Night Passage

Are we born with an instinctive fear of the dark, or did we acquire it in the pre-industrial age as a result of the many perils that emerged after nightfall — highwaymen, grave robbers, feral beasts? Even now, objects at night take on a mysterious and potentially threatening aspect. We are off balance, unaccustomed to the absence of people and sound. What if the light never returns? Only one thing is certain where the dark is concerned: we must make the night passage alone.