Harmless fun some call it. Others suggest it is never harmless or funny to joke about evil, even if we know that the witches and gremlins, devils and werewolves who roam our streets are the little children of our neighborhood, and the glaring faces in our windows are no more than hollowed-out pumpkins whose candles will not even last the evening.

While there are some October Scrooges who bemoan the knocks at the door, there are many more who pile up the fruits and candies, turn on the lights and wait by the door for the little ones and their anything-but-frightening, "Trick or Treat!" We chuckle as we listen for the familiar voice from behind the mask, and we drop an apple in the extended bag. Except for a few roaming older teens and perhaps a few soaped windows at their hands, no one wor…