When I was a kid (more than a few years ago), Halloween was fun and it was not satanic or macabre. We dressed up in all kinds of costumes, a sheet over our heads to be friendly ghost was as extreme as it ever got. There were lots of clowns, a few hobo's, robots, cowboys, and few Indians. The festivities started in the church basement with a costume contest where we all paraded in front of the judges trying our best to sell our costumes. Cake and punch followed and then we went out to "Trick-or-treat" our neighbors We got lots of treats but there were no tricks; our parents actually went with us.
Now it is a celebration of the worst of things, evil, death and gore.
What changed? How did it get this way?