[Note: Today you\u2019re likely to encounter creatures that are strange, shocking, and slightly scary (goblins, vampires, Lutherans, etc.). October 31 is both Halloween and Reformation Day, and since both sit uncomfortably side-by-side on the calendar, it seemed fitting to put them together\u2014uncomfortably side-by-side\u2014on this special edition of 33 Things.]<\/em><\/p>\n 1. Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p> 2. No child has ever been killed by poisoned candy. Ever.<\/a><\/p>\n Halloween is the day when America market-tests parental paranoia. If a new fear flies on Halloween, it\u2019s probably going to catch on the rest of the year, too.<\/p>\n Take \u201cstranger danger,\u201d the classic Halloween horror. Even when I was a kid, back in the \u201cBewitched\u201d and \u201cBrady Bunch\u201d costume era, parents were already worried about neighbors poisoning candy. Sure, the folks down the street might smile and wave the rest of the year, but apparently they were just biding their time before stuffing us silly with strychnine-laced Smarties.<\/p>\n That was a wacky idea, but we bought it. We still buy it, even though Joel Best, a sociologist at the University of Delaware, has researched the topic and spends every October telling the press that there has never been a single case of any child being killed by a stranger\u2019s Halloween candy. (Oh, yes, he concedes, there was once a Texas boy poisoned by a Pixie Stix. But his dad did it for the insurance money. He was executed.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p> 3. Timothy George on Reformation Day<\/a><\/p>\n It was not Luther\u2019s intention to divide the Church, much less to start a brand new church. To the end of his life, he considered himself to be a faithful and obedient servant of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. Though Luther renounced his monastic vows and married a former nun, Katarina von Bora, he never forgot that he had received a doctorate in Holy Scripture. His vocation was to teach the written Word of God and to point men and women to the Lord of Scripture, Jesus Christ.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p> 4. The 10 Scariest Haunted Houses in America<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p> 5. Reformation Day for a Mere Christian<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For most conservative American evangelicals, \u201cReformation Day\u201d is not a big deal. Many, if asked, might think it to be a special emphasis day for prison ministry.<\/p>\n Most of us know the day as Halloween instead (or something closely approximating it), even if we feel a little guilty about that. I\u2019ll be away traveling tonight, unable to indulge the trick-or-treaters, so maybe I\u2019ll just nail 95 Reese\u2019s to the door.<\/p>\n But as one who grew up in a half-Catholic, half-Baptist extended family, October 31st is an interesting time for me. What would Martin Luther have done on that thundrous road if he\u2019d had a background like mine? Invited Saint Anne into his heart as his personal lightning rod? Pledged to start a \u201cTrue Nuns Wait\u201d campaign?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p> 6. When Did Halloween Get So Tawdry?<\/a><\/p>\n When did sexy costumes become the norm?<\/p>\n In the 1970s. Costuming has been a part of Halloween since at least the 19th century, when Scottish and Irish children went \u201cguising\u201d house-to-house on in exchange for coins. The Victorians enjoyed a good costume ball on Halloween, and some daring get-ups, like Gypsy outfits, were popular. But risqu\u00e9 costumes were not pervasive until right around Gerald Ford\u2019s presidency, when homosexual communities in the United States adopted Halloween as an occasion for revealing, over-the-top attire.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p> 7. Quote of the Week: \u201cUnless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason \u2013 I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other \u2013 my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.\u201d \u2013 Martin Luther before the Imperial Diet<\/p>\n <\/p> 8. The Candy Hierarchy<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p> 9. What is Reformation Day?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p> 10. Is Halloween Good or Bad for Civil Society?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p> 11. Evangelical Definition and Halloween<\/a><\/p>\n An evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up for Halloween.<\/p>\n A conservative evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up for the church\u2019s \u201cFall Festival.\u201d<\/p>\n A confessional evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up for \u201cReformation Day.\u201d<\/p>\n An emerging evangelical is a fundamentalist who has no kids, but who dresses up for Halloween anyway.<\/p>\n A revivalist evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up as demons for the church\u2019s \u201cJudgment House\u201d community evangelism outreach.<\/p>\n A fundamentalist is a fundamentalist whose kids hand out gospel tracts to all those mentioned above.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p> 12. Image of the Week: Knitted Skeleton<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p> 13. What about All Saints Day<\/a>?<\/p>\n <\/p> 14. 6 Terrifying TV Shows to Keep You Up at Night<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p> 15. Reformation Day Reflections on Calvin and Calvinism<\/a><\/p>\n A friend familiar with a recent Orthodox-Anglican dialogue passed along some details of the proceedings, including that the Orthodox gave the Anglicans six steps or concerns that had to be addressed before talk of communion could be entered into seriously. For those with a truly ecumenical spirit, the fact that four of the six could be agreed upon immediately is source for some joy.<\/p>\n But one of the other concerns was the so-called \u201cCalvinism\u201d of the Anglican and broader Protestant churches. While the concern might simply be with a broader kind of Augustinianism, it would do us well I think to reflect a bit on the term Calvinism and it\u2019s theological and historical usefulness (or lack thereof).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p> 16. Infographic of the Week: How Dangerous Is a Zombie?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p> 17. Martin Luther Rap<\/p>\n