previous October is a in darkness magical time of yr . It ’s no wonder that many citizenry worldwide believed ( or still believe ) this time of year is a clock time when the spirits of the dead come back to walk the earth . And it ’s no surprise that so many of us , even the supposed adults , still get giddy aboutHalloween .
But every year around this time , social metier becomes clot with news articles and recycled memes warn parent against drug snuck intoHalloween candyor of the satanic root of trick or goody . Sometimes parents do n’t know what to believe . So let ’s expose five of the biggest Halloween myths out there .
1. Evil People Are Putting Razor Blades in Candy Apples
This is , by far , the most pervasive myth associated with Halloween . The fear that some local lunatic is slipping pins or razor blades into his homemade confect apple is so far-flung thatmedical centersandpolice stationsroutinely offer destitute ten - ray of light of Halloween treats .
But has a razor steel ever been establish ? Folklorist Rick Santino at Bowling Green State University haswritten extensivelyabout Halloween and decipher the razor blade scare back to a blizzard of supposed tamperings in New Jersey back in the former 1960s , head to a 1968 New Jersey law take mandatory prison house conviction for people caught sticking razor blades in apple .
Quoted on Snopes.com , Santino said that when diary keeper take after up on these cases a few years later , " most all of the reports were hoaxes concocted by the children or parents . "
Joel Best , a criminal Justice Department professor who has conducted theonly substantial researchinto the tampering of Halloween candy , reassert that most news composition about needles and razor blades being find oneself in Halloween candy involve no hurt , most likely because the objects were place in the candy by the " victims " or their friends as a prank .
2. Fine, Not Razor Blades, But Drugs!
In the former eighties , reports began to circulate of villainous individuals pass on out children ’s spine on Halloween laced with LSD , the hallucinogenic drug . Despite zero media report of small fry in reality receive acid - soaked poser , law department and interested parent chemical group continued issuing warning about presuppose " blue star " LSD stumper targeting kids .
In aneye - open letterto The New York Times , a University of Utah folklore prof describe Jan Harold Brunvand describe the confusion back to police alerts in 1980 about so - called " day book acid , " which are sheets of paper stamps dipped in LSD and sold as individual " hits . " Since the sheet were sometimes inked with animated cartoon bod , the police warn that " tike may be susceptible to this type of pestle . " From there , it morph to gummed label and quickly entered the territory of Halloween myth .
The latest version of the drugged candy myth arepolice bulletinsandparent warningsabout kids unknowingly use up Halloween confect instill with THC , the alive ingredient in marijuana . With amateur mint now sound in several states , there are a number of comestible marijuana products that depend on the button like conventional gummy bear , brownies or chocolate bars .
While there have been some cases of accidental ingestion of potty candy by baby , including some small fry in Arizona who grab gummies out of a sports stadium of Halloween candy at a friend ’s mansion andended up feel first-rate - funny in maths class , there are n’t any reports of hoi polloi deliberately handing out candy laced with THC for trick or treat .
3. People Adopt Black Cats to Sacrifice on Halloween
The rumor thatSatanistsand ego - exalt witches line up at animal shelters every Halloween to adopt black cats is so pervasive that many shelterslock up their black cats(and black rabbit ) in October .
Let ’s let the ASPCA ( American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to beast ) gain this one up . " While it is true that animals too often become the victim of holiday caper and mercilessness , there is no reason to think that witch are involved , or that shelter are a source,“writesStephen Zawistowski , a former ASPCA aged executive . " Normal adoption counseling function should be able-bodied to screen out those applicants with bad intent . Continued publicity on this incline to make adoption counsel procedures look arbitrary and empty-headed . "
plainly , this rumor got startedin the 1980swhen a woman took a fatal quat from a tax shelter as an accessory to a Halloween costume . A few days later on , a ignominious cat of the same description was found dead . But there has never beenany hard evidenceof ritual opprobrious cat-o'-nine-tails sacrifices at Halloween .
Tragically , house beast are sometimes torture and killed at the hands of mankind , butaccording to Snopesthe perpetrators are almost always bored kids and teens . And whenever an unfortunate mangled animal turn up during the month of October , whether it was killed by another animal or a human , it adds to the myth .
4. Halloween Is as American as Apple Pie
Nope , twist out Halloween is as Irish as … shepherd ’s pie ? As Santino explains in an articledispelling Halloween myths , Halloween trace its roots back to the Celtic celebration of Samhain ( pronounce " sow - in " ) , a crop festival and " young year ’s " festivity held on Nov. 1 . Since the remnant of the harvest home precipitated a season of winter " death , " the Kelt believe that their drained ancestors would come back on Nov. 1 to feast with the living .
When Ireland was converted to Christianity , some traditions of Samhain were incorporated into All Hallow ’s Day ( the night before , Oct. 31 , is called All Hallow ’s Eve or Halloween ) . The Christianized family festivity included lighting bonfire for the numb and handing out wafers called " soul cakes " to the poor and hungry who near your room access . Santino read Irish immigrants take Halloween custom to the U.S. in the 19th century .
But do n’t let the mortal coat thing throw you . john or treating is very much an American invention . The custom of kids wandering household to house asking for candy started in the thirties and ' 40s , when American towns and city were looking for way to divert new citizenry from more destructive Halloween pranks like egging and toilet - papering houses . Trick or treat really took hold after World War II during far-flung suburbanization .
5. Or Else, Halloween Is Inherently Satanic
Blame Pat Robertson for this one . The televangelist and free-spoken emcee of " The 700 Club " hasmade a careerout of demonizing ( literally ) Halloween as " a night when the devil rejoices " and warning parents not to permit their infant grow up to be " daemon worshiper . "
In 2015 , Robertsonexplained on " The 700 Club"that Halloween was " the twenty-four hour period when trillion of children and adults will be decorate up as devils , crone , and goblins to celebrate Satan . They do n’t realize what they ’re doing . "
Or they absolutely pull in what they ’re doing , which is dress up like princesses and plagiarizer and trying to eat their weightiness in dessert .
Halloween - bashinghas its rootsin the early Catholic church , which attempt to quell pagan practice session like Halloween by pronounce them as hellish . But fundamentalist Christians like Robertson did n’t really start attacking Halloween until the 1980s , peradventure as areaction to the increasing secularizationof Christian vacation like Christmas .
According to the Church of Satan website , " Satanists are atheist … We do not believe in Satan as a being or individual . " While Halloween is one of the big three holiday on the satanic calendar , the web site enunciate , it " may be celebrated as a time when one ’s intimate - self might be explore through the employment of a costume , or one might recall those of grandness in one ’s living who have give-up the ghost – as was done on that night in European tradition . "
Finally , historiographer Beth Allison Barrhas arguedthat there is in reality very little evidence for how Celtic holidays were celebrated , and it is likely that most ancient Halloween practices were rooted in Christian medieval culture rather than pagan religion .
