What's scarier than Halloween? A 'Walking Dead' democracy

Perhaps no other country in the world does Halloween like we do.

The day has gone from being a kiddie-centric candy-grab to a billion-dollar juggernaut.

Adult revelers have elbowed children aside, from decorating their homes to rival a haunted house to throwing parties reminiscent of a Roman Bacchanalia.

The National Retail Federation reports that Americans will spend $10.6 billion on Halloween this year, surpassing $10.1 billion in 2021. The group also reports that 68% of Americans plan to participate in some form of Halloween celebration, up from 65% last year, and 58% in 2020. In 2019, it was 69%.

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No Halloween would be complete without a glut of horror films, though the genre has spilled over into the rest of the calendar year. Some these days are so violent and graphic, they make "Cujo" look like "Benji," including what is supposed to be the very last "Halloween" film.

We'll see. At some point, the monstrous Michael Myers will have to resort to using a Hoveround scooter to stalk his victims.

My favorites remain the Universal Studios monsters and those off-brand, 1950s sci-fi B movies, where the scientists are chic women who never encounter resistance (fat chance); or where teenagers making out in a parked car are always the first to go, and where the Army tries to kill otherworldly creatures with what amounts to cap pistols.

As the shadows lengthen, the leaves fall and the winds grow colder, this is by far the scariest time of the year ― but it has nothing to do with Halloween.

It's terrifying because it's an election year, one of the most pivotal in decades because, this time, democracy itself may be at stake.

Some of the political ads this year contain such a foreboding, spooky-ooky vibe, you half-expect Boris Karloff to approve the message.

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After a lifetime of not having to think much about it, the state of our democracy has become a real concern for Americans, who already have their hands full trying to regain their bearings after COVID-19 while dogpaddling against inflation.

A poll published in September by Quinnipiac University found that 67% of those surveyed said they believe democracy is in danger. The results were bipartisan, with 72% of Democrats, 70% of Republicans, and 69% of independents in agreement.

If our democratic republic collapses, inflation will be the least of our problems.

Voting is our only means of ensuring fair representation and the peaceful transfer of power. But like some movie monster born to destroy, the voting rights which make our democracy possible are under siege from ideology, extremism, propaganda, misinformation and acts of domestic terror.

A steady diet of social media has produced people who would rather be dead than learn from history.

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As if recruiting people weren't already a challenge, a recent USA Today report found that election workers are being threatened and harassed by election deniers, who, ironically, are creating the very security crisis they claim to be addressing.

There are people who would rather believe that JFK Jr. will run in 2024 than to accept that the vast majority of Americans tasked with overseeing America's elections do so in good faith.

Then there are others who cynically encourage such insanity because a house divided is fodder for fundraising.

All of our lives we've been taught and told that despotic regimes are plotting destroy us because democracy inspires and empowers ordinary people.

But what if the call is coming from inside the house?

As the historian Jon Meacham puts it: "The terrific thing about democracy is it's up to us. The terrifying thing about democracy is it's up to us."

Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: What's scarier than Halloween? A walking-dead democracy