys Crossroads as too skimpy, too revealing, too… Read more

Halloween used to be a holiday that centered on little kids getting dressed up and going trick-or-treating. Now, adults have taken over the day, knocking down the children and turning Halloween into a gore-fest. Adults have injected both sex and violence into the day, with one-up-manship centered on how to outdo one’s neighbors in images of sado-masochistic horror. That’s not just me talking, it’s “The Washington Post.” Read Terri Sapienza’s article entitled When Did Halloween Get So Gruesome? A sampling:… Read more