Yes It’s True: Fear has too long of a ruining shelf life

“Be afraid. Be very afraid.” — Actress Gina Davis in “The Fly.”

“The only thing we have to fear is… fear itself.” — President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933.

Halloween 1970 for me was surrounded by fear.

My brother, Gib Goodwin, put on a terrific show wearing a wig and using a spooky voice while greeting trick or treaters and playing really creepy music from “2001: A Space Odyssey.” A good friend and roommate at GVSU Jim Shafer died in a car accident. And there was news that someone had put a razor blade inside an apple for trick or treaters.

That last development still has a shelf life. There is no evidence it actually happened, but it seems as though Halloween every year since then has been plagued by some kind of horror story for parents about trick or treaters.

This year’s entry, according to one of my favorite podcasts, “American Hysteria,” is rainbow fentanyl disguised as multi-colored candy. To be sure, Halloween isn’t until Monday evening, but fear will hover over the celebration like the ghost of Petroushka over the carnival.

I have no issue with parents examining the loot their kids have brought home or with authorities doing candy checks, all in the interests of safety, because one casualty would be too many.

But some have taken a long-standing urban myth and blown it out of proportion by insisting the kids engage in an alternative to trick-or-treating, “because it’s not safe.” Actually, a good portion of the “Trunk or Treat” alternatives are based in churches that long have maintained that Halloween itself is anti-Christian and heretical.

The following are “Trunk or Treat” of fall festival alternatives on the same night at about the same time as the long standing tradition:

• Halloween Fun Night, Wayland Calvary Church.
• Harvest Party Trick or Treat Indoors, Gun Lake Community Church.
• Martin United Methodist Church.
• Trunk N Treat, Dorr Bible Church.
• Fall Fest at Lifechange Church in Burnips.
• Education Station in Dorr.

All are billed as a “safe, fun and FREE event for the whole family,” as if the traditional Halloween is not safe and not family friendly. It makes me sad because the traditional door-to-door activity I grew up with so many years ago is under unfair attack.

I only listed the alternatives that are planned for Halloween night to steer trick-or-treaters away from neighborhoods. I do not speak of Hallowed Halls and the Monster Mash this weekend in downtown Wayland. They are scheduled in addition to trick-or-treating.

It is amazing what fear can do, especially when it’s uncalled for. We’ve been bombarded lately by laughable, but troubling TV political advertisements that show opponents in unflattering, dark, black and white photos and videos, contrasted by the heroic and hopeful candidate serenely in color. The idea from marketing and advertising is manipulate the voters’ emotions.

It has made me very sad for a long time that political campaigns too often these days are decided by who has the most clever advertising, regardless of whether it’s true or not.

I wish the best Monday night for all kids who continue to go door to door and make this an annual community event.

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” — Bertrand Russell