Maybe it's got nothing to do with Roger or Janine.
With the mention of Egon needing the gris-gris when he's finally ready to be alive, I'm wondering if it might be connected to Egon's friend Eugene and Death. Maybe it has more to do with warding off evil than about luck. I'm not sure how the talk of love turning the whole world fits in with it, but maybe it's got nothing to do with Egon's love life but instead with someone else's. Maybe Eugene's? Maybe love is the way to get Eugene to release Death?
In the story 'The Man who Sought Death', there is mention of a witch and witchcraft. In this part of Haunted America, there is the reference to voodoo, which is similar to witchcraft. I dunno, maybe I'm looking for things that aren't there, but it does seem to vaguely tie in.
