I dont know that I was afraid of all the other kids.... I sure wanted to do all the things that they could do, except Halloween. Halloween and armageddon were powerful when I was a kid. I wanted nothing to do with something "directly linked to satan.
I would say lack of education allows others to scare you for sure.
I tell my kids as much as possible.... if anyone tells you not to read a certain book then they are trying to hide something from you. Get knowledge wherever you can !
pbrow