First,
While it is vitally important to be vigilant around your children, and to exercise veto power over their treats, and while nobody diminishes the importance of that, the old scare-story about the razor blades in the apples is pure fiction.
It has never happened, not even once, not in all these years of parents assuring each other that the world today has gotten sicker than it was when they were children, because when they were children nobody would ever have been twisted enough to even consider doing such a thing; this is a lie both because there were also sadists and sickos when those parents were brats, as much as they would prefer to idealize their growing-up years, but also because there has never been, in the entire history of American celebrations of Halloween, even a single recorded case of this oft-repeated urban legend ever manifesting as fact, not even once, not a single time, never.
The tale has occasionally been trotted out for horror movies and this may be what you remember. But no kid has ever bitten into an apple and found a razor blade, ever, ever.
The way you know that this story is bullshit? Forget the sheer mechanics of it; forget that the hypothetical maniac would have to get the razor blade into the apple and somehow hide the slice in its apple skin well enough that some unwary kid of the sort who gets panicky over worm holes would have to bite into it oblivious of the obvious danger. Forget that in all these stories the kids bite into the booby-trapped apple on Halloween night and this would require us to believe in the existence of a kid who would forego piles and piles of candy to have a nice healthy apple.
Think on this: with this story accepted as fact by way too many people for longer than I have been alive, not a single impressionable maniac has ever been moved to attempt the trick.
You would think that if it were possible maniacs all over the country would be shouting, “What a great idea!” and razor-infusing apples all over the place. Even maniacs have too strong a sense of reality to attempt it.
Please. Try to have a tighter grip on reality than the average maniac.
Second,
If you are a homeowner and some kid who strikes you as perhaps a little too long in the tooth for Halloween comes to your door with a costume and sack, do not do what asshole homeowners do and shame the kid for being too old for the holiday.
Do you know how many kids in this country have Halloween ruined for them by adults who think it’s their job to be the one to spoil the wonder? Far too many. Listen up, you joy-devouring jackasses: kids grow up at different speeds, they become cynical and imagination-averse adults at different speeds, and you want it to happen naturally, not because some warty prune messianic about adulthood decides it’s her business to splash cold water in their faces.
What does it cost you if the kid dressed as Harry Potter is thirteen, not ten? One thumbnail-sized Three Musketeers? Is that sufficient provocation for making the kid go home feeling terrible about himself? Seriously, shame on you from somebody who’s succeeded in reaching his fifties without completely putting aside childish things. Shame on you. If the march of time’s golden chariot is that much of a concern to you, just die already.
Comment By: Cheryl Martin
October 28th, 2015 at 9:17 am
Comment By: Glennis LeBlanc
October 28th, 2015 at 9:17 am
I’m bummed that I will be out of town for a wedding and missing Halloween at my house. Last year we had lots of kids and I didn’t care when some of them were in HS. Granted most of them were with younger siblings but it is a fun holiday that everyone should get to enjoy.
Comment By: D Edward Bungert
October 28th, 2015 at 9:17 am
Once had a kid come to the door, darned if he wasn’t 19. Stood about 6 feet. No costume. No bag. Didn’t even say ‘trick or treat’. Just held out his hand. He was in it only for the candy, not the magic or splendor of dress up and pretend. But so what? What did I know about his circumstances and you’re right. What did it cost? A candy bar? One of many that would be left over anyway?
If you participate, give to anyone who comes to the door. No biggie.
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
October 28th, 2015 at 9:17 am
Usually, writing a list, you want at least three items, but I only have these two, and the advisory about the nonexistent razored apples is the motivator.
Comment By: Hector Johnson
October 28th, 2015 at 9:18 am
I’m 51. I plan to grow up dometime in the next 30 years.
Comment By: Martin Rose
October 28th, 2015 at 9:18 am
I’m an equal opportunity candy-giver, even when it’s blatantly just for the candy. I don’t mind. Also, I consider it payment for not having my house messed with on next year’s mischief night. A candy bar is chump change compared to cleaning TP out of your trees.
Comment By: Paul Crawford
October 28th, 2015 at 9:18 am
You know what I do? I bring back the wonder. If they don’t have a costume, I ask them to sing. Scales, if nothing else. If they say they can’t sing, I ask “Can you do impersonations? Can you stand on your hands? Do you know a good joke?” This way, they get to participate without having a costume, and I make a point of giving extra because that’s at least as brave as putting on a costume. (I now get kids who watched their older siblings who spend theventire year preparing their pitch, because they know it will be worth their time AND I’ll never laugh at their attempts.)
Comment By: Jody Lynn Nye
October 28th, 2015 at 9:18 am
Our street is so remote that if we get any kids, even huge teens, we give them candy.
Comment By: Jackie Eliason
October 28th, 2015 at 9:19 am
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marion-franck/what-you-need-to-know-about-6-foot-trick-or-treaters_b_6030982.html?ir=Good+News&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000023
Comment By: Trinlay Khadro
October 28th, 2015 at 10:20 am
I babysat a kid who was 5’3″ in KINDERGARTEN…
I also hear snark about “kids from poorer neighborhoods” invading to trick or treat.
That’s also messed up…
At the same time, fannish friends gather folks together to perform for the kids, as well as build a set on the porch, and the crew and homeowner *brag* that folks come from all over town, and that they’re now giving candy to the kids & sometimes grandkids of their earliest trick or treaters. They’ve been doing this for well over 30 years, and have never repeated a theme.
Comment By: Emily Devenport
October 28th, 2015 at 11:18 am
“Soul-devouring jackasses” nails it perfectly.
Comment By: Linda Hill
October 28th, 2015 at 11:18 am
People are so cheap.
In the 1970’s, most people gave out 10 cent candy bars. Minimum wage in the ’70’s was a $1.45 an hour, so you could buy about 15 candy bars for an hour of work. Candy bars are now $.79, and minimum wage is now $7.25. So you now get about 10 for an hour of work.
Wow. That is so much money to spend on candy for the kids that still are allowed out to trick or treat.
Comment By: Barb Padgett
October 28th, 2015 at 11:18 am
Don’t forget, too, that age isn’t always measured by size and years. That 6′-tall kid might be mentally challenged in some way.
Comment By: David Vineyard
October 28th, 2015 at 11:19 am
These days the 13 year old could actually be 10 or 11. At 11 I looked 13 or older. And as you say not all children mature the same. I try to give candy to kids above the age too who are escorting smaller trick or treaters.
Comment By: Judy Comeau
October 28th, 2015 at 11:19 am
Trick-or-treating is awfully hard to give up.
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
October 28th, 2015 at 11:19 am
The other thing, the nonexistence of razors in apples, is I think just as important.
Comment By: Nancy Donnelly
October 28th, 2015 at 12:18 pm
I don’t do Halloween anymore. 1. There aren’t many kids in the neighborhood anymore. 2. More to the point about 3 yrs ago at 9:45 pm on Halloween someone drove by and shot up my house. The drapes were open and the car was in the driveway. They could have killed us. I just haven’t fully recovered emotionally yet. BTW, we are 1 block from an elementary school in a decent residential area in Vallejo, CA.
Comment By: Roger D Martin
October 28th, 2015 at 12:18 pm
I not doing Halloween this year, have a wedding. But my tradition is a 9pm is make the last kids help take down the decrations then give them the leftover candy. Ps it helps that Ibuy candy wife can not eat.
Comment By: Sharon Foster
October 28th, 2015 at 12:18 pm
I don’t mind if the kids at the dior aren’t costumed, because I will be. Also, I don’t want any leftovers in the house.
Comment By: Jackie Eliason
October 28th, 2015 at 12:18 pm
I don’t do apples, either. I figure that Halloween is about candy, mostly. So I buy chocolate for the kids, so there will be some for me.
Comment By: Gale Mead
October 28th, 2015 at 1:18 pm
Then there was the enterprising pair of teens who went door to door on the evening of November 1 and collected sacks full of leftover candy.
Comment By: Carol Downing
October 28th, 2015 at 1:18 pm
The last year my niece was “legal” to participate, her costume was a very effective teenage boy; people who didn’t already know her mostly acted disgusted that “he didn’t even dress up!”
Comment By: Diane Jones
October 28th, 2015 at 2:17 pm
The only ones I’ve ever chased off my porch bullied and pushed a group of little kids out of the way in order to get there first. I told them not to come back until they found their manners. 30 minutes later they were back and all got candy. That was years ago. Parents here have all gotten the religious bug and keep their kids home because (insert Dana Carvey church lady voice) SATAN. I miss the fairy princesses and little skeletons at the door.
Comment By: Laura Thurston
October 28th, 2015 at 2:17 pm
I trick or treated until I was fifteen. My parents let me as long as I was being the big kid for my younger cousins. It was awesome. We could stay out as long as we felt like, and I even chased off a bully who stole my cousin’s candy. AND got the candy back.
Comment By: George Peterson
October 28th, 2015 at 2:30 pm
Trick-or-Treating is a custom that’s been around for centuries, though originally it was done at Christmas, only getting move back to All Hallow’s Eve in the early 20th Century. Thing is, throughout time, it’s the Trick-or-Treater who was the real threat to the Home owner, rather than the reverse.
Comment By: Farber Burny
October 28th, 2015 at 5:17 pm
Well said. I’ll be 68 in February, yet I think some of my neighbors strangely think I’m too old to go trick or treating. I will admit, however, that my pirate costume does appear to be getting a little too small and tattered. Perhaps it is time to invest in a new costume?
Comment By: Maureen Bush
October 28th, 2015 at 5:17 pm
http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/sewing-needle-razor-blade-found-in-halloween-candy-in-two-separate-incidents-1.2085005
Comment By: Adam-Troy Castro
October 28th, 2015 at 5:17 pm
Maureen Bush answers a question I wanted to ask, whether even one person commenting on this thread read the blog post and not the small bit I excerpted.
Comment By: Shelley Adrienne Mimi Belsky
October 28th, 2015 at 5:17 pm
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/halloween.asp
Comment By: James Watson
October 28th, 2015 at 5:17 pm
As long as the kid is dressed in a costume, they can trick or treat until they are 18. But don’t show up on my doorstop WITHOUT a costume.
Comment By: Katherine Walsh
October 28th, 2015 at 6:17 pm
I was well into high school before I gave up Trick or Treating. But, at least at that point I was going with my school’s scifi club, and, as we dressed as a group, it was really more about bringing the ring to Mordor or defeating the Empire than about candy.
Comment By: Merryl Gross
October 28th, 2015 at 7:24 pm
Plus, that kid you think is 14 and too old may actually BE 10. Do not assume you know what’s going on with someone by how they look.
Comment By: Cynthia Dix
October 29th, 2015 at 12:22 am
If you have a costume on, and you don’t hog the treats, I’ve got no problem!