Fears about tainted candy have been around probably as long as trick or treating has, and for the most part it is an urban legend. Each year there seems to be some hysteria around someone finding razor blades or needles in their kid's Halloween candy, but almost always this turns out to be a hoax or a prank. However, on Halloween night in 1974, an 8-year-old boy named Timothy O'Bryan nearly proved this urban legend to be real when he ate a Pixy Stick he received while trick-or-treating and died almost immediately after

Sources:

"Timothy Marc O'Bryan"; Find A Grave; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15208882/timothy_marc-o'bryan; accessed Oct 24, 2026.

""The Candy Man", 30 Years Later"; Offthekuff.com; Oct 29, 2004; https://murderpedia.org/male.O/o1/obryan-ronald-clark.htm; accessed Oct 24, 2026.

"The Man Who Killed Halloween"; https://murderpedia.org/male.O/o1/obryan-ronald-clark.htm; accessed Oct 24, 2026.

"Neumann, Sean"; " How the 'Candy Man' Killer, Who Murdered His Own Son, Continues to Haunt Trick-or-Treaters 50 Years Later"; People; Oct 27, 2024; https://people.com/candy-man-killer-timothy-obryan-murder-8732896; accessed Oct 24, 2026.

Miller, Adam; " Trick or truth? The real story behind Halloween candy tampering"; CBC; Oct 31, 2019; https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/halloween-candy-tampering-urban-legend-truth-1.5341734; accessed Oct 24, 2026.