This weekend, in the spirit of Halloween tradition, people will dress up as all sorts of frightening creatures: ghosts, goblins, witches, devils, monsters, ax murderers, vampires, French maids and Elvis.

With the goal of spooking the bejabbers out of each other (or getting dates to squeeze a little tighter), spooked souls will swap scary stories, stroll through haunted houses, make trips to cemeteries and watch horror flicks.

And before or after all this wicked fun, a lot of them will go to church for their weekly worship, though probably minus the fake blood and the arrows protruding from their skulls.

It's an interesting concept, Christians, Jews and Muslims celebrating a pagan-rooted holiday that's so filled with unsavory and ghoulish customs.

Let the trick-or-treating begin — and with it the debate over whether this is harmless entertainment or an evil sacrilegious ritual for God-fearing folks.

Steve Russo, a co-host of Focus on the Family's "Life on the Edge — Live!" national radio program, wrote a book on the subject, "Halloween: What's a Christian to Do?" For starters, he'd like to dispel one anti-Halloween myth.

"Halloween is not Satan's birthday," Russo said. "People tell me that all the time, and I ask them to show me a Bible verse that says that, because there isn't one. Actually, what the Bible says (in Psalms 118:24) is 'This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.' "

Russo believes Christians can benefit from one of Halloween's most popular activities.

"Some parents think trick-or-treating is wrong, but it offers a unique opportunity to Christians — the ability to meet your neighbors and be a positive influence," he said. "Give out the 'good' candy, set up a table with hot coffee or cocoa for the parents and don't be afraid to talk about the holiday and its meaning."

According to some legends, Halloween was originally concocted in A.D. 835 by Pope Gregory IV. The Catholic Church feted All Saints Day (also called All Hallows Day) on Nov. 1 — supposedly to both honor saints in heaven who didn't have a feast day reserved for them and to turn people away from the pagan holiday, Samhain or the Witches New Year. The partying often started the night before, which became to be known as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween.

The pope might be surprised to learn that jack-o'-lantern carving, bobbing for apples and school costume parades have become part of the annual commercialized event that generates about $7 billion.