I know, I know, this is going to be a bit of a rant. Hey, it's my blog and you've been warned. :-)

I remember when I was a kid our Halloween costumes tended to be more improvised than purchased at the local Halloween costume store and the entire holiday had a rather underground "harvest festival" sort of feel to it, with benign scares and very little that was truly frightening.

That picture on the left? That's me, dressed as a pirate. Cute, eh?

I also have memories of borrowing one of my Dad's dress shirts and working with my Dad to build a little "shoulders" platform that rested on my head: I was the headless horseman. No picture's available for me to post online, however, sorry!

By contrast, this Halloween we decided that we didn't really even want to take any of our kids into the ubiquitous no-name Halloween costume stores because the imagery is so darn violent and gory.

What's happened to Halloween?

Maybe we're just lazy. Maybe I've been reading to many horror stories in the newspaper.

Or maybe walking door to door with my three-year-old daughter asking strangers for candy just isn't a good idea.

Instead, we're opting to take Ana Isabel, and Lucas Emilio. 6 months old, to an organized event at our local YMCA on Halloween. (For some reason that I still haven't figured out, they call it Trunk or Treat.)

I have fond memories as a child of walking the neighborhood with my friends trick or treating. So I feel a little guilty that we've decided not get Ana started in that tradition. But as a parent, what seemed like a lot fun back when I was a kid seems a little unsafe now.

Of course, she'll have many more Halloweens as she get older to do the traditional thing. But I'm not sure when I'll feel comfortable walking the neighborhood with my young children and allowing them to knock on doors in the dark.

At what age do you think it's appropriate to take your children trick or treating?

I never know how much to restrict my kids' Halloween candy intake.

Am I a total party-pooper if I tell them they can only have two pieces at a time? Or am I negligent if I let them eat lots more?

As I've been thinking about this candy dilemma, I came across this list of "The Best Candy Ever" from babble.com. I'm partial to chocolate candy, but this list brought back lots of memories from my childhood trick or treating days, including Pumpkin Peeps, Sugar Babies and Dots.

On the other end of the sweets spectrum, the American Association of Orthodontists has a list of treats to avoid if your kid wears braces, including caramel, candy corn, nuts and bubble gum.

Do you let your kids indulge at Halloween? Or do you play Scrooge like me?

You know FCAT training has your child brainwashed when she starts insulting people in well-organized essays.

I'm going to change the name of the insulted, to protect her from knowing. But here's what my six-year-old first-grader said yesterday in the car. She was talking out loud, but to herself I suppose.

"I hate Shanna. She's a horrible person. First, she has the worst cafeteria manners. Next, she's the meanest person in the world. And last, she's a bad person. In conclusion, I hate Shanna.''

I wasn't sure whether to be impressed, or horrified.

I've told her it's not right to "hate'' anyone. But I do want her to pass the FCAT!

The girls shrieked one of those high-pitched, make-an-appointment-with-the-ear-doctor-to-make-sure-there-was-no-permanent-damage kind of shrieks. The kind that tells you you’re watching a scary movie with a couple of impressionable teenagers a few days before Halloween. And you live on the ground floor muuuuhahahahaha.

This particular film, if you want to call it that, was “Vacancy,” starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale. It’s charming family fare about a lovely young couple who learn the motel they’re staying in doubles as the set of a snuff film, and they’re the stars of the next movie in the series.

You know, the kind of movie you want to watch with impressionable teenage girls.

It’s not the worst horror movie I’ve ever seen, but definitely not the scariest.

Yes, I did ask myself (and my wife) whether this movie was too intense for the girls. This wasn’t exactly a Disney flick, and some of the violent scenes were pretty graphic. Aren’t they too young for this stuff?

Well, I saw John Carpenter’s “Halloween” in theaters when I was 9. I saw “Mother’s Day” and “An American Werewolf in London.” I was 15 when “A Nightmare on Elm Street” was released. Oh, and can’t forget “Dawn of the Dead.” Caught that on video back when video was new.

All before I should have been allowed to see R-rated movies without adult supervision.

Aside from messing me up for life, the movies did no lasting damage to my psyche.

So should I worry about the movies the girls are seeing?

Yes, for two reasons. First, I want to make sure they can handle the images being thrown at them. Second, and more importantly, the stuff being passed off as “scary” these days simply isn’t. There hasn’t been a really scary movie in theaters since “The Sixth Sense,” and even that isn’t scary once you realize what it’s about.

Now, the original “Halloween” was scary, and I had to explain that to the girls the other night. This movie was scary because it seemed so possible. There was nothing supernatural about it (until later movies devolved into a sort of self-parody). And even then, the notion that you could kill the bad guy and still have to fight him was fairly new to audiences.

Today’s scary movies aren’t scary. They’re gross. “Saw.” Please. They should change the name to “Saw that Already.” Look at “Vacancy” again and ask yourself, how original is a movie about an isolated motel where bad things happen? Anyone? Anyone? Hitchcock? Beuller? Frye?

I know, I’m being as snobby as the generation right before me, the people who think “Rosemary’s Baby” is a horror movie rather than (as I see it) a sure-fire cure for insomnia.

Whatever. The point is… okay, I have no point. It’s Halloween this week. To each his own chills.

Boo.