Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)

Where Did the Fear of Poisoned Halloween Candy Come From? (2013)
smithsonianmag.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoned_candy_myths

I would date my understanding of the myth to be from 1980, informed by a friend's mum, so the myth was oral tradition by then, across the pond in the UK. So a handful of years after 1974 the meme had spread.

This had morphed into an 'only in America' story for those of us outside the U.S. - we believed this happened on a regular Halloween basis in America and was part of 'trick or treating' (itself more American than British). Imagine the image of 'gun mad' America harbouring such 'psychos' in the community, this was easy to do if you had never been to the U.S.

The idea of a razor blade in some type of sweet did do the rounds, again in the 'made in America' context, with the myth spreading verbally. As children adults would tell you but you took reassurance that there were no crazies like that where you lived, again, only in America.

Sweets given to you as a child could be of variable quality. Sweets with a clove in the middle do exist, I think at the time I would have preferred the razor blade option, cyanide would have tasted better. Sweets kept past their sell by date might not be too good either, old folks could hand you these and expect you to enjoy them. So 'trick or treat' was actually part of the deal with all sweets offered by neighbours and other people you were to meet. It was therefore imaginable for the American myth to be true.

In my experience, trying to do this results in anger.

In this particular case, the truth of the matter is that you really do have to trust strangers to be kind instead of randomly malicious. Instead of making an argument that the fear is unfounded, it would be more effective to make a case affirming the fearful person's trust in their community.