I well remember the days of the "Satanic Panic" along with the urban myths about poisoned Halloween candy that practically shut down trick or treating in many areas. As for the Evangelicals and their war on Satan, they are what I tend to call "comic book Christians" (a term I co-opted from "comic book Pagans, to describe those who can't tell the difference between religious practices and their favorite fantasy novels and DnD campaigns). They get downright excited about Satanic conspiracies and thinking Satan is lurking around every corner for them. They thrive on the "us vs. them" mentality. That explains why con-men grifters like Bob Larson keep a following, because he plays into the drama of their fantasy world. They're mainly the Fundamentalists and many of the Evangelicals. They're less-prevalent in mainstream Protestantism such as the Episcopalians. They're the ones running all those bake sales, charity drives, etc.
I like Comic Book Christians because that certainly implies the existence of super powers, and oh that Good vs Evil conflict. The misconceptions create that liminal space between what is true and what is known. I use the term “pop culture” to describe fictional characters like Tarzan and Conan.
I don’t think parents needed any excuse to raid candy bags, but they always checked my haul for home-made treats and the like. I got into urban myths when I read the book by Jan Brunvand, The Choking Doberman. It was really eye-opening.
I remember one time when I was in middle school playing Dungeons & Dragons in the cafeteria and one of our classmates came up to us and said with with all manner of seriousness that his Mom threw a D&D book into their burning fireplace and he heard the screams of demons. This was in 1984 or 85.
I always figured the "razors in candy bars" was a scam so parents could get first pick of the candy loot from Halloween.
"Let me open this Snickers bar to check. Nope, it's fine, but since it's open, I'll eat it myself."
Middle class suburban fear was made very clear to me during the Son of Sam murders. (For those who don't know, some guy killed a bunch of people in the New York City area in 1976 and 1977 and taunted police in letters.) I lived 140 miles away but the adults around me were concerned that he might drive all the way to our neighborhood to kill some people. Even then, I was only ten and I was like "You're kidding, right?"
As for Christians, I'm sure they're all well and good with the bake sales and stuff but they keep voting for monstrous policies so, no, I'm not going to cut them any slack.
I well remember the days of the "Satanic Panic" along with the urban myths about poisoned Halloween candy that practically shut down trick or treating in many areas. As for the Evangelicals and their war on Satan, they are what I tend to call "comic book Christians" (a term I co-opted from "comic book Pagans, to describe those who can't tell the difference between religious practices and their favorite fantasy novels and DnD campaigns). They get downright excited about Satanic conspiracies and thinking Satan is lurking around every corner for them. They thrive on the "us vs. them" mentality. That explains why con-men grifters like Bob Larson keep a following, because he plays into the drama of their fantasy world. They're mainly the Fundamentalists and many of the Evangelicals. They're less-prevalent in mainstream Protestantism such as the Episcopalians. They're the ones running all those bake sales, charity drives, etc.
I like Comic Book Christians because that certainly implies the existence of super powers, and oh that Good vs Evil conflict. The misconceptions create that liminal space between what is true and what is known. I use the term “pop culture” to describe fictional characters like Tarzan and Conan.
I don’t think parents needed any excuse to raid candy bags, but they always checked my haul for home-made treats and the like. I got into urban myths when I read the book by Jan Brunvand, The Choking Doberman. It was really eye-opening.
I remember one time when I was in middle school playing Dungeons & Dragons in the cafeteria and one of our classmates came up to us and said with with all manner of seriousness that his Mom threw a D&D book into their burning fireplace and he heard the screams of demons. This was in 1984 or 85.
I always figured the "razors in candy bars" was a scam so parents could get first pick of the candy loot from Halloween.
"Let me open this Snickers bar to check. Nope, it's fine, but since it's open, I'll eat it myself."
Middle class suburban fear was made very clear to me during the Son of Sam murders. (For those who don't know, some guy killed a bunch of people in the New York City area in 1976 and 1977 and taunted police in letters.) I lived 140 miles away but the adults around me were concerned that he might drive all the way to our neighborhood to kill some people. Even then, I was only ten and I was like "You're kidding, right?"
As for Christians, I'm sure they're all well and good with the bake sales and stuff but they keep voting for monstrous policies so, no, I'm not going to cut them any slack.
Luckily for my kids, only things like Snickers are ever at risk. Evil doers never touch stuff like Swedish Fish...
My favorite Halloween candy of all time is those tiny Reese’s Peanut Butter cups. Fun size Snickers are a close second.
If there's a heaven, it is filled with fun-sized Snickers.