Poisoned Halloween Candy: The Truth Behind the Legends

If you grew up trick-or-treating, you heard tales about strangers giving out tainted candy. But nobody could believe that a father might poison his son and blame a mysterious stranger.

Trick-or-Treating in the 1970s

In the 1970s, I lived in the suburbs, so my friends and I would go trick-or-treating in our neighborhood every October 31. We dressed up as ghosts, princesses, clowns, and the like or as pop culture characters.

Accompanied by a parent or older sibling, we walked from house to house with a bag to hold the candy. Participating neighbors (those with the porch light on) handed out treats. We got shocking amounts of candy.

After we came home, our parents checked the candy to make sure it was safe. They looked for things like unwrapped candy or items that were easy to tamper with. Like many, they’d heard tales about poisoned candy; sociologist Joel Best refers to these cases as “Halloween sadism” and shines a light on the truth.

When I was a child, the worst thing that ended up in my treat bag was a cough drop. I think that neighbor ran out of candy and gave out cough drops rather than turning out the light. They weren’t trying to poison kids. Unlike Ronald Clark O’Bryan.

Ronald Clark O’Bryan: The Man Who Ruined Halloween

On Thursday, October 31, 1974, eight-year-old Timothy O’Bryan was out trick-or-treating the city of Pasadena, Texas (near Houston).with his…