Scares and suggestions for a creepy, eerie, slightly more normal Halloween

Plus, how the costume economy rises from the dead, year after year [View this email online]( [NPR]( by Christopher Dean Hopkins Light frights and safe trick-or-treating [Trick-or-treaters.]( Javier Zayas Photography/Getty Images With the endorsement of the nation's top infectious disease expert, trick-or-treating is back on the holiday itinerary this year. [Keep in mind these tips]( to keep young witches, warriors and pawed patrollers safe. Law enforcement officials warn that [some marijuana edibles have packaging that can easily be mistaken for treats]( so keep an eye out for those too. Once the sugary hauls have been brought home, there may be time for a little entertainment. Here are recommendations for [newer Halloween movies, books and music to try with your favorite kids](. The costume economy [Costumes for sale]( Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images Like a hockey-masked killer they go away — only to shockingly reappear again months later. [Here's how Halloween costume stores come back to life so quickly]( year after year. But those shops [aren't immune from the supply chain problems]( hitting the rest of the economy this year, so All Things Considered [called up some DIY costume experts for advice](. Creature features You wake in a cold sweat from a terrible nightmare. You scratch through your mind to try to remember what it was ... and then the terrible details come flooding back. You try to cry out, but find you can't control your tongue — because a bug has bitten it off as you slept, and latched on in its place! [louse mouth]( Galveston Island State Park Okay fine, [that's mostly a scary story for a few species of fish](. But that just goes to show, you don't need the supernatural to conjure up some truly chilling scares. The creepiest and crawliest that the world has to offer is in nature itself. Consider, if you dare, [the mind-controlling parasites]( that lead animals to their deaths ... [the fungus that made billions of cicadas' genitals fall off]( ... the [enormous prehistoric monster that looks like a bear-shark hybrid]( Or maybe you'd like a more comforting holiday treat? Here, have [some zoo animals placidly munching on pumpkins](. Pleasant dreams... --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you're subscribed to Best of NPR emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]