S.J. CAHN -- Editor’s Notebook

If you drive through enough Orange County streets, you’re bound to

notice a distressing fact: Even when outfitted with giant spider webs,

cackling witches and ghosts of every shape and sort, the streets just

aren’t scary.

I think it has something to do with all the salmon-colored houses.

This year, however, this low fear factor in Orange County is a relief.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the ongoing anthrax mailings (not to

mention the hoaxes and false alarms) have us all scared enough, as is,

without adding our usual Halloween fright to the mix.

So Wednesday night will be low-key. Fewer people will be jumping out

from behind bushes as packs of treat-or-treaters pass. The most ghoulish

costumes will be shelved. We can expect people to be on their best

behavior.

And still, everyone will be on edge.

It demonstrates the difference between true fear and controlled fear,

which Americans usually can’t get enough of.

We love roller coasters and horror films. They’re fun because, in the

end, they’re safe. We know the seat belt’s tight and the lights will come

back on once the credits roll.

But right now it feels anything but safe to be in America, even in

Newport-Mesa. Our lives are out of our control.

Halloween’s the first major holiday to fall after we lost that

control. And the effects are obvious. The holiday’s not going to be the

same, despite all we’ve heard about carrying on with our lives as normal.

Life simply isn’t normal right now.

And right now it doesn’t look like it will be getting back to the

routine any time soon. We still don’t know who is mailing out

anthrax-laced letters. We’re still bombing Afghanistan, still trying to

find Osama bin Laden. We still don’t know just exactly who or what the

enemy is.

So how will we all be feeling around Thanksgiving, Christmas and

Hanukkah if we’re still fighting this war on terrorism? What kinds of

thanks will we be giving as the turkey gets carved on Nov. 22? What

presents will be expected in December?

Will those holidays be altered, too?

It’s reasonable to expect that this on-edge feeling we have is

heightened, focused, maximized maybe, by the very nature of Halloween.

It’s as if the seat belt on the roller coaster has broken just at the top

of the biggest hill or the movie has ended but the lights stay dark and

there’s a scream just over your shoulder. Thanksgiving, Christmas and

Hanukkah are a far cry from it.

But I wonder if this is how we’ll be feeling come New Year’s Eve.

* S.J. CAHN is the senior city editor. He can be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at o7 steven.cahn@latimes.comf7 .