Oct. 25, 2024

Introducing: Urban Legends - Poisoned Halloween Candy

Introducing: Urban Legends - Poisoned Halloween Candy

**Trigger Warning: This chapter involves harm to children.** In this chapter, we unwrap a notorious urban legend that has cast a sinister shadow over Halloween for decades, 'Poisoned Candy'. Join us as we delve into the origins, fears, and dark...

**Trigger Warning: This chapter involves harm to children.**

In this chapter, we unwrap a notorious urban legend that has cast a sinister shadow over Halloween for decades, 'Poisoned Candy'. 

Join us as we delve into the origins, fears, and dark reality behind this enduring Halloween myth, exploring how the legend of tainted treats has become a sinister undercurrent of Halloween folklore, examining its roots in real cases and the fears that continue to haunt the holiday.

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  • If you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.com.

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🎥 Produced by: Daniel Wilder
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WEBVTT

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Hello, my spookys. It's your good buddy host and narrator

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Enrique Kuto here with a special extra treat this Halloween season.

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I want to present to you all a podcast that

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I've quickly become a very big fan of and a

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podcast that's become a friend to the show. That is

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the Urban Legends Podcast with Luke Morjoux. His program is

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the perfect example of a deeply researched and well presented

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examination of urban legends, and I know you'll all enjoy it.

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So I'm going to present to you one episode all

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about the urban legend and the truths behind poisoned Halloween candy.

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So sit back and enjoy. And if you like what

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you hear, go to lukemorjou dot com for more, or

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just search Urban Legends on your favorite podcasting app. And

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of course there'll be a link in the show notes.

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But now take it away, Luke.

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Amongst Chicago, in nineteen eighty two, a series of citizens

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fell victim to poisoning and death after taking doses of

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Tunnnal branded Acitomenifen capsules. At first, this led to confusion

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amongst those involved, spreading out further across the city, country,

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and eventually whorled as the deaths continued in seemingly unconnected circumstances.

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It was later found that the capsules had been laced

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with potassium cyanide, killing a total of seven people at random.

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It is unclear how and when the tampering occurred, but

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those events that shook the world with such darkness changed

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how medication has been packaged to this very day, with

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new tamper proof cases in place. Or What is most

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horrifying about the seemingly senseless murders was that the culprit

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was never caught and as likely still living amongst us

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even now. We ingest so much throughout the course of

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the day, poisoning ourselves with too much sugar and salt,

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as we indulge in items that we know are bad

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for our bodies. We smoke cigarettes, take drugs, and drink alcohol,

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all things that poison in some way or another, full

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of ingredients we do not know or understand what we

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do so because we feel comfortable in our surroundings, comforted

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by the mass production of those that create it. We

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take them because we believe we are safe. How would

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you ever know that the item you were putting into

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your mouth would be your last. My name is Luke

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mordew And this urban legend is poisoned Halloween candy. This

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urban legend pops up across the Western world, most notably

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in the USA, every October. It is a concern held

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by many with so much force that it has covered

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annually on social media and in the press. A simple

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Google search will bring up dozens of clips from news

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reports up and down North America as they discuss the

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dangers of Halloween treats. Halloween traditions have updated and evolved

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over the years from its old Irish roots. For one

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night only, we all attempt to get a good scare.

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People walk the streets in outfits far more monstrous and

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often far more revealing than what would otherwise be deemed

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socially acceptable. But none of that is as strange as

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the concept of taking suites from strangers. Never take candy

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from a stranger. Is prominent in most societies, and yet

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for one nighty year, we let our children loose to

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knock on strangers doors and request a trick or treat.

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We let our guards down, enjoying the festival of menace

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and fear that erupts along the streets of every town

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and city as we enjoy our plunder. It's funny we

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ask for tricks or treats, yet we never expect the

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tricks to actually come. Our story will follow David and

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his son Leo as they step out into the night

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of Halloween, unaware of the horrors that lurk amongst the

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glow of the carved pumpkins in the window. Leo ran

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excitedly up the long street of his neighborhood, dressed in

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his brand new black panther outfit, holding his orange bucket

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with the face of a Jack O lantern embossed in

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the plastic. As he ran from house to house, his father,

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David strolled behind to keep up with his excitable little legs.

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David was proud of his son for having the confidence

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to go to the doors with such ease. He'd been

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too afraid to trick or treat every year before then,

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and it was only after witnessing the joy of a

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night there before Christmas the year before that the countdown

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to Halloween had been filled with excitement and anticipation. It

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was only after witnessing the joy of a night there

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before Christmas the year before that the countdown to Halloween

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had been filled with excitement and anticipation. David did not

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even need to go to the front door of his

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young son standing at the bottom of the garden as

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he went and knocked himself, taking the sweets given to him,

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before thanking them with his polite little smile and dashing

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back to his dad.

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To show off what he had gotten.

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This had been the routine with every house before, and

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would be the routine with every house after. Stop beating

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all the sweets, David demanded, shaking his head with a

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knowing smile as Leo shoved a gummy treat into his mouth,

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explaining that they were so oh yummy, whiles struggling to

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get his words out as he chomped away in the

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substance between his teeth. They agreed that he would stop

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eating them all until they got home, as David explained

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that he would only be disappointed when he got home

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to find he had hardly anything left because he had

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eaten so many and whilst being in gross inness conversation,

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the two had not even realized that they were being approached.

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It was George and Amy, David's friend from the neighborhood,

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and his young daughter. Leo instantly ran ahead to Amy

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as they discussed their costumes and compared the sweets they

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had gathered, exchanging those they preferred to ensure a perfect

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haul to return home with busy night, George asked, starting

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up the usual conversation parents usually have when they catch

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up to their children's side. They talked about how lively

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it had been, how the kids are having so much fun,

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even going as far as to express an element of jealousy,

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annoyed that they never really got to experience the joys

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of Halloween in the UK when they were kids. Nothing

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like this anyway, I remember going out as a much

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David explained, My mum literally wrapped toilet paper around me

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and taped it together. George laughed, whilst the kids watched

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them with confused expressions, struggling to understand why he did

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not just go and buy a costume instead of wrapping

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himself up in toilet paper, a concept that must have

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seemed so strange to a child in the modern world.

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Can we please go to the next house together, Leo asked,

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whilst Amy jumped up and down in excitement. We were

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just about to go head back now, George replied, looking

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down at them with a smile, but one more house, Karner.

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The kids cheered with excitement as Amy grabbed Leo's hand,

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scurrying up the path together towards the set of houses

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up ahead. Remember to only go to the houses with

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pumpkins in the window, David shouted, as they walked behind

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them to catch up. Amy and Leo stopped outside of

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a house with a giant skeleton hanging out by the

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front door and two emptied pumpkins on the wall, glowing

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with their spooky faces by the battery powered candle lights inside.

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Come we go to this one, Amy asked, whilst they

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enthusiastically pointed out the over dramatic decorations glistening in the windows.

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David nodded, allowing them to disappear up the driveway into

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the front door. So how come you're in Halloween duty?

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George asked, pulling a sweet from his pocket and munching

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away on it. I thought i'd give them missus a

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night off. Halloween's more my thing, annoy David replied, well,

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it was now has come to it. I'm knackered, George smirked. Yeah.

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Amy's mum's working late to night, so I'm left on

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duty to take her out. Well, we're calling it a

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night after this house, but to get her bathed in

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bed before I pass out. There, they both stood nodding

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away to each other whilst staring at the floor, both

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more eager to get home and relaxed than stand by

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the road engaging in small talk. They were surrounded by

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the sounds of children laughing and playing in the darkness,

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only drowned out for a moment with the loud calls

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of an ambulance siren blasting down the next street as

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Leo and Amy came excitedly running up the pathway towards them.

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The two men took this opportunity to say they're goodbyes,

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telling each other they'd see them soon. Amy and Leo

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shared a hug and waved at each other's parents before

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joining the journey in two opposite directions. Have you had fun,

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David asked his son, who was now staring into the

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bucket of enthusiasm. It was amazing, he replied, with a

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joy that only a child and a holiday celebration could express.

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But David didn't notice the glitten of excitement. He was

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too busy focusing on the second ambulance he heard that night.

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Now watching it speed up the road and into the distance,

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its blue lights flashing by as they passed them. He

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finally he turned back to his son to carry on

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the conversation. What was distracted again by the fact that

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Leo had already shoved a couple of sweets into his mouth.

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David grabbed the bucket from him, laughing as Leo playfully

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gagged the moment he swallowed, complaining about how one was

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sour and bitter. With a smile, David turned across the road,

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putting out his hand for Leo to take so they

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could cross safely together. The air was filled with ghostly

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screams from the recordings of people's guarden decorations still emitting

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from nearby houses. Now something had changed. One of the

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screams sounded all too real from an all too familiar voice.

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David stood by the side of the road, his hands

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still out for Leo to take, his eyes darting.

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To the top of the pathway in the distance.

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Leo called for his dad, a slight concern in his voice,

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but David continued to follow the sound of the screams

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until finally his worst fears had been confirmed. His eyes

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had now locked with George, who now sat on the

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pathway on the other side of the road. In the distance,

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Little Amy was lying in his arms as several families

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darted towards them to help. He was screaming her name

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as if he had no idea what else to do? Dad,

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Leo said again, the concern growing in his voice. David's

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eyes remained locked on his friend, unsure and what to do,

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as he kept his hand out for Leo to take.

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It's okay, take my hand, come with me, he replied,

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trying to comfort his concern and son, still believing his

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concern was for what they were witnessing. It was only

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when he heard the words my stomach hurts sharply, followed

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by the food of his body slamming down against the pavement,

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that David turned to find his son lying on the ground,

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his body convulsing as his eyes rolled.

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To the back of his head.

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David screamed for his son in a tone that matched

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George across the street, diving down to lift his head

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from the concrete, instantly pulling out his phone from his

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pocket and dialing the emergency services. But as it rang,

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another scream cooled from a house across the road. David

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looked up to see a woman charge out of the

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front door of her house to the car in her driveway,

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an unconscious child in her arms. A man charged out

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of the house behind her, slamming the door shut and

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unlocking the car so the woman and child could slip

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into the back. The man jumped into the driver's seat

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and pulled out onto the road, crushing the Jack O

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lantern that sat at the bottom of their driveway, killing

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all suggestion of Halloween in that household. As they drove away,

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David gripped his son's dying body in his arms, holding

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him tight, trying to keep him awake. He didn't know

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what to do or what was happening. The screams of

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panicked parents seems to be spreading all across the town,

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the air filling with the many sirens of the emergency

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services as a pandemic of evil seemingly swept through the

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shadow of the streets.

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There are many very of.

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This urban legend, from the razor blades in the apples

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to syringers being pushed into sweets. Some even speak of

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cyanide or rat poison that the Halloween treats have been

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laced with. These stories leave parents checking through their children's

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suites before eventually giving them back to enjoy once they've

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proven their safe. Some are stopped from going out trick

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or treating entirely, concluding that it was not worth the risk. However,

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is there any foundation for this fear. As with many

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urban legends, the truth is a mixture of yes and

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no lost amongst the gray, hidden between the black and

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white tails that spread across the globe as a slight

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egg in a chicken conundrum of this, with the legend

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itself pre dating some occurrences, bringing forward the notion that

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they were inspired by the story rather than the other

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way round. The fears of sharp objects hidden inside the

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suites of our children's treats have haunted the USA for

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decades now, even now venturing out into the UK as

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the holiday grows here. But despite this, the first case

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of it, as it has known in some iterations of

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the legend, was as recent as the year two thousand.

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It's an uncomfortable one to hear, and a situation that

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I still would never wish to be in, although the

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cases are still relatively small compared to what the legends

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suggest as happening out there. James Joseph Smith in Minneapolis,

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USA allegedly stuck small needles into snicker bars that he

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later handed out to trickle treatise. Although this is enough

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to make us squirm and cringe at the idea of

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the few children that did bite into them, ultimately only

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one teenager was pricked by a needle, and that prick

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was so small that it required no medical attention. Even so,

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James Joseph Smith was rightly charged with one count of

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adulterating a substance with intent to cause death, harm or illness.

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On the very same night, Halloween of the year two

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thousand over in California, USA, several parents found snicker rappers

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that were stuffed full of marijuana allows EPR night for

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that brand of chocolate.

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This would of course.

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Be horrifying for parents to imagine someone purposely handing out

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drugs to children without their knowledge, but it would later

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come to light that the truth was nowhere near as

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twisted as it first seemed. Once the police arrived at

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a man's home who had handed out the drug filled rappers,

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he was even more confused than the parents. It was

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eventually concluded that the man worked in a dead letter

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office at a local postal facility, and whilst there he

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found a bag of snickers in an abandoned package and

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brought them home as treats. Had not realized was that

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somebody somewhere was trying to smuggle.

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Marijuana through the mail and it had got lost along

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the way.

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This story was widely accepted and proven to be true,

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and no charges were brought against the man in question.

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On a darker occasion, and as recent as twenty eighteen,

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a five year old boy in Ohio, USA tested positive

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from mefhanfetamine after a night of trick or treating. It

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was widely considered that a suite he had obtained on

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his travels had been laced with the highly addictive drug.

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And a sudden uproar swept the nation.

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Although it only took a couple of days for the

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truth to come out when the police arrested his father,

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charging him with possession of meth and evidence tampering. Police

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Chief Brian Satterfield stated, while we cannot definitely say how

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the little boy ingested mefhanfetamine, we are extremely confident that

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he did not any candy from trick or treat that

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was tainted. Ultimately, it seemed the child had ingested his

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father's drugs, and to cover his tracks, the father had

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used the belief in this legend, a consistent theme has

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played into the history of the genuine cases of this

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urban legend, edging so close to the dark stories we

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hear through the grapevine that happened to a little child

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in the next town over. But they never quite proved

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themselves to be as dark as they suggest. But if

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we go back further, venturing to the latter half the

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twentieth century, will what we find be as simple or

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does the dark tale coincide with more truth than our

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00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:47.920
recent story suggest. Let us go back to Halloween night

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of nineteen fifty nine. The children were strolling up the

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streets of Glenmore Garden's residential neighborhood in California, dressed up

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in their spookiest outfits as they wandered door to door,

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hoping to find some sugar field treats they could take

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and demolish. It was only when they got home that

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things got strange. Some of the kid's parents found calls

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for alarm when they discovered heart shaped sugar coated pills

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at the bottom of their children's bags. This resulted in

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the police checking two one hundred and fifty homes and

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00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:26.559
eventually recovering four one hundred and fifty laxatives. The average

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00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:31.000
dosage for an adult was two, yet some children had

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as many as thirty placed into their bags. At least

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00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:41.759
sixteen children received pills before suffering stomach cramps and vomiting.

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It was lucky for all of them that the bitter

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taste that resided inside the alo pills was so much

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00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:51.680
that they ended up spitting them right out, resulting in

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none requiring hospitalization. Doctor William Shine was charged with outraging

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00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:02.880
public decency and endangering the health of children, whilst the

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woman who stood alongside him giving out the candy to

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one suspecting children, Hazel Engleby, was charged the same. Eventually,

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00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:14.440
though after months of denial, twists and turns in the

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court cases, and legal loopholes, Miss Engleby was set free

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with no charges. Doctor Shine, on the other hand, was

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given a four month suspended jail sentence, two year probation,

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and a fine or five hundred and twenty five dollars.

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There are two obvious reasons that these two foolish individuals

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00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:39.160
could have played such a dangerous game. Either with malice

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00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:42.599
and ill intent, as many suggested, was the case, or

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00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:47.720
a prank that they genuinely believed would be funny. Perhaps

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they disliked Halloween and wanted to teach those who celebrated

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00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:55.400
it a lesson. After all, many people hate the holiday

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completely misunderstanding the beauty and true meanings behind its purpose.

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Either way, this story came close to a true example

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00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:07.400
of his urban legend, but as they usually do, it

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00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.119
fell short of the tales of deadly poisoned candy we

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00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:15.359
hear about so often. Five years later, to the very day,

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something equally as dark and stupid occurred on the night

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where the wall between the spirit world and our world

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00:20:23.319 --> 00:20:28.319
is apparently at its thinnest. Elise Drucker, her sister Irene,

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00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:30.720
and a friend were out in New York in the

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USA to gather the sweets they could during their trick

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00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:37.200
or treating session of that year. They were teenagers, but

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still enjoying the spooky events and excitement that came from

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Halloween knight. That was until they knocked on the door

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00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:48.599
of Helen feel who answered and questioned their age, suggesting

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00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:51.119
that they were a little too old to be trick

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00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:55.319
or treating. Still, Helen who had teenagers of her own,

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00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:58.720
dropped some sweets into their bags and set them on

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their way. It was not until they got home that

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00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:06.119
the sinister truth revealed itself. As Elise and Irene's mother

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00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:10.319
checked over the sweets they had gathered. Here, they found

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a bottle cap shaped and trap with a warning sign

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00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:19.319
that read poison. According to sources, Helen was growing frustrated

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00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:21.640
that so many of the trigger treatures that had gone

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00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:24.680
by were what she deemed to be too old to

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be out asking for free sweets, and so she made

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up packages of inedible treats to give to teenagers. These

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00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:37.480
packages contained dog biscuits, steel walled pads, and ant buttons,

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00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:42.119
clearly marked as poison, and although foolish and twisted in

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00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:45.680
its macabre humor, it is said that Helen did tell

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the teenagers as she handed them out that they were

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00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:54.119
intended as jokes, and luckily nobody was harmed by her

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00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:59.480
idiotic prank. Even still, she pleaded guilty to endangering children

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00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:04.319
and served a suspended sentence. With the event of these

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00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:08.240
two pranks that were arguably more ill judged than evil,

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the fears and rumors of tampered Halloween suites had begun

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to swoop the nation. In nineteen seventy one, the state

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00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:20.240
legislator of Michigan put ten year prison sentences and fines

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for those caught tampering with Halloween candy, most likely due

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to the most commonly told urban legend alongside these events,

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00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:33.880
despite most reports proving occurrences to be hoaxes, but even

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00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:36.720
though pretty much every occasion of it had been proven

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00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:40.519
to be foolish pranks between friends and siblings, tricks where

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00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:44.279
the repercussions and dangers were ill thought out and foolish

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rather than with devilish intent, it would all change on

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the Halloween night of nineteen seventy four, when the tale

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of poisoned candy tragically and horrifyingly came true. It was

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October thirty first, and eight year old Timothy O'Brien was

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out trick or treating with his sister Elizabeth, chaperoned by

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00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:26.839
their father, Ronald, in Texas, USA. Even though it was raining,

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they were making good progress through the night as they

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excitedly ran from door to door, Ronald struggling to keep

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00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:35.759
up with their little feet. They stopped at a house

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00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:39.279
and didn't seem to be participating in the festivities of Halloween,

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00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:43.599
but they waited. Nevertheless, after a moment or two, the

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00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:46.200
children swiftly gave up, heading to the next house to

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get their treats. Once their father had caught up with them,

375
00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:52.240
he handed them two pixie sticks out of the five

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00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:54.839
he held in his hand. If they had waited a

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00:23:54.839 --> 00:23:57.160
moment longer, they would have been able to take the

378
00:23:57.160 --> 00:24:01.000
sticks themselves, as they had just missed the homer. The

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00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:04.119
kids took them with joy, as Ronald gave the extras

380
00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:06.920
to two neighboring children and the fifth to a child

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00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:11.519
he recognized from his church. Before bed, as children often

382
00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:14.759
do after the excitement of Halloween, knowing their grand hall

383
00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:16.880
of a night's hard work is sitting so close to

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00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:19.720
their reach, little Timothy asked if he could eat some

385
00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:23.440
of the sweets he had collected. Ronald agreed, and Timothy

386
00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:26.799
dove straight for the pixie sticks. I struggled to get

387
00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:30.599
the sherbert out of the straw. His dad happily obliged

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00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:33.039
to help his son loosen up the powder, and he

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00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:36.000
began to chug it back of childish glee, And although

390
00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:40.039
Timothy did mention that the sherbert tasted bitter, he finished

391
00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:42.440
it all down with the help of some kool aid,

392
00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:48.359
also supplied by his ever doting father. Within minutes, Timothy

393
00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:51.759
was in agony as his body began to convulse whilst

394
00:24:51.880 --> 00:24:56.680
violently vomiting. Within an hour, on the way to the hospital,

395
00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:04.279
eight year old Timothy O'Brien was dead. News spread fast

396
00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:08.720
of the Halloween sweets laced with poison, spreading fear and

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00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:12.680
horror amongst the community of Deer Park, with several parents

398
00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:15.720
handing their sweets to the police in fear that they

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00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:20.160
too had been tampered with. The autopsy of Timothy revealed

400
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:25.079
that he was filled with a fatal dose of potassium cyanide.

401
00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:28.240
Robert confirmed that this must have been in the pixie

402
00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:32.680
sticks he'd received from mysterious Homon on Halloween Knight. Thankfully,

403
00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:34.640
the rest of the sticks that he had handed out

404
00:25:34.680 --> 00:25:38.119
to the children on the street were successfully retrieved without

405
00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:42.720
any injury. It soon became clear that all five pixie

406
00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:46.240
sticks had been tampered with, opened at the top and

407
00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:51.759
refilled with cyanide before being re sealed with a simple staple.

408
00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:55.920
The results from the lab confirmed that little Timothy's powder

409
00:25:56.119 --> 00:26:01.640
contained enough cyanide to kill two fully adults whilst the

410
00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:05.960
other four contained dosages that could quickly kill three to

411
00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:10.160
four adults. Ronald desperately tried to help the police find

412
00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:12.640
the killer of his darling son, but he claimed to

413
00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:15.200
have forgotten which house it was that had handed him

414
00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:18.160
the sticks. He told them that he didn't see the

415
00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:21.279
homeowner's face, that they only opened the door a crack,

416
00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:24.920
and that a hairy arm had reached out and handed

417
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:28.160
him the pixie sticks. But after walking with the police

418
00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:32.599
several times, Ronald finally confirmed the home that they had

419
00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:35.720
visited that night. This was the home of a man

420
00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:39.680
named Courtney Melvin, an air traffic controller who was not

421
00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:44.680
home until much later that night, as was confirmed by

422
00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:45.759
the hundreds.

423
00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:47.759
Of people who had seen him at the airport.

424
00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:54.160
This admittedly already strange situation was growing stranger to the

425
00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:57.519
police as they began to throw their suspicious eyes at

426
00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:01.160
Ronald himself. It was strange that he would have forgotten

427
00:27:01.160 --> 00:27:04.839
what house it was, especially considering they had only visited

428
00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:09.519
two streets that night due to the rain. They decided

429
00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:13.599
to look further into Ronald's life and were surprised by

430
00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:18.279
many things. They learned that he was over one hundred

431
00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:22.880
thousand dollars in debt, the equivalent to over five hundred

432
00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:26.680
thousand dollars today. He was a man that struggled to

433
00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:30.000
hold down a job, going through as many as twenty

434
00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:32.920
one in the ten years leading up to that moment.

435
00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:36.000
Even then, he had been suspected of theft at his

436
00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:39.640
current job at Texas State Optical and was expected to

437
00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:44.279
be fired shortly after. His car was close to being repossessed,

438
00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:47.480
He had the family home foreclosed on, and he had

439
00:27:47.720 --> 00:27:53.880
multiple bank loans falling into default. Times were tough, but

440
00:27:53.960 --> 00:28:00.000
then came the most damning part of the investigation. Ronald

441
00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:04.000
had taken out life insurance policies on both of his

442
00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:07.359
children in the month's building up to Halloween night, even

443
00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:12.000
going as far as to take out another thirty thousand

444
00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:17.839
dollars five days prior. With this, the policies totaled well

445
00:28:17.880 --> 00:28:22.720
over sixty thousand dollars, all done without his wife's knowledge.

446
00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:26.680
It was also found that Ronald had even called his

447
00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:30.440
insurance company to inquire about the process of collecting the

448
00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:33.119
policies he had taken out on his children on the

449
00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:36.880
morning of Halloween. And as damning as all of this was,

450
00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:40.119
it only got worse for Ronald O'Brien when the police

451
00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:43.799
learned that he had visited a chemical supply store to

452
00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:49.359
buy cyanide not long before the events occurred. Once confronted,

453
00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:54.279
Ronald remained persistent in his innocence. Even so, the police

454
00:28:54.279 --> 00:28:57.440
had already begun to piece together their evidence that he

455
00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:00.680
had laced the suites with poison to kill his children

456
00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:05.920
so he could claim on their life insurance policies. The

457
00:29:06.039 --> 00:29:08.839
consensus was that he gave the pixie sticks to the

458
00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:12.400
other children close by in an effort to cover up

459
00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:15.920
his crime, to make it seem far more random than

460
00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:19.160
it was. He was convicted of the crime with an

461
00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:24.400
overwhelming amount of evidence. Even a chemist testified that Ronald

462
00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:29.119
had contacted him regarding the cyanide, specifically about fatal doses.

463
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:35.839
As soon enough, Ronald was sentenced to death. After this,

464
00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:40.839
Halloween was never the same again. Even though the public

465
00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:44.839
knew what had truly happened, The seed had been planted.

466
00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:48.079
The anxiety was now in their hearts whenever their children

467
00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:50.480
would come home with sweets from all sorts of dark

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corners of the neighborhood. Over time, this story became a

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part of history, drifting away into the back of people's minds. However,

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the anxiety stayed and this led to changes in the story,

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additions and takeaways from the events. Before long, it had

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become nothing more than an urban legend about drugs in

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your children's suites or needles and syringes. It took ten

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years before Ronald was finally executed by lethal injection, when

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Timothy would have still been only eighteen years old. The

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father the inmates had nicknamed the Candyman, was dead, and

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whilst this was happening, the crowds gathered outside the building

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chanting the words trick or treat.

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Urban Legends is researched, written and produced by Luke Mordew.

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00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:55.200
Original score by Billy Jupp with additional sounds from storyblocks

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dot com. If you like what you heard and want

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00:30:57.720 --> 00:31:00.680
to hear more, click subscribe on your chow and podcast

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00:31:00.680 --> 00:31:03.400
provider and delve into the mysteries of our previous and

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00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:08.839
future chapters. To find more, including merchandise, video content, images,

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00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:13.920
and more, visit urbanlegendsfolklore dot com. If you have more

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00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:17.039
information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter,

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00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:20.240
please get in touch through our website. We aim to

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00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:23.359
ensure that all information provided is accurate. And up to date,

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and this remains a top priority. If you want to

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support the show, receive early access, and have more of

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00:31:29.880 --> 00:31:32.359
a say in what we do, then become a patron

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00:31:32.359 --> 00:31:34.799
by clicking the link in our show notes. For these

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00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:39.279
chapters in video format, simply search Urban Legends Folklore on YouTube,

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00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:43.240
follow us on TikTok, Instagram and threads, and join our

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00:31:43.240 --> 00:31:46.400
Facebook group by searching Urban Legends Folklore.

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00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:51.200
Thank you again, my spookies for giving Luke moore Jew's

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00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:56.720
podcast Urban Legends a good old Halloween listen. If you

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00:31:56.839 --> 00:32:00.640
enjoyed what you heard, I recommend you go and subscribe

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00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:04.839
on your favorite podcasting app. I really do appreciate it,

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00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:07.359
and a big thanks to Luke and the team at

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Urban Legends for supporting our program as well. So until

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next time, stay spooky and always check your candy