I became a believer in the mid-1980s, just when conservative Christians were turning against Halloween. Much of the impetus for this came from speaker and comedian Mike Warnke.
He showed up on a 1985 episode of 20/20, at the height of Satanic hysteria. His extravagant claims of being a high priest of Satan were later released in his book The Satan Seller. It was these works, with had lurid accounts of Warke's participation in Hallween sacrifices and Black Masses, that gave momentum to the anti-Halloween movement.
Just one problem ...
It was all lies.
Cornerstone Magazine debunked all of the dramatic claims in the Satan Seller, which after attempting to defend himself for years, Warnke later admitted he had fabricated. The Cornerstone investigation was released in 1991, but the anti-Hallowween movement was off and running. And it hasn't slowed down yet -- Hell Houses and other "alternative" events dot the evangelical landscape to this day.
My response as a relatively conservative evangelical believer in Christ to this fear-based approach can be summed up in 2 words:
Happy Halloween.
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