Now this is a damn shame: The L.A. Hell House, which we previously mentioned (and really wanted to experience), closes on Halloween.

And now Salon warns that a growing number of evangelical Christians are handing out gospel tracts along with sugary sweets. Really, isn’t there a better night for converting? Why mess with Halloween? Oh, because people are knocking on their doors. Christopher Healy writes:

[A]s they sift through their loot, many little Batmen and Dora the Explorers might find verses from Deuteronomy or First Corinthians among the candy corn. That’s because many Evangelical Christians, who have always had a shaky relationship with occult-laden Halloween, have decided that instead of boycotting the holiday, they’re going to take advantage of it to spread their message of salvation through the acceptance of Jesus Christ.

“There are few occasions when you have people coming to your door, asking you for things,” says Geoff Dennis, vice president of publishing services for Good News Publications, which turns out 8 million Halloween-themed gospel tracts each year. “So it provides easy access to sharing the Good News that we have.”

“We’re always looking for chances to share our faith,” says Mark Brown, vice president of marketing for the country’s oldest tract publisher, the American Tract Society. “This is the only time of the year you can do this legally.”

Makes you wonder WWJD about spreading the gospel along candy, stickers and toys.

ATS’ Halloween goodies are available for viewing here. If you’re so inclined, you can read the special Halloween edition of ‘”Steps to Peace with God,’” written by Billy Graham, by clicking through the panels.

‘”Tract and Toy Perfect Princess’” is regretfully sold out, but this mega variety pack includes 140 glow-in-the-dark spider rings (if I look at the light as the Lord, am I looking too much into this?).

Publishers agree that retaining the treat is important to the tract’s acceptance by children. “Kids are out there looking for candy,” Brown explains. “If you hand them a tract and nothing else, they’ll have a negative feeling toward you and toward the tract. So you want to give a really good piece of candy; don’t gyp the kid out. Then when they dump the bag, their eyes just pop out, and they associate this with the candy.”

Sort of the same positive reinforcement training technique I’m using with my newly adopted dog, McNulty. Lucky for him he can’t read.

The Rev. Astrid Storm, an Episcopal priest at Grace Church in New York, who calls the practice “back-door evangelism” says, “I loathe making a connection between Christianity and getting goodies. It’s not the best connection to make at the outset of one’s faith, since it hardly equips one to deal with the many disappointments and setbacks that are an inevitable — and important — part of the Christian life.”

Sure enough, we had to stop the treats for a while, too. The little guy started focusing more on the reward to come than the task at hand.

For the Rev. Winnie Varghese, a chaplain at Columbia University, it’s the bigger picture that matters. “If it’s OK for Muslim families to put tracts proclaiming the tenets of Islam into trick-or-treat bags or for more liberal denominations to pass out literature saying that you can be gay and still be a good Christian, then [the Evangelical Halloween tracts] are fine, too,” she says, “but I suspect it wouldn’t be OK in those cases. We always give a certain amount of space to Evangelicals that we don’t give to other denominations.”

“Still,” Varghese adds, “we understand the Evangelical impulse that they must lead as many people as possible to Christ. In that belief, they are ethically bound to do so.”

And that sums up the mission of the tract publishers exactly. “Halloween is typically affiliated with ghouls and demons and witches, kind of the dark side,” Dennis says. “And Christians are commanded to be light in darkness.”

Discussion of who shines brightest aside, take a look at all 37 tracts that appear in ATS’ Halloween category and you’ll find some not-so-funny ones near the end, like ‘”Your First Six Days in Hell’” and ‘”What to Do to Go to Hell.’” Hate to be the kids who gets that ‘”good news.’”