Local News
Houston Parents Report Dangerous Items Hidden in Halloween Candy
Click2Houston.com reported several incidents in the Houston area of parents who found sinister items in their child’s candy after trick-or-treating. Daniel Marks’ son received a small package of liquid rat poison. “I don’t know whether someone meant to harm someone or whatever it was. It was still very shocking,” Marks told the news.
Additionally, a Kingwood mother claims she found a needle hidden inside one of her kid’s candy bars, and someone in West University found a big piece of metal in one of their chocolates.
Often, receiving harmful things in Halloween candy is perceived as an urban legend as it rarely happens. Snopes.com writes that while worries about insidious items hidden in Halloween favors began decades earlier, the Tylenol poisonings that took place in 1982 really heightened everyone’s fears. “It was in the aftermath of the Tylenol poisonings that a sudden spate of Halloween tampering reports erupted. It’s as if the murder of those seven unfortunate people opened a forbidden door,” Snopes says.
Even though it’s rare, finding dangerous items in a child’s Halloween bag is possible and terrifying when it does happen. Checking the candy while taking a few pieces for oneself seems to still be the best method for parents.
