DailyDirt: Nothing To Fear, Maybe

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Thu, Nov 1st 2012 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The urban legend about poisoned candy on Halloween has pushed parents away from handing out home-made treats -- even though the realistic odds of finding dangerous treats is vanishingly small. Still, there are some crazy people out there, so maybe it's better safe than sorry. Just know that getting hit by a car while crossing the street is a far more frequent occurrence on Halloween....

Joel Best has been investigating Halloween Sadism reports since 1985, and while he can't prove a negative (ie. that no kids have ever been sadistically poisoned by Halloween candy), the evidence for any widespread Halloween threat to children is pretty thin. The last update for this study was done in 2010, and 1982 was a particularly bad year for poisoned candy scares. But since the mid-80s, there haven't been more than 2 reported incidents per Halloween -- and so far, follow-up investigations have only found evidence of hoaxes. [url]
Timothy O'Bryan was actually killed by a cyanide-laced pixie stick in 1974. However, the murderer was the boy's own father who had taken out a $60,000 life insurance policy for his son and was later convicted and executed for killing him. [url]
Last year, there was at least one report of a razor found in a Reese's peanut butter cup by a father in New Mexico. Chocolate and peanut butter are two great tastes that taste great together, but razors are not part of that recipe. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: candy, halloween, hoax, joel best, poisoning, razor, sadists

8 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 1 Nov 2012 @ 5:13pm

wow another urban myth that wont die
copycats will keep this alive forever... and no one will let their guard down b/c they're doing it "for the kids"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Shadow Dragon (profile), 1 Nov 2012 @ 7:15pm
  
  Re: wow another urban myth that wont die
  That's why patients are useless.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 1 Nov 2012 @ 7:29pm
    
    Re: Re: wow another urban myth that wont die
    I guess I didn't get that. Why are patients useless? They make doctors a lot of money.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Nov 2012 @ 5:49pm

Candy makers came up with the idea that convincing the parents that the only safe candy was store bought. Now that parents are scared to let their kids wander the streets for trick or treat, a real american tradition has been lost. Candy makers aren't doing better as far as I can see because it has spread too far and there are almost no kids on the streets going door to door like there used to be. Haven't bought any candy for Halloween in years now. Kids just quit coming to the door.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 1 Nov 2012 @ 6:32pm

Bend over and I'll make you think candy. Here's your treat!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Nov 2012 @ 6:43pm

Ban razors and peanut butter cups! Both can kill at least one child, and only sickos would have either!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Old Fool (profile), 2 Nov 2012 @ 2:04am

It's not only poison and razor blades...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/01/cocaine-given-trick-or-treat-children
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Rekrul, 5 Nov 2012 @ 12:57pm

I usually give out full-sized Nestle Crunch bars because it's what the kids seem to prefer. A couple years back, I bought a variety pack and let the kids choose and they all picked the Nestle Crunch bars first.

I like Halloween. For the past couple years, I've been rigging a dummy on my front porch so that I can raise the right arm when the kids come in. It's provoked a few yelps and even one scream.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]