The Dark Side of Halloween: Is Poisoned Halloween Candy a Thing?

[@GodlikeIridium]

Simon has so much channels and writers, so much influence, he decides when halloween is now.

[@listenhere1623]

Meh were just in a bubble of around 200k to 500k viewers overall. But I will say our bubble is the best.

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

Fact Boi: "Look at me! I am the Halloween now."

[@cleverusername9369]

Simon: "Say my name" The internet: "Halloween!" S: "You're goddamn right"

[@abdulhamidozturk]

We needed a second one anyway

[@darlenefraser3022]

Yup! And I love it!

[@SassyGirl822006]

OMG, I was born in '82, and my mom's rule with trick-or-treat was don't eat anything that wasn't properly factory sealed. And, honestly, even if intentional tampering isn't generally a real issue, improper food handling and unintentional contamination is.

[@kdkorz10211]

I was born in ‘91 and this was our household rule too. Like with any other time of year, don’t eat anything without the factory seal intact.

[@jeffdroog]

...Because there's NO way someone could have poisoned the candy,or accidentally introduced some kind of foreign object into the candy,AT the factory lol...Some people's children lol

[@lindareed8265]

True, but if you have a pile of candy and some of it has obviously been opened or never properly sealed, that's almost certainly riskier to eat. Since you aren't going to chemical test everything you buy at the store, this is at least a way to reduce your likelihood of getting sick. @@jeffdroog

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

Wearing a costume and asking strange old men for candy: OK A strange old man in a costume asking if you'd like some candy: Not OK.

[@cedriclee7110]

the most disappointing thing is finding out there's no candy once you get in the van.

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

@@cedriclee7110 when I did that all the guy had was a rag that smelled funny. I must have fallen out of the van and landed on my ass before hitting my head and knocking myself out, because when I woke up on the sidewalk later, I had a headache and my butt hurt really bad.

[@SassyGirl822006]

Don't be a fool, always ask to see the candy first.

[@creationinspired200]

But a strange old man in a costume asking if you want some weed in a van is always okay! 👍😉

[@shugadaddy4841]

😂y'all are too funny

[@magic8ball1982]

I like the Pedro Lopez scale. You should tell your writers to include it in all Casual Criminalist scripts so that you - and by extension, your viewers - can mentally prepare for what's coming.

[@LJO_Hurts_Pianos]

On the surface, I agree with this scale. It's a perfect "inhumanity scale" that DOESN'T involve Hitler. Rare, that. However, I know I'm not the only one who has worried about Simon's psychological "oomph" when covering cases like Lopez's, so I'm not sure it would be a great idea to include an allusion to that video so often. It seems almost like he regrets AIRING it, and he actively tells his viewers to avoid the case. Watch it twice. First, all the way through. The second time, focus only on the introduction, then the last few minutes. I get this feeling that that video (Lopez) changed parts of him forever, and some of those he'd rather have back.

[@MorganHorse]

@@LJO_Hurts_Pianos Fair. I think that video changes all of us a bit.

[@sanderhoogeland9161]

Good old Simon capitalising on those Halloween vibes in March. :)

[@mattt525]

Only 7 months to go! Can't wait!

[@sanderhoogeland9161]

@@mattt525 oh yeah, I hadn’t even considered that. I thought he was late, but maybe he’s just early and trying to get us excited for the next one.

[@MCKevin289]

It’s like Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter

[@ku8721]

Well if I just leave the Xmas lights up by June I'm just early not lazy!!!

[@sanderhoogeland9161]

@@ku8721 you could even say you’re always prepared.

[@evilkillerpoptarts]

Ever since I became a homeowner, my goal for Halloween has been to become The Potato House. There are russett potatoes in with the candy, and I tell kids "You can have x number of pieces of candy, and a potato if you'd like it" and dammit but every. single. kid. wants a potato. It's hilarious. Edit: Oh yeah, I work at an insurance agency. The Fraud department is terrifying. Just the folks in Underwriting are spooky at how thoroughly they will research something before they'll consider covering it.

[@LJO_Hurts_Pianos]

Potatoes are fucking awesome (isn't the French term for potato translatable as "apple of the earth?"). After reading your post, I glanced at your username and misread it as evilkillerpotatoparts. No, I'm not kidding about that.

[@wonky_shoebox7514]

I worked for a company and got trained in the fraud department after a while. The guys training me used to work in the police and it was almost Star Wars level spooky how good they were. One had the nickname Bond because of his posh accent, the other guy was called Obi. Working Fraud was great (previously I was a CSR, or as I titled myself, Glorified Phone Bitch, so it was great to be dealing with paper rather than have people yelling down the phone at Mr for 8 hrs a day) except for the odd customer who wouldn't believe me when I rang to tell them that their details were being used fraudulently and to contact their bank ASAP. Nope, instead somehow I'm the scammer 🤔😫 Edit: born and bred in Ireland so I approve of your potato idea! 🥔 😁

[@crackerjackheart]

This is amazing. For years I've been offering candy and/or alternatives (chewing gum, bloodshot-eyeball superballs, spider rings, etc.) which are always surprisingly popular. I've never thought of vegetables, though, as I always thought the "apple people" were a disappointment when I was a kid. Maybe I will try garlic this year... 🤔

[@evilkillerpoptarts]

@@crackerjackheart I think it's the absurdity of it that's the funniest part. Like... you can't just eat a raw potato, so it's not any sort of 'health' comment. It's just a potato. I bought one of the "Is Potato" shirts from the Late Night with Stephen Colbert shirts that I plan to wear next year while handing them out. Offering garlic would be *hilarious* and would let any little vampires ham it up, too!

[@victoriaeads6126]

@evilkillerpoptarts I have been thinking of getting one of those T-shirts. That's a brilliant idea for next year! I don't know how it started, but the 'is potato' thing was already a running joke with my kids before Colbert came out with the holiday special and merch. They kept asking me what potato is in Russian and Ukrainian (картофель/kartofel' and картопля/kartoplya respectively) for some reason.

[@Captainrizzlicious]

I about died laughing, "Don't! That's not Halloween! That's a pedophile!" Teaching tips from Simon Whistler.

[@phranerphamily]

"Random poisoning and you don't even get to watch them die so what's the point" Best Simon rule line ever!!

[@ignitionfrn2223]

6:15 - Chapter 1 - Spooky stories 19:35 - Chapter 2 - Due diligence 32:35 - Chapter 3 - Happy little accidents 50:15 - Chapter 4 - The pixy stix killer, a case study in evil 1:22:20 - Chapter 5 - The debunking of the debunking 1:33:00 - Chapter 6 - Cryptic allusions 1:33:25 - Chapter 6.1 - Halloween carnage 1:41:05 - Chapter 6.2 - Why did i even wrote this episode ? 1:42:20 - Conclusion

[@TheWhiteTrashPanda]

@decoding the unknown this comment should be pinned

[@moondancer4660]

I remember the pixie Stix killer.

[@lindareed8265]

"Why did I even write" - write, not wrote.

[@TeganRhodes]

We couldn’t go trick or treating alone because the houses are so far apart. You have to drive between the clusters of homes. We had an old lady who made snickerdoodles for everyone. She was grandma to half the ridge, everyone rightfully trusted her. When I was told about not accepting homemade treats I cried because I thought Erma’s cookies were going away :(

[@caitrina19]

We had a wonderful neighbor that always gave full-sized candy bars to the neighborhood kids. He even knew what kind each of us liked and made sure each of us got “our candy bar.” Flash forward a bunch of years, and taking my own kids trick or treating in my parent’s neighborhood, and there he was, still passing out full-sized candy bars…and he even remembered my favorite and gave me one too! 🍬 🍭 ❤

[@zulimi]

@@caitrina19 Damn, making adult me want to tear up.

[@LJO_Hurts_Pianos]

@@caitrina19 This is one of those wholesome posts that reminds me that there are good people out there. I usually need more frequent reminders, but it just now occurred to me that Ive needed fewer reminders lately since I've voluntarily (completely) stopped consuming all news media over the past 12 months. Once you cut off the constant flow of what drives most news stories -- evil, murder, blood/guts/gore, anti-[insert population here]-sentiment -- you sort of default to the assumption that the average person is... of average decency. I know it's not good to ignore ALL news (including media that swing in your direction ideologically -- and by that I mean to avoid even the comfort of 'your bubble'), but I have my own reasons and I feel they're justified. Thank you for the really sweet story. Needed it. No joke.

[@jrmckim]

Reminds me of my school bus driver who always gave full size candy bars and cold can drinks on the last day of school. It was over an hour ride in south Louisiana with no ac in the bus. Really miss Mrs.Becky.

[@comettamer]

​@@caitrina19Full sized candy bars and 12 ounce sodas were like the holy grail of Halloween for my friends and I as kids, so to hear of a guy who was that generous makes me smile.

[@stevencitrin4293]

In the US there has not ever been a case of Halloween candy being poisoned by a stranger. There have been a very few cases of children’s candy being poisoned by the child’s parent(tragically) on Halloween, but this is exceedingly rare.

[@KS-PNW]

Not just parents but yeah it's always been someone the kid knew..

[@tommytomthms5]

@@KS-PNW some crazy high percent of kidnappings 80-90 percent are done by someone the child knew and usually a result of custody cases for things like divorce.

[@jrmckim]

​@SPACE DELTA 10 Blast It most amber alerts are parental kidnappings.

[@tommytomthms5]

@@jrmckim most, by a large margin.

[@MrEd8846]

A few years ago I think I heard of 1 in my local area of candy being tampered with. So I wouldn't say there's never been a case but it's pretty rare. They also found the person pretty quickly and got word out "if you were in this area don't eat the skittles and call police" But I remember growing up and hearing all these drug and razor blade stories and yeah. It's never happened to me.

[@angelitabecerra]

You've done a video on the Pixi Stix Killer before Simon... I can't recall if it was on Biographics, Casual Criminalist, or both. I grew up on the myth of the poisoned/tampered with Halloween candy. We weren't allowed to touch ours until our parents went through it personally. And yes, they always stole some much to my chagrin

[@laurynsullins241]

It was biographics: the pixy stix killer, the man who killed Halloween

[@Kitsudote]

At some point in the future, Simon will have done a video about everything on any single one of his channels. And it will be good...

[@leahrnovak]

When I was in college we had trick-or-treating in the dorms. Parents from the community would bring their children and would be given a list of the rooms that had signed up to hand out candy. It was fun. One guy dressed up as a famous baseball player. He handed out "autographs" and took pictures with the children in addition to handing out candy. They loved it.

[@zulimi]

I am 70% sure that guy turned out to be my coworker. Gave autographs as Maverick last Halloween.

[@rebeccahahn6172]

My campus set up one of the theater spaces for student groups to hand out candy at tables and neighborhood children and professors' kids would walk through, do crafts, etc. I was part of the org that arranged it every year and had a BLAST in a spooky witch costume with my hair half in my face, lurking in corners like a decoration until I could catch one of the children off guard with a creepy cackle and scatter some tootsie rolls into their bucket over their heads.

[@CashelOConnolly]

Fraud 😂

[@comettamer]

Thats wicked cool

[@comettamer]

​@@zulimiAs in, Top Gun Maverick?

[@The415Joe]

Finally the thrilling conclusion to Simon’s fascinating drug drone story 😝

[@cleverusername9369]

Resolution is good.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

The fact that I remember hearing about that... I'm not sure if I'm more impressed with myself, or Simon lol

[@greenockscatman]

He'd hinted at it multiple times, glad we finally got the full scoop!

[@comettamer]

Indeed, and it was a rather satisfying one.

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

I'd watch a "Fact Checking Factboi, With Factboi" video where Simon corrects his mistakes and dunks on himself for being a Small Brain.

[@TheBillway2sexy]

I have had half-formed thoughts about this and never succeeded in phrasing it until reading this. Perfection.

[@BruceBoyde]

This is almost 2 hours. Thank you so much Deniz for writing this tome and Simon for reading it.

[@denizdix]

😎

[@BruceBoyde]

@@denizdix Absolute legend. And I was actually very interested to learn that maybe the myth itself had motivated most the "real" incidents. I've been so accustomed to the local news networks running the stuff that I assumed there must have been at least some nugget of truth that had inspired some copycats or something. A long video *and* learning something is the pinnacle of whistleverse content.

[@Itsthatoneguy371]

These long videos are perfect for working. No stopping and starting a new one every 10-15 minutes is super convenient.

[@MudflapNichols]

When I was a kid in the 80s, there were kids everywhere on Halloween. I went last year with some kids, and there were almost no kids, and about 1 in 20 houses giving out candy. It was sad. It really made me feel like kids are missing out on something special.

[@Touhou20246]

I agree with you that kids of today are missing out on trick or treating for candy these days.👍🏻😓😒

[@Stonegolem6]

Depends on the neighborhood. Mine sucks for trick or treat, but I have friends and family whose neighborhoods are super into halloween.

[@bradlevantis913]

I remember 2019 we had like 10 kids. This year we had over 100. I guess it’s just the luck of the draw sometimes. My buddy and his wife dressed up and were all ready to give out candy. No one came to the door. 😢

[@bradlevantis913]

Hearing about the guy who didn’t have a parking ticket got me thinking. My last parking ticket was 2015 or so, my last moving ticket was 1994 and my last speeding ticket was 1988. I’m literally the poster child “he was such a good guy, I can’t believe he did that”.

[@KatKaleen]

Halloween wasn't a thing in my country (Germany) when I was little in the 80's, but we used to have something similar during carnival, where we would go around in costume during the day and ask for treats. I still remember the song: "Bin e armer Keenisch, geb ma net zu wenisch, loss mich net zu lange stehn, denn ich muss noch weitergehn!". That's local dialect, so to not bother anybody with trying to put that through a translator: "I'm a poor king, don't give me too little, don't make me wait too long, because I have to walk on". Sadly, that tradition seems to have completely died out in my area. So I was a bit sceptical when my neighbours' young son (and later on, his younger sister) asked me to go trick-or-treating with him around ten years ago, thinking that it's not a thing in our country, and that it might turn out to be a let-down for him. Turns out that quite a lot of houses had Halloween decorations up and were giving out candy! I like that. It heavily depends on the area you live in, though, and C-19 has definitely had a negative impact.

[@FUCKINB4RTo]

Great video Simon, I grew up down the street from where Ronald O'Bryan lived in Pasadena, Tx. I still reside in the area and to this day, decades later, "The Candy Man" still gets talked about every year when October rolls around.

[@goober5713]

My mom would always take my brother, sister and I out on Halloween and she wouldn’t walk up the steps to the house (I lived up north) so she would stand on the street or sidewalk and scream, “Go for the chocolate or Reeces”. The person in the house would ask jokingly who that was and embarrassingly one of us would say that we had no idea who that woman was.

[@RealElongatedMuskrat]

the idea of your mom lurking in the background and you going "idk bro I've no idea who that lady is" just made me chuckle out loud. Like that could be so sinister 😂

[@LJO_Hurts_Pianos]

That's hilarious. I totally believe your story, but I have to say that that's tailor-made for some kind of comedy film. A comedy film I would watch. And I don't watch movies.

[@stephjovi]

I remember that true crime story. It was a thing because one guy wanted to poison his son and to cover it up handed out poisoned candy so his kid is not the only one. Quite sick

[@khaleelmohammed3841]

Simon did cover this on biographics

[@stephjovi]

@@khaleelmohammed3841 and probably also casual criminalist and TIFO and everywhere else 😂

[@khaleelmohammed3841]

@@stephjovi not on casual criminalist

[@stephjovi]

@@khaleelmohammed3841 well that's a video waiting to happen than

[@mishkatown8625]

@Stephanie You talking about Ronald O'Bryan better known as the Candy Man, I'm sure he's part of the reason for the PSA's other than the media wanting to create fear in everyone.

[@darlenefraser3022]

OMG! I love how the writers/producers play with Simon with their comments to him snuck into the stuff he’s reading

[@bradlevantis913]

Loved the recall of the infamous drug g drone story Deniz. Fabulous episode. Simon is surprised he remembered the drone story. All of us have been waiting 2 years to find out what happened to the drone. Really enjoyed it

[@amymccammon9078]

I live in Idaho and it's illegal for teenagers and adults to trick or treat. Can you imagine going to jail? "What are you in for?" Ummm....??? You'd have to stab someone.

[@RealElongatedMuskrat]

looool no way haha that's hilarious. Yeah you'd have to do something to add a lil flair to your story. You don't wanna be the illegal trick or treater.

[@jennaxoxox4821]

Isn’t that a violation of the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of association? There should be Supreme Court case.

[@likebot.]

"Why you in jail?" "Turning tricks."

[@cynthiasimpson931]

I live in a neighborhood of grandparents, and most trick-or-treaters are grandchildren of my neighbors. Last year it poured rain, and I only got one trick-or-treater all night, a 3-year-old "Frozen" princess with an umbrella who was the granddaughter of my neighbor.

[@thegnosticalien]

Lolll watching simon mentally struggle for the word for concentrated cannabis was hilarious Haha one of these days we’re gonna need just one episode, where simon just gets real stoned and rants for an hour, off script Brain blaze might be the best channel to have it on, just off the name alone

[@kennpeters1973]

I'm gonna call it out: How many of you noticed Simon saying he doesn't like hash as much? And yes, I know what its called. That's what it was before some dumb@$$ "invented" "dabs".

[@blueduchessvi]

Stoned would be funny, but hyper-caffeinated would be funnier. Less understandable for those who struggle with his normal speech rate but very funny. I would start with an audience selected topic and place a screen counter to track how many times he interrupts himself with an off-topic rant or change of subject. Ack, now my brain is running off in all directions about live stream and chat participation!

[@thegnosticalien]

@@kennpeters1973 lol hash is the og word, more than likely simon has never had actual hash tho (although idk what the european rec market is like) but most people just use “dabs” as an umbrella term for any extraction of cannabis but technically hash is made using pressure/heat or water/ice… most recreational “dabs” are extracted w propane, butane or co2 To be clear i agree with you but i also think most people (and knowing simon i assume this is the case) think that there is only one type 😂 I actually specifically used “concentrated cannabis” because while i assumed dabs is the word he was searching for, that word isn’t necessarily the correct one either, really what im guessing he means is actually concentrated thc which is itself not the same as concentrated cannabis (hash) which would potentially also have several other cannabinoids as well as terpenes included

[@hannahsolo27]

I knew these were filmed well in advance but I didn’t really realize just how far in advance until hearing Simon talk about it at the top of this episode haha

[@RealElongatedMuskrat]

I always forget too, last time I realised just HOW far ahead he usually is, it was because he was wearing a Christmas jumper at the wrong time of year 😂

[@LJO_Hurts_Pianos]

Oh, he's made it known many a time with self-deprecating humor that he's got quite a lot set to come down the pike and he's got tons of stuff done in advance, to the point where he's expressed concern that some of his videos will be outdated by the time they come out. If it ever gets to the point where he's no longer able to post videos but still has an active KZbin account (say, some kind of health problem), his family will be shored up financially for centuries, he would be able to unethically/illegally buy his kids' paths to Oxford, and his wife could buy out DeBeers for shits and giggles. (I really really really hope that Simon maintains good health and continues to post for long after I'm gone).

[@melasnexperience]

Well, now I'd love an in-depth episode of either this show or Casual Criminalist on the Tylenol poisonings. I know a short one was done on Biographics, but I think it's worth a deeper look, since the theories range from "general psycho killer" to "trying to manipulate the stock market" and there were SO many copycats, spurred largely by the media coverage.

[@jesway]

When my son was 5 years old he told me he wanted to be a zombie for Halloween. I was so proud! He was such a good little zombie he scared the other little kids! My neighbors loved it. He got so much freaking candy that night!

[@RealElongatedMuskrat]

that's so cute! Reminds me of when I was about 6 or 7, the first costume I could choose for myself was a zombie doctor (in previous years I was an angel or a black cat, as per my mother's design). It was a white lab coat with fake blood on it and little brains printed on it. My parents were a bit confused but supportive. I used that costume for a good few years.

[@jesway]

@@RealElongatedMuskrat When he was about 2 he was Curious George. I rented a Man In The Yellow Hat costume for his dad. We were meeting some friends at a festival and they found us after their daughter exclaimed “Look! It’s The Man In The Yellow Hat!”

[@KatKaleen]

Just commenting for the algorythm, but the windowless van reminded me of my mom's favorite story about me. When I was five years old, my best buddy (neighbours' four-year-old son) and I decided to pick up his dad from the tennis court. So we left on our tricycles. He had a general idea where the tennis court was, I didn't, but he turned on me halfway down the hill and ran back home. Seriously, he didn't say a word to me, just turned and ran. What a tiny douchebag, leaving me all alone. I wasn't bothered, though, it was a beautiful day, I wanted to cherish it, and I was curious, so I ventured on down the hill, took three laps around the town hall on my tricycle, drank water from a fountain at the market place, watched some ducks in a pond, then went on my merry way home. Once I got up to the busy intersection in our part of town, a car stopped beside me. RED ALERT! I was ready to run at the drop of a pin, but I would hear that man out. He told me he was a police officer in civil clothing, that my family had reported me missing, and that I should get in so he can drive me home. "Anybody can say that!" He showed me his badge. "I can't read yet." "Would you go home in a proper police car, with somebody in uniform?" "Maybe." This is the part that cracked my mom up every time. Yeah, I really got the stranger-danger warning. Ten minutes later, FIVE police cars were blocking the busy intersection! Little Kathrin picked one and was driven home. My mom loved to tell this story, but she never asked me what I did while I was "missing". I was having a good time. What I find funny is, had that police officer not stopped me, I would've been home sooner. I was already on my way back! Were not talking crazy distances here, this all took place in a 2 km radius. I was about 400 m from our house, LOL

[@LyndsianaJones]

I check my kids candy but not because of drugs but because companies are careless and when they start increasing production for Halloween demands, it seems like more and more pieces aren't sealed and just sit open in the bag get gross and moldy. Also I go through and pick out all the bigger sizes of Snickers because Mom Tax

[@DeathByBlonde1]

Mom tax is real tax!!!!!!! I still do this with my kid and he is a teenager… and he doesn’t do much trick or treating (he’d rather hang with friends and that’s okay), but anytime he gets anything that I want some of I walk over and get my mom tax payments or tell him “ooops… I have to check to make sure that ice cream isn’t poisonous first!” And then steal a bite. 😂 When he was little I did this so much with his candy he would automatically hand me all his twizzlers and dots telling me that I needed to check to see if they were poisoned… Hahahaha 😂😂😂

[@RealElongatedMuskrat]

as a young adult without children, I strongly support the notion of mom tax. My mom didn't mom tax and honestly she should've, she made my costumes when I was little 🥺 I always gave her any orange chocolates that I got because I didn't like them and knew she did, but she really should've flexed the mom tax on me. Moms carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, they should pull a mom tax whenever they fancy.

[@LJO_Hurts_Pianos]

@@RealElongatedMuskrat I went into your post assuming you were chastising your mom for carelessness, only to end up feeling warm and fuzzy by the end of it. That was a really good turn (if it wasn't intentional, then I'm a really poor reader).

[@zoeye7095]

It's the Dad Tax in my family. If my parents have anything in the house he will take some. Including cutting a piece of pie out of a pie she was taking to work for a party of some sort. It's amazing how much longer my candy stash lasts now that I am in my own place. Lol

[@stephaniegoadsby3085]

Mom tax? Let the kids have their candy and go buy your own. They earned it.

[@MandaMalice]

The Candy Man murder was local to me. Happened years before I was born but as a kid I remember local police departments and hospitals offering free candy checks on Halloween. My partner is a FF/EMT and they will sometimes put on a ‘show’ for parents when the child is gone. My Husband actually hates it but the idea is that the parents see everything was done to help their child. ETA: I live is the ‘Satanic Panic’ south and EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. at last two people a know share a poison candy meme/story with me. People 100% DO still believe this. Police departments in the south regularly post warnings about rainbow fëntänÿl in October. Actual safety risk for kid on Halloween is it being on a Saturday. It’s safer on a weekday because less traffic. Which makes it funny to me that so many cities move trick or treating to a weekend.

[@cyanmage1]

I'm from rural Arkansas and I had to explain to a few people that not a single dealer is going to give drugs to your kids that stuff is to expensive to just give away and most of the time local dealers are fronted the product have and have to pay back the money to their suppliers or bad things happen

[@LJO_Hurts_Pianos]

@@cyanmage1 Hello, fellow Arkansan! Fancy meeting you here, on this magical people-connector box. :0)

[@cyanmage1]

@Lena Hurts Pianos lol sadly I moved out of that state during the pandemic I do miss it the the Ozarks is very awesome place to live sadly not much in the way of jobs

[@Nefville]

Simon, writers & Co., I would love to see you guys do a short Decoding on the Tide Pod challenge. It a fascinating example of media/ social media influence making a real issue out of a mostly fabricated story by propagating it and enticing more people to actually try it. If anyone is capable of making sense of that its your team. Thanks!

[@pamelamays4186]

As a kid in the seventies I heard stories and urban legends about needles straight pins in Halloween candy, razors in apples and coins heated up in frying pans to burn the hands of unsuspecting little Trick-Or- Treaters. Another rumor going around in my neighborhood was that in the rich neighborhoods of my city, people were handing out five and ten dollar bills. And yet there was tumor that stoners who lived in the beach area neighborhoods were passing out joints to kids on Halloween. I'm from a time when kids could safely go out on Halloween night alone, maybe with an older sibling or a group of friends.

[@bartfoster1311]

Not five dollar bills but they had the full size candy bars 😄

[@wmdkitty]

Just point me towards the stoners, plz. :)

[@sharonrouleau-bryan1456]

@@wmdkitty omg riiiight 🤣😂. Me too ...

[@sharonrigs7999]

That darn stoner tumor!

[@rachelb4398]

I like how Simon always says conductive instead of conducive. Every time. He never says conducive. And, I would say the myth is perpetuated not by newspapers, but by schools. I remember growing up, always receiving a hand-out on or before Halloween about safety and letting your parents check your candy before you eat any. And there might've been a PSA or two on the TV about it (back in the 1980's or '90's), during afternoon cartoons after school. I definitely remember a PSA (public service announcement) about the safety of Halloween costumes (like making sure you can breathe when wearing a mask). And I think it may have been mentioned in a Judy Blume book back in the day, as part of the story about some mean old man in the neighborhood. Just saying, rumors can be more wide-spread than people think

[@werelemur1138]

IIRC it was in "Blubber"? There were so many PSAs, about Halloween but also about "drug dealers want to get you hooked" or just give you blotter acid for some reason. The 80s were a weird time.

[@cleverusername9369]

I used to think "OK maybe it was a typo or a brain fart" but having watched Simon's videos for years, I'm convinced that in the same way he can't say "effortlessly," he simply doesn't know about the existence of the word "conducive"

[@rachelb4398]

@@werelemur1138 Yes, I think it was "Blubber"! Couldn't remember the name of the book :)

[@eileenowen8749]

I've been listening to Simon for awhile now, and I have come to the conclusion that his videos are designed in such a way to get his f$&ks out before going home to his kids. Cool. Just proves he is a good daddy!

[@LJO_Hurts_Pianos]

Even though I don't like kids, don't understand kids, don't want kids, and will hopefully be going through a series of surgeries which would leave me infertile (not as an intended effect though), Simon is one of the few people I look at and say "I would want to be THAT kind of parent". After listening to HUNDREDS of his videos, he strikes me as an extremely caring father. He rarely mentions his wife (possibly for privacy reasons?) but he's never had a negative thing to say about any of them. And even when he's voicing frustration about his kids waking him at 3;00 a.m., you can tell he's frustrated with himself about being frustrated by the early-morning alarm. On the other side of the coin, his wife must be a goddamned saint, given his habit of tangents, awesome as they are. Sometimes I do wonder how they met (I mean, a Brit choosing to move to the Czech Republic seems a little uncommon). I've reasoned that he'd have moved there for one of three reasons: (1) He's a fugitive; (2) He's well-traveled, so maybe he moved there because he visited it and it just stuck with him, or; (3) His wife's a goddamned saint. I'm going with option (3). : D

[@creationinspired200]

@@LJO_Hurts_Pianos i agree with lena a wonderful father he must be what do you say simon! Give us an autobiography of yourself! That would be an awesome video!

[@mikieswart]

@@LJO_Hurts_Pianos it’s definitely option 1… allegedly

[@victoriaeads6126]

@Eileen Owen Oh, definitely. I think I remember him actually saying that once. Also-watching TopTenz or Today I Found Out is really funny after watching the cold read channels because he tries to be formal. 😜😂❤

[@victoriaeads6126]

@Lena Hurts Pianos It was option 2. He used to travel a great deal. He does sometimes talk about his wife, in general, privacy protecting, terms, and she probably is quite lovely. I watch too much Whistleboy.

[@cleverusername9369]

I'm less than five minutes in and Simon is already off on a wildly unrelated tangent that has nothing to do with anything, just ranting about his kids. This one is gonna be a banger, I can tell.

[@pgbrown12084]

Dennis and Simon have Danny and Simon energy.

[@denizdix]

Oh stop it you! 🥰

[@crackerjackheart]

Amazing script from Deniz! What a legend. I love how Simon characterizes his work as "edutainment" and "not journalism". This is definitely investigative journalism, as is much of Into the Shadows, Decoding the Unknown, and all of The Casual Criminalist. A+ work from everyone.

[@denizdix]

Thanks! 😎

[@crackerjackheart]

​@@denizdix Forgive me for misspelling your name; I've corrected my mistake.

[@Rekuzan]

Hey now, don't pre-judge! It's not ALWAYS a pedophile in the van.... Sometimes it's a serial killer, someone doing human trafficking, or the prequel chapter for Stephen King's next horror novel!

[@z31drifterlf]

Simon would be no fun in a commune. "NO those are MY drugs"

[@RHCole]

Simon would be the cult leader.

[@Adrunkopossem]

Do I understand the risk is practically non existent, yes. Am I going to go over every piece of my child's candy after trick or treating, also yes! You're allowed to be paranoid as a parent, it's your job. But I don't think you should keep them home from doing something fun, just check it after. Collect a tax on it for your services as well

[@Rock33b]

Simon not understanding a sentence and then going on a rant about something totally different before realizing his mistake is always enjoyable 😂

[@azathoth3700]

Deniz, you are a legend! Fantastic script, thank you so much. Thank you also, Simon, for providing the platform and the voice (and the tangents) for so many great scripts from so many great writers.

[@denizdix]

😎

[@msbrowneyedgirl73]

I definitely remember hearing about the Pixie Stix incident - I was born in '73. Whenever I'd get home from trick-or-treating in my huge subdivision, my mom would go through my candy and remove every single one of those and empty them down the sink. Our local hospitals also offered free x-rays of Halloween candy to check for needles/razor blades. Those stories seemed very real during my childhood. It's was a weird time. Parents, including mine, would let young kids loose in the subdivision for hours to get candy, but then those same parents would be terrified of what might be in that candy.

[@DatBoiUKno]

50:19 Simon you did. I was waiting for this exact moment.

[@tka6781]

The only poison I got on Halloween was raisins.

[@rikiba851]

Regarding your British Professor of drugs, I believe that was Professor David Nutt. It's worth looking in to what he's up to now, as it might make a good topic for one of the Simon channels. He's making some kind of synthetic alcohol that should stop people getting completely wasted. He's an interesting guy. The government of the time should have taken more notice of him.

[@jggonzalez6299]

I literally watch almost all his channels

[@badgerx19]

12:40 If it makes you feel any better I recently turned 20 and ALSO have fond memories of the paper bag mix and matches from tuck shop. 20p for a brown paper bag and a choice of Bari is, moams, flumps and a whole assortment of little chocolates. Those were the days.

[@angelitabecerra]

To my American ears those are some very weird candy names. Also, at 32 the only time I've ever seen this has been in movies, like *Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory*

[@unowen9668]

I remember a mix n match display at the supermarket in California. Haven't noticed one lately. Brach's candy.

[@RealElongatedMuskrat]

​@@angelitabecerra we've got some bonkers names for sweets (candy) in the UK, for sure! Curly Wurlies, Crunchies, DipDabs, the list goes on 😂

[@RealElongatedMuskrat]

I'm just a few years older than you and the tuck shop was gotten rid of in my school a few years before I got there (devastated, obviously). It was during the infamous Jamie Oliver school meal purge, when all the joy was sucked out of the British school system. Still have pick-a-mix in shops etc so I get the general idea, and honestly I have quite strong opinions about pick-a-mix components. I'm a flump supporter but moams and the like, I have to boycott. Gummy worms are top tier, while those white chocolate mice that could melt the teeth out of your head are deeply disturbing to my spirit.

[@jrmckim]

I stopped giving out candy/ sweets on Halloween about 8 years ago. I buy cutie oranges and small apples then wrap them in clear baggies. I have stickers I place on the apples that say "wash me before eating". They both come with different jack-o-lantern stickers too. Each year I've had to buy more and more for the kids in my neighborhood. For the last 3 years, I've given out small kiddie toothbrushes with toothpaste along with the fruit. You'd think kids wouldn't want this kind of stuff but they get excited when they see the fruit and toothbrushes. I'm sure some of these kids rarely have fresh fruit. Plus they have so much other candy to eat. And it's cheaper than buying name-brand candies these days. You can get 500 of the stickers packs for $5. I live in a small town so I only need around 50 bags. I also have 2 dentist offices that donate toothbrush kits. This all started when a little trick or treater with type 1 diabetes explained how he gives away his candy. So I gave him an apple and the other kids got jealous. So they cleaned me out of fruit lol. So the next year I was ready. I'm also type 1 diabetic and remember having to give my candy to my siblings. It was replaced by sugar free candy that you can't eat more than 1 piece of without running to the bathroom. It's tough being a diabetic kid around holidays.

[@geofff.3343]

I love dad jokes. Dad jokes are created by dads with the sole aim in making their kids laugh. That's a good dad quality to have.

[@denizdix]

Funny thing is, I don't even have kids. But I have been called daddy before. 😎

[@phoenixjen8986]

13/10 reply. Well done

[@macduff270635]

My church does a Trunk-Ur-Treat with bounce houses, chili cook-off, treating, face painting and a Photo Booth. We get like 200 people. It’s fun but the majority we never see on a Sunday. I see it going full Fall Festival in the next couple years.

[@andiward7068]

It's hardly ever "Weird Jeff". It's "kept-to-himself quiet neighbor" or "pillar of the community who nobody susoects".

[@elidawn4971]

In the mid 70's, there were stories of poisoned candies and razors in apples. My mother checked every piece and removed anything questionable. I'm sure she destroyed them in fire, not in her belly.

[@Kari77251]

Simon… Unfortunately, the only psycho I know of that poisoned candy and killed a child was a man who did it to own son. I think he was trying to get an insurance payout.

[@jjackson4273]

This was a fecking brilliant episode! I loved the length, but even more than that, I loved the layers that this story took, with each successive story adding so much more to my depth of understanding of this topic. Thanks so much, Deniz for your hard work and thoughtfulness!

[@jamesru1]

I love that it's a Halloween episode and I'm watching it in March eating hot cross buns the day it's uploaded

[@12srr]

Great episode! I love the due diligence of your writers seeking out the people actually involved and the people behind studies and sources. You've got such an incredible team! And any time you want to do a geographics video on where my keys are would be very helpful. Those disappear on the regular lol

[@moriahmelon]

easy answer: no. druggies dont give their drugs away

[@RHCole]

Exactly.

[@moriahmelon]

@@RHCole who is supposedly out here giving away their gas kush!! nobody in their right mind

[@kreiner1]

Thank you, good drugs cost money I'm not giving that shit away. And I can't see drug dealers trying to get 5 year olds hooked.

[@AnankeQ]

Unless you are stuck in quicksand, correct? When I was a kid the media always told me to look out for quicksand and free drugs so it seems like they go together.

[@somerandom3257]

I forgot who I was listening too that said something jokingly along the line of “drugs are expensive and I’m not handing them out for free, and if I did I would want to see the group of 10 year olds try acid or ecstasy because it’ll probably be hilarious. Not give it away for them to take home.”

[@merytsitmaat9308]

I remember the Pixy Stix case. O'Bryan was crying on the news when his kid died, and everyone was shocked when he was arrested for it later. He appealed the conviction, and I read the Appellate opinion. Apparently, cyanide used to be used to clean wire-frame glasses in days gone by, and because O'Bryan was an optometrist his friend didn't think much of it when he asked. That, coupled with the other circumstantial evidence against him, was more than enough to convict though.

[@elizabethmcglothlin5406]

When our kids were small my husband, a cop, did inspect their candy, and some police departments offered the same service. It was more about reassurance than real fear, though. (He also was after Chunkies!)

[@pokeydot1975]

Some ER's would also x-ray goody bags too. I doubt they still do, but I'm sure it was great for peace of mind.

[@pokeydot1975]

Chunkies were my favorite!!! 🤣

[@bluestrife28]

One of my online European friends said about this before “that could only happen in America, at least over here they poison you in your face.” 😂

[@RealElongatedMuskrat]

honestly true haha. I also feel like it wouldn't happen over here in Europe as much because Europeans just... couldn't be bothered with all that. Like if someone's going to try and bump you off here, they'll not put that extra effort into trying to sneakily poison you. You'll get a bonk on the head or a stabby stab (guns being harder to find). We're too lazy for anything else. That energy might be diverted into hiding a body afterwards, but even then, more time spent on that means less time to spend pissing about in the pub. You may just get run over with a car instead 😂

[@fluffybirdy]

Even if drugs weren't expensive as shit and kids bad customers to look at (no jobs or money), Halloween would be one of the worst ways to go about trying to hook them cuz they aren't going to know or remember what house they got the "goods" from unless those goods are king sized candy bars or something.

[@ZealPropht]

Great video! As a child of the 1980’s, I vaguely remember my parents checking my candy because of poison rumors, seeing disclaimers that hospitals could x-ray things to check for razors and needles, and warnings not to accept unwrapped or homemade treats.

[@PeachM0de]

Thank you Deniz and team for putting this together.

[@michaelmayhem350]

Lol Simon has covered this story on like half his channels

[@Kevan808]

And this is why I love trunk-o-weens. Everyone that's there are trusted friends. It's way more fun!

[@macher001]

This script was an absolute killer! (yes, intended :D ) more collabs please, Deniz you rock! 🙂 Edit: Simon I really love the variety of writers that you work with, awesome B-)

[@OfficiallyEffective]

Unfortunately, when I was 15 I used to buy ecstasy from a nearly 30 year old man who had kids, some dealers don’t care, 15’s a bit old to be trick or treating like but just a thought to add to Simon’s opinion of drug dealers

[@likebot.]

LOL. The dentist who put laxatives in children's candy anecdote is followed up by Simon saying ".... but is it killing?" and then plays a clip from _Schitt's Creek_ of all shows: "NO". That's bonus funny.

[@Pennysfishkeeping]

Heckkkkin fantastic video! Thank you.

[@gifttanz]

This was 49 seconds young when I started watching it and I just finished and damn literally one of my favourite episodes of DTU ever.

[@paigeharrison3909]

Back in the 80s I lived in a tiny rural town. On Halloween we got stuff like baked goods and caramel apples from some neighbors. Everyone knew who gave out what so no one worried. Yeah, I'm sure people give out drugs they paid good money for. sarcasm, of course.

[@am53n8]

Great episode, Deniz has a good sense of humour. I'm also slightly surprised to hear the myth isn't that common considering how many people I saw dunking on the rainbow fentanyl thing on my twitter

[@BORNdischarged]

People who think that people are putting drugs in candy and passing it out obviously never paid for drugs, not even weed in high school, and do not understand that they aren’t cheap and people aren’t going to pass out expensive drugs to strangers kids. Sharing with friends is one thing, but that’s just ridiculous.

[@sanderhoogeland9161]

Wow, good memory Dennis, I remember the story about that drone. Have I really been stuck in the factboy universe for that long? :)

[@GrievousReborn]

Trunk or treating existed before covid when I trick or treated when I was a kid which was about 14 years ago I would go to houses but I would also go to the church near me and do trunk or treating

[@Nylak-Otter]

Yep. Churches always do it and find a way to make it religious. They know kids will throw a fit if they can't get candy and dress up on Halloween, but they have to oppose the holiday anyway, even though they tried to rebrand it as "all hallows/saints eve," making November 1st All Saints Day. Churches should give up. Children are of the feral wild that they call "the devil," and Samhain/Halloween is made for the chaotic little demon spirit inside all of us.

[@Plutonium239MXR]

Simon, you are excellent at verbally reasoning through problems.

[@LJO_Hurts_Pianos]

Really, he is. I know there are probably some Debbie-Downers out there who are like "Yeah, he secretly reads the scripts pre-filming" but I disagree. He's cracked his writers' well-built mystery-like narratives on the Casual Criminalist channel LONG before the average watcher would come to the same conclusion. I think he mentioned in one of his videos having played chess though not in a long time, and, based on what I've seen re: the efficiency of his reasoning and ability to "see things coming", I think that if he revisited chess he'd be really good. I've never played chess, but I know solid reasoning when I see it... Just like everyone else does!

[@SaintPhoenixx]

Just in time for Halloween. Couldn't have timed this upload any better.

[@robert48044]

The thumbnail was correct though

[@AynneMorison]

Halloween, Easter, and Christmas - so much candy

[@katwitanruna]

My mom couldn’t eat my candy without me knowing as I used to lay it all out and sort it between ventures out.

[@SweGrlMom]

Thank you Simons small brain for looking up the more unusual words. "Big words" not regularly used in daily life can be totally unknown for someone like me, not having English as my first language. 👍 And looking them up while listening to a podcast is kind of tricky.

[@fractaljack210]

We grew up in the 70s with the rumor of razor blades in apples. Apples were a somewhat common treat when trick-or-treating. We hated those houses. No one was ever harmed That said, the movie Halloween II showed a kid with a razor blade in his mouth going into hospital.

[@RealElongatedMuskrat]

I remember when I first learned of 'Trunk Or Treat' from an American pal (I grew up in a small Irish village so we just... went around the street), and I just never thought about people who live in areas that are so spaced out, they have to meet in parking lots. My area was very rural but all the houses were clustered together, save for the farm houses obviously, so I just didn't consider those American towns that are small enough for everyone to know each other but spaced out enough that you can't just let kids wander into the night.

[@abbywatson8133]

Yes. Also, it's often done at churches and sometimes called a "Fall Festival" instead.

[@nancydavies6446]

I love the slight cross over with cc..im an avid watcher of simons channels but i love the cross over ones that are obviously done unintentionally 👏👏👏👏

[@jefffoster912]

There was major case of a person charged for distributing edibles for Halloween in my city last year.

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

I grew up in the ghetto so I didnt have to worry about this type of crap. If someone had drugs, they didn't put it in candy, they put it in themselves.

[@ryangoldsmith1892]

Yes, insurance claim departments have specifically assigned departments to share information on potentially shady circumstances and investigate them or refer proven fraud for prosecution in some cases. There’s also measures in place to share this type of information between other carriers but it’s only as good as the individuals who look into it much like anything else.

[@DerptyDerptyDUM]

Simon resents "effortlessly" for having too many syllables, yet *consistently* adds an extra syllable to "lengthy". 😄

[@rae17]

Deniz is an absolutely fantastic writer, really enjoyed this episode! keep up the great work :)

[@denizdix]

😎

[@charlesmarino2027]

You should do a crossover with casual criminalist on the man from the train.

[@TheLadyMaul]

When I was a kid, the local news stations all showed off the same alleged x-ray image of a pile of candy contaminated with needles and razor blades -- for *years*, the exact same picture! -- and claimed it had come from "a local hospital". They then explained which hospitals in the area were standing by to x-ray your kid's Halloween loot, free of charge, if you just showed up. And every year, despite zero poisonings, zero foreign objects found in candy, my mother fell for this nonsense -- every year, hook, line, and sinker. Mind, some of her rules made sense -- any homemade treats went straight into the trash unless they'd come from someone we knew well, any candy with a wrapper that was torn or damaged went straight into the trash... That made sense (and I still had a ton of candy). Then she'd look at any apples I had ended up with, start wringing her hands about the x-ray story on the news (again, literally the same image and same script every year! and somehow she failed to notice this!), confiscate all my apples... which she peeled and cut up "to check for needles and razor blades"... and then put into a pot on the stove and turned into homemade applesauce. As if it didn't occur to her that someone could have injected them with something or soaked them in something -- obviously no one had (because I'm here, writing this), but it still seems really illogical to me that she was so paranoid about Halloween candy, but only semi-paranoid about those apples... Beyond that, making them all into applesauce made sense because then they did actually get eaten, LOL.

[@anothersquid]

"special" gummies from the store cost about $1 per gummy. That's pretty expensive to hand out to kids on Hallowe'en

[@ApathyBM]

Reports of poisoned Halloweed candy can only serve to increase the likelihood someone is inspired to poison Halloween candy

[@wendycharles9576]

Simon, you have some of the best writers around. They all turn in great informative entertaining scripts everytime.

[@HoneysOcelot]

High five to Jen for Edie the Egg Lady!

[@houstonbaxter5537]

Simon being so organized he's got a Halloween video in March is certainly the best thing on KZbin right now. Keep up the great work Simon, though I believe it isn't work when it comes naturally.

[@Robustacap]

One actual problem at least here in Finland are some cray folk who leave poisoned treats and food for dogs and cats, as it happens in places where pets are most likely to take it. Sick as fk...

[@stephjovi]

I remember the cocaine in the banana box story. R/@SimonWhistler had a field day talking about Simon's delivery going to the wrong adress 😜

[@Daniel-bv7wx]

As if people would give out drugs for FREE to kids, lol drugs are expensive

[@RHCole]

Yarp.