Halloween Horrors: Razor Blade found in Candy in Reynoldsburg, Ohio (My Town)

Since I was little, back in the 70s (and for a long time before), there have been stories about tainted Halloween treats. Well-meaning neighbors would make caramel apples, popcorn balls and other homemade treats, only to have parents chuck them in the garbage, in the unlikely event that they contained needles, poisons, razor blades or other potentially  lethal items.

Everyone heard stories, but no one believed them. Parents would rifle through our candy sacks (usually a pillowcase), in the name of finding tears or needle pricks in the wrappers, but really just to steal the best chocolate. The rare occasions when there would be an actual case of tainted goodies would invariably turn out to be a hoax or a prank, either by a kid or a parent looking to scare people or garner attention. If you check out Snopes.com, they back me up on this.

But, especially after the Tylenol scare in the early 1980s, communities started changing Halloween. They'd have X-ray machines to run candy through, they'd hold mass indoor events instead of allowing trick-or-treating, they'd hold "trunk or treat" events, where kids got candy out of the backs of people's cars (and my, my, folks, doesn't that sound like a perfectly idiotic idea to teach kids?). A lot of over-the-top "safety" over a handful of mostly urban legends and hoaxes.

Well, last night it happened not only in the state of Ohio--where I recently returned after 20 years in Las Vegas--but right down the street from me. Seriously, we walk the area almost daily. It's a legit case, insofar as the Reynoldsburg police are treating it seriously, and there are actual photos of the Snickers bar with what looks like the razor blade from a disposable safety razor inside. But, I smell a rat. There was one piece of tainted candy found, period. That doesn't sound like a crazed lunatic trying to hurt people to me. It sounds like almost every other case like this, like a hoax or a prank gone too far. I'd lay money on it.

For the record: yes, central Ohio has "Beggars Nights," on various dates ahead of Halloween, a tradition dating back to the 1950s (with several origin theories). And no, I didn't pass out Snickers bars from my house, only Kit-Kats and Twix. Honest!

[Excerpt]

Reynoldsburg police: Razor blade found in Halloween candy

Reynoldsburg police are asking parents of children who trick-or-treated in the suburb to check all candy tonight, after a razor blade was found in a candy bar. Lt. Shane Mauger said police have no reason to believe the situation was a hoax. He said that the razor blade was in a Snickers bar. . .
Read more at: Columbus Dispatch

Politics of Fear Ruin Halloween?

Image from Wikipedia

Halloween has come and gone. We got less than 20 trick-or-treaters at our house. And this is in a neighborhood that was only recently the fastest growing segment of the fastest growing city in the United States. Now, far be it for me--ha ha--to slip into tinfoil hat territory. . .

But could it be that the politics of fear, the all-pervasive "be afraid" bugaboo has even ruined Halloween? That may seem like quite the conclusion to jump to, but bear with me. As a child of the 70s, I remember trick-or-treating with massive hordes of kids, and virtually no adults. Sure, our parents let us do more--a lot more--than parents of today. But we were given boundaries, areas of the neighborhood we had to stick to, and would have been severely embarrassed to have our folks tag along.

I remember stories of razor blades in candy, and needles in apples, but we never took it very seriously. Mom's rule was that she got to go through our haul, and eliminate anything homemade, suspicious, or her favorite candy bar. And I seriously don't remember even one kid having anything unfortunate happen to him, beyond tripping over his costume, running into a tree because of a badly-formed mask, or maybe getting hit by a car because he was dressed all in black. And that was rare.

Today, police groups, and other organizations hold contained, "safe" Halloween events. Here in Vegas, there is a "Trunk or Treat" being held at the Hard Rock, where kids just go from car to car to get their treats. Police group or not, that sounds worse to me than house to house. Even weirder, here in Vegas sex offenders are banned from participating in the holiday in any way. They must keep the lights off, not answer the door, and pretend they're not home (and risk an egging).

Now, far be it for me to defend sex offenders, but tell me, doesn't that seem extreme? The class of "sex offender" is rather broad after all, not just kiddy-philes, and we're talking about people who have completed whatever sentences were handed out to them. They can't even be in the same home as someone who is handing out candy, or even take their own children out trick-or-treating. Sounds draconian to me, even accounting for the ick factor.

But back to the politics of fear, of which the above is a part. Parents go to great lengths to make sure their kids are safe, and that's a good thing. But like all good things in this country, we take them to ridiculous extremes. Parents take their kids to these "safe" events, with a sense of satisfaction that they've "saved" their children from the predators, the razor blades, and all manner of urban legends. And bravo! You've instilled in them a fear of their own neighborhoods.

Read about the Halloween Urban Legends at: Snopes.com

Read about the Las Vegas rules for sex offenders, and "Trunk or Treat" at: Las Vegas Review-Journal