HALLOWEEN, NOW...

The tampered treat scares of the 1970s and 80s are now just a dim memory. The Internet, thank God, has become the ultimate debunker of urban legends. Snopes.com , in particular, does a decent job of confronting the faux boogeymen that strike fear into the hearts of the gullible (of which I, on occassion, am one).

The site examines the history of false reports of poisoned candy and sheds light on the hand full of cases involving pins and needles. If academic appraisals are more your bailiwick... you might want to check out Dangers in the Halloween Candy…a Myth by Michael Pinney, Professor of Psychology & Folklorist, North Harris College.

At the very least, the articles will make you feel a little better about sending your wee-one out into the neighborhood.

Here in Ann Arbor, my neighborhood can only be described as Rockwellian (as in Norman). The neighbors all know each other, kids walk to school, dog owners gather in the park every night after the last soccer game has ended and in the winter, the 20 foot mound endearingly called 'Magic Mountain' is overrun by pre-teen sledders and their snot-nosed siblings.

This Halloween, like last, we expect 500+ trick or treaters. Our block is ground zero for teens and tots looking to fill their pillow cases and plastic pumpkins with cavity-inducing confections. Every year we spend $50-60 on candy, which Nate, my 4-year-old son, excitedly hands out to the endless stream of costumed canvassers.

During the entire decade I lived in the Pacific Northwest (Portland and Seattle) I could count the number of trick or treaters that came by our house on one hand. Year after year I picked up a couple of bags of candy in expectation of 3 year-old princesses and 4 year-old super heroes ringing my door bell. And year after year I'd end up sharing the fun size chocolate bars with my wife over a rerun of The Simpsons. At least it was a Tree House of Horrors episode.

Ann Arbor, for all its faults, has become a Halloween mecca and every year I spend a little more on decorations and hand outs. This year I bought glow-in-the-dark bats for all the kids at Nate's daycare.

Yet, despite my holiday enthusiasm, I live in the shadow of my neighbor three houses down. Each year, Jim lines his formidable entry way with boxes and boxes of full size candy bars and treats. Every visitor gets to select their choice of sweet and, as you might expect, kids line up in droves to get a grab at the booty. It's the Halloween Holy Grail. And greedy 6th graders trade costumes for a second trip to the trough.

My only consolation is that our house is the most decorated destination on the block. Tombstones spring from our garden, a skeletal scarecrow sits on the porch. Hanging from the second story porch a ghostly apparition sways in the wind as a hidden boom box broadcasts terrifying moans and screams. I can't get the Halloween bug out of my system and year by year my son becomes more infected. It warms my heart and worries my wife.

I can't wait until he's old enough to watch horror films with me. We'll start gently with Universal's Creature Classics (Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Mummy, etc) then see where the mayhem leads us....