Continuing on with our theme of seasonal urban legends, and after last week’s look into trick or treating, let’s look into one of the most enduring of the Haloween urban legends-tainted halloween candy.
While there have been a handful of cases of tainted halloween candy being given to childre, the reality of poisoned candy and the like is that those cases were inspired by the legend, and not the other way around. The myth was not created as a response to historical events. At least one murder used the premise as methodology; the father involved in the case hoped that police and the community at large would assume that the tainted food came from a neighbor or other stranger.
The legend is a particularly long lasting one, seeming to stretch back into the 1950s if not earlier. It is such a prevelent (and alluring, in a way) myth that it seems to create situations that encourage its retelling. Snopes descrbes stories of children who tainted their own candy in an attempt to ‘trick’ their parents-though most of those cases have been so obvious that no lasting harm was done other than perhaps short-term panic.
Unlike poisonings however, there have been reported cases of pins and other objects being inserted into Halloween treats. It needs to be noted however, that only 80 or so have been reported since the 1950s, making this a historical but not frequent occurance. It also needs to be highlighted that unlike poisonings where death or long term illness would be the intended outcome, most of the food that was tainted with foreign objects were so obvious that it most likely was intended as a prank as opposed to an action intended to harm.
So why are these legends such longstanding aspects of the holiday? Even if both variations have a historical basis, neither have caused so much harm that they should still be influencing popular culture decades later. It may be helpful to examine a more modern variation- that terrorists are attempting to taint Halloween candy.
How is this relevant? As Skal highlights in Death Makes a Holiday, it may ironically be an issue with control. Especially in light of the timing of the terrorist/candy legend, checking candy gives parents a sense of control. While the act may be driven out of a nameless/faceless fear of the outsider, being the last line of defense between the outside world (in this case, the community which in any other situation is probably not given this level of scrutiny) and the child allows the parents to feel as though they are in control. There is just enough plausibility to their fears for parents to feel that checking candy is necessary; the act of checking the candy allows for parents to feel that they have a tangible way of addressing their concerns about the world their children inhabit.
Terrorist Halloween Candy Purchase
Pins and Needles in Halloween Candy
Horrific Knits 