Is Halloween a Time To Fear Terrorists?

We asked a random sample of 750 terrorists what their favorite holidays were. Notice that Halloween is third!
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There are certainly lots of things to be afraid of on Halloween: witches, monsters, and obligatory social interaction with your neighbors amongst others. But what about terrorism? We all know terrorists like to strike on holidays, but where does Halloween rank on their list of favorites?

We asked a random sample of 750 terrorists what their favorite holidays were. Here are the top holidays and most commonly cited reasons why. Notice that Halloween is third!

Favorite Holiday & Reasons Why

* New Year's Eve: Guard down, decadent crusaders too drunk to care.

* Chanukah: Especially hate the Jews.

* Halloween: Easy to disguise self as goblin, Captain Jack Sparrow, or fairy princess, blend in, take advantage of general confusion.

* Easter: Those chocolate eggs with the creamy stuff inside: can't get enough.

*Passover: Jew-hating is not a once-a-year kind of thing.

*Super Bowl Sunday: Still angry about wardrobe malfunction.

*Valentine's Day: Tired of not having a Valentine.

*St. Patrick's Day: Hate the Irish.

*Day of the Dead: Love the title.

*Groundhog Day: Thought Bill Murray was better in Ghostbusters.

Of course, there's also Earth Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Grandparent's Day, not to mention the other 350 days, which are at least as dangerous, if not more so because they're not the days you expect a terrorist attack. So should you be afraid of terrorists on Halloween? Of course! Does it mean you can't trick or treat and eat offensive quantities of candy? Arguably. Does it mean you can let your guard down tomorrow? Not if you want to live to see Thanksgiving.

The preceding is sort of an excerpt from The Ultimate Counterterrorist Home Companion, Zack and Larry Arnstein, Santa Monica Press, 2007.

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