There are Halloween activities around the county that provide fun and scary moments. There are spook alleys, haunted houses, corn field mazes, “trunk or treat” events, etc.

I read an article about an interesting study the other day on “ksl.com.” The headline was, “Utahns are the most excessive Halloween decorators in the US.” Utah apparently decorates more than any other state for the spooky holiday.

New Hampshire and Vermont came in second and third. Wyoming was #6 and Idaho #10. Alabama was in last place.

The research showed that Utah uses more spider decorations than anywhere else. New Hampshire seems to specialize in the Grim Reaper. Vermont’s vibe is scarecrows. I actually feel like Sanpete has lots of skeletons on display around everywhere. And not just life-size ones – many people have put up gigantic ones in their yards.

(One of my favorite skeleton jokes: A skeleton walks into a bar and says to the bartender, “I’ll have a beer please, and a mop.”)

Some things about Halloween haven’t changed much since I was a kid. But, like everything, there have been some changes. “Trick or Treating” for most families is done more carefully these days. Most kids don’t seem to traipse all over town by themselves into strange neighborhoods like some did in the past. In my day, we walked long distances to get to areas where we heard that the treats were best.

The treats that are given now are generally store bought, individually wrapped items. When I was a kid, we expected homemade popcorn balls, puffed rice balls (does anyone make those anymore?), caramel apples, and cookies. We didn’t worry about anyone sabotaging the Halloween candy.

The movie theater would often show a scary movie late at night on the weekend near Halloween. There was lots of screaming and yelling going on during those movies.

When I was a kid, a friend and I went to the scary movie “The Pit and the Pendulum” at the Huish Theatre in Richfield. I don’t think this was one of the late-night special showings, but it could have been. The admission price for a child was $0.35 and the price for a Three Musketeer candy bar was a nickel. If we could each scrape up fifty cents (sometimes a Ben Franklin Half-Dollar), we were living the good life for a movie night. (Okay, I’m old – Sue me.)

Vincent Price played the main role in that scary movie based on Edgar Alan Poe’s story. I can’t tell you much about the plot of the show itself; but I have some memories of it that are quite vivid in my mind. We squirmed in our seats and giggled to get relief from our fear.

We ended up spending part of the movie time in the lobby. Our terror got to the point that giggling and squirming wasn’t an effective strategy.

We stood in the safety of the lighted lobby and peeked in at the show through the entrance curtains as we tried to gather our courage to go back in. (In those days there were curtains at the doorways into the auditorium of the theater which remained closed during the running of the movie. I’m sure that fire codes have changed now requiring entrances to be what they are today.

After the show, our walk home was nearly a mile. We did a lot of walking in those days. It was a scary walk that night. I was on my own for the last block to get home. I ran as fast as I could go for that block.

The interesting thing about that experience is that we felt like it was a great time. To hear us talk, we had a ball going to that movie. We paid money, got scared to death, and loved it.

Scary movies are still big box office at the theaters. Some of these shows have gotten more and more graphic. I don’t believe that aspect represents progress.

My son, his wife and 8-year old boy were at Disneyland a couple of weeks ago. The amusement park is all decked out for Halloween. They had to have reservations to get on the ride through The Haunted Mansion.

Many rides at Disneyland and other amusement parks are commonly called “thrill rides.” These are often the roller coaster type attractions. It’s one of the main reasons many people go to Lagoon here in Utah. They want a thrill. They want to be scared!

I’m not sure why it is, but getting scared is fun for many of us. One element is that we know that it’s just “pretend danger” and that our lives aren’t really in jeopardy. It must have something to do with adrenaline and the rush we get from having our senses heightened.

Some people do put their lives in jeopardy by participating in dangerous activities and extreme sports. I don’t know if the “rush” is greater for them – but they can have it.

I have reached a point in my life that I recognize I’m not invincible. The activity of eating a serving of greasy French fries is about as dangerous as I want to go these days. I have developed great courage when it comes to facing scary carbohydrates. I know how to be a man and stand up to a “carb coma.” I just take a nap. Problem solved.

The occasional suspenseful movie, thinking about BYU football, and driving on I-15 are activities that are about as frightening as I need life to be. Regular routine life is scary enough. Pulling in to the gas station is where I get some of my biggest scares these days. And believe me, I pay for that scare. Happy Halloween!

— Merrill