Happy Halloween!

As I sit here and wait for the onslaught of the trick-or-treaters, it occurs to me to wonder: what are the things that scare me?

They've changed over time, of course. When I was young, I loved to stay up late Saturday night to watch "Chiller Theater" and be scared by all the monsters Hollywood churned out. At one time, I bought and built a plastic model kit of The Mummy (98 cents from the Aurora company). It stood proudly on my bedroom dresser, shambling across a field of broken tombstones with it's arm threateningly outstretched for the nearest victim. One night I woke up to go to the bathroom and was horrified to see the huge shadow of the mummy cast on my wall by the night light from the hall. I just about wet myself on the spot. Needless to say, each night after that, the plastic mummy spent the night on the closet shelf, with the doors firmly closed.

But the world has moved on, and there are things I worry about more than walking mummies. What are the things that scare me at 55 that I didn't even think about at 10?

* Making a mistake on my taxes that brings the full guilty-until-proven-innocent weight of the IRS down on my head.

* Street crime and violence.

* Radical Muslims who think it's perfectly okay to kill me if I don't appreciate the peaceful nature of their religion.

* Twisted people who abuse children.

* Stupid politicians.

On the whole, I was happier with The Mummy and the other horrors from Chiller Theater, because I could always turn off the TV and turn on the lights and know that everything was really all right. Sadly, we can't do that with modern horrors.

And that's what's really scary.

Enjoy Halloween, where the frights only last a short time and the children enjoy them. They'll have to face the real horrors all too soon.

Have a good evening. More thoughts coming up.

Bilbo