When I was little there was something delightfully scary about running around after dark, ringing doorbells and, instead of running away, staying to collect candy. Free. What a deal. Whoever thought this one up was a genius! As best I could tell, the basic concept here was that small, impressionable children could scare away ghosts by dressing up like them and ingesting obscene amounts of sugar. Worked for me!

Fast forward a few years to early adulthood. We were all grown up, so what was there to be afraid of? We traded post-Halloween stomach-aches for hangovers. Instead of collecting candy, maybe you collected phone numbers of that cute guy in the Viking costume, or the gal dressed up as a French maid. There was hardly anything left to be afraid of anymore so we went to midnight showings of Nightmare on Elm Street and lost sleep worrying what that creaking noise was.

Soon we were escorting our own little goblins door to door, visiting with our neighbors and feigning fear when our kids clung tight at the spookiest houses, unaware of the mechanics behind howling pumpkins, jiggling ghosts and the steaming witch's cauldron. Were we ever so afraid? That was years ago.

My little ghosties are all grown now. Halloween night is more fun than fear as we enjoy the parade of pirates and princesses trick-or-treating at our door. All we have left to fear are the extra pounds from too many miniature candy bars.

Ahh...but isn't that how it always goes? The Dark Lords ease you into a sense of complacency and then, just when you least expect it, they strike. Do they send demons? Witches? Werewolves?

Don't be silly; they know we're far too mature for such childish frights. They'll prey instead upon grown-up fears: increased taxes, questionable plea bargains and FBI investigations. I can almost hear Vincent Price intoning the invitation, "Won't you join me for the Gubernatorial Debate? Guaranteed to send chills up your spine! 8pm, Halloween night, channel 9."

Now that's trick-or-treating, grown-up style!