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Razor Blade Myth Reflects Social Anxiety
- The razor-blade-in-apples story is technically true in isolated cases but became a nationwide moral panic.
- Joel Best argues the legend reflects anxiety about strangers and declining neighborly trust.
Host Remembers Eating A Trick-Or-Treat Apple
- Sarah remembers eating an apple she got while trick-or-treating as a child without incident.
- She used that memory to question how plausible the apple-razor fear felt to kids who actually ate non-candy treats.
Few Actual Cases, Many Hoaxes
- Joel Best cataloged 78 incidents of contaminated Halloween candy over decades, with only two deaths not matching the myth.
- Most discoveries were likely pranks or hoaxes amplified by attention incentives.