Good Halloween Fun or Brainwashing?

"Mommy, something terrible has happened!"  With Betsey, you never know if she's upset about her life's dramas or what is happening to some poor animal.  I took a deep breath and prepared to run to the site.

"What happened?"

"Cilla doesn't want to do Halloween.  She says it's worshipping the Devil and we'll go to Hell."

I wasn't sure whether Betsey was afraid that she would be going to Hell or worried about her sister.  For Cilla, who loves costumes and fantasy, to reject Halloween was frightening, like when your no-nonsense friend is crying herself to sleep every night and losing weight because of a breakup.
What with summer's staying another month or so (I haven't put the summer clothes away yet and we haven't had any soup days) and the general craziness of current events lately, the times are out of joint enough.

"You don't believe that, do you?"

Betsey put on her exasperated but patient face.  (The old girl is annoying, but she means well.)  "No, Mother.  But one of her stupid friends gave her this stupid little comic book with kids going to someone's house and getting caught by the Devil and being thrown into Hell.  If that had happened, we'd have heard about it."

"Maybe that's what happens to kids that disappear on Halloween." I hadn't noticed Josh, probably because he was staring into the refrigerator behind the door.  I jumped.

"Good one, Josh."  I expected Betsey to hiss "Moron" or something after she finished laughing, but she just looked thoughtful."We'll have to see if anyone disappears this Halloween."

I thought of suggesting they Google "Unsolved Halloween Disappearances", but I didn't want to encourage them.

"Now do you really think . . ."

"That's why they tell you to only go to houses where you know the people.  But they didn't want to scare us."

"Maybe the Devil breaks into people's houses and kills them.  The he answers the door and the kids think he's just some corny dad dressed up as Satan."

"And he says, 'Come on in, I have a special surprise for you.'"

"Or he has followers who let him use their house. Then he kills them." 

I hoped they were just fooling around,  This could be a teachable moment about legends and respecting other people's religious views, even if they're wrong.

'"Aunt Pooh had a funny story about this crazy old man who shot rock salt at trick or treaters. 
But they never saw him.  It was just a legend,  Your grandmother couldn't understand the point of it, but Aunt Pooh  and Uncle Hank always hoped he'd come after them.  It's like scary movies.  You know it's not real, so it's fun to get frightened,"

"Maybe he was going to the bathroom when they rang his doorbell.".

"Nobody ever saw him.  But that doesn't mean he doesn't exist."

"Kind of like God or the Holy Ghost."

I wasn't up to a theological discussion, so I went upstairs to talk to Cilla.  She was sitting on her bed playing with her "Game Person" as she calls it.  Actually Josh gave her his old one.  She had refused to buy one because it was sexist, but would take a free one.

"Betsey told me that comic book upset you."

"Oh, yeah.  But I decided just to go to houses I know.  I'm going to be a princess."

"That's a good idea.  What color dress do you want?"

We had a good discussion and decided on pink with a diamond tiara. 

I took the comic with me.  I told Cilla I wanted to read it because it's good to see what other people believe.  I hoped that if she didn't see it, she'd forget about it.

I Googled "Halloween Disappearances".  There were some, but I didn't tell the kids.