September 19, 2001

  • Question of the Season: What in the world should we do with Halloween?


    The candy and costumes are now in the stores.  It’s 42 days until Halloween 2001.  Is America ready for a celebration that characteristically embodies horror and terror as one of its prime elements?


    Some observations and speculations:


    Will there be Osama bin Laden costumes?  If so, will those who wear them be in danger of physical threats and attacks from outraged “patriots”?


    Will/should parents allow children to collect candy from anyone other than a trusted family friend?  Should we fear that terrorists—or psychos caught up in the real terror now unleashed in our world—might target children as a terror target?


    Will organized religion take a lead in now trying to stomp out the Halloween tradition, a tradition of pagan origins, as “insensitive, dangerous, and inapropos” to our “new reality” because of its dark coloring of terror?


    A search of the Northern Light search engine provides about 701,000 hits for “Halloween” and about 25,000 hits for “Halloween and terror” for approximately a 4% joint mention of the two versus just the holiday itself.  Altavista provides about 865,000 hits for “Halloween” and about 17,000 joint hits for about a 2% joint mention.  How sensitive will we be, should we be to this traditional association?


    Would you still visit a haunted house called “The House of Terror” ?  And if so, would you be outraged, terrified, or amused if a ”bin Laden monster” jumped out at you?


    Do you want to bet that think-tanks and boards of directors in the candy and costume industries are not discussing these issues right now? 

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