Like roller coasters and horror movies, Halloween amps up the fun by mixing in a dose of fear. Go too light on the scariness — make the coaster too slow, for example, or the monster too tame — and the enjoyment drains away.
Perhaps that’s why we keep injecting fake but real-sounding fear into Halloween. Wicked witches don’t scare us much these days, so we convince one another that trick-or-treaters could be snatched off the porch by child molesters, or that their insides might be carved up by pins or razor blades hidden in candy.
Or — in this year’s twist — they might be poisoned by “rainbow fentanyl,” disguised as Skittles or other candy.
