Oct. 25, 2025

A Gen X After School Special: The Halloween Candy Panic of the 70s & 80s

A Gen X After School Special: The Halloween Candy Panic of the 70s & 80s

Want to weigh in? Send us a text! This episode was recorded remotely and there are changes in sound quality. We will be back in our usual digs next time! Megan and Lesley unpack the “poisoned candy” panic of the 70s & 80s , track its roots in one tragic crime and the Tylenol tampering case, and explore how fear reshaped Halloween traditions. We trade haunted house confessions, Irvington lore, Disney delight, and a saving-ghost story. • Irvington’s festival and neighborhood Halloween cult...

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Season 2

Want to weigh in? Send us a text!

This episode was recorded remotely and there are changes in sound quality. We will be back in our usual digs next time!

Megan and Lesley unpack the “poisoned candy” panic of the 70s & 80s , track its roots in one tragic crime and the Tylenol tampering case, and explore how fear reshaped Halloween traditions. We trade haunted house confessions, Irvington lore, Disney delight, and a saving-ghost story.

• Irvington’s festival and neighborhood Halloween culture
• Disney’s Haunted Mansion and safe scares
• The myth of stranger-poisoned candy debunked
• 1974 pixie stick murder and its ripple effects
• 1982 Tylenol tampering and safety seals
• Why homemade treats disappeared from Halloween
• Trunk or Treat and mixed safety messages
• Social anxiety, Watergate, and horror’s rise
• Personal trick-or-treat memories and haunted houses
• Local legends, friendly ghosts, and community lore

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00:00 - Irvington’s Halloween World

04:55 - Disney Trip And Haunted Mansion Joy

06:15 - A Shorter Show For Festival Week

06:28 - The Poisoned Candy Panic Question

08:35 - What Really Happened In The 70s

11:38 - Tylenol Tampering And Seals Everywhere

15:12 - Why Homemade Treats Disappeared

17:03 - Trunk Or Treat And Mixed Messages

20:06 - Horror Trends And Social Anxiety

24:05 - Trick-Or-Treat Memories Across Decades

31:07 - Haunted Houses We Love And Hate

36:05 - Local Legends And Friendly Ghosts

43:36 - Wrap-Up And Halloween Festival Plans

45:42 - Where To Find Us And Share Stories

WEBVTT

00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:01.679
I'm Megan Bennett.

00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:02.720
I'm Lesley Meier.

00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:06.240
And this is Gen X Women Are Sick of This Shit.

00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:11.839
Hi, Leslie.

00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:13.439
Hi, Megan.

00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:18.879
How the heck are you on this almost Halloween?

00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:21.920
I know it is almost Halloween.

00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:24.800
Spooky season is officially here.

00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.519
Weather is getting colder.

00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:31.280
There's a smell of pumpkin spice on the air.

00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.000
From the Starbucks on the corner.

00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:35.359
From the Starbucks.

00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:39.200
Or the Starbucks on the other corner of wherever it is.

00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:43.280
It's like the competing drugstores on different corners.

00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:44.000
Yep.

00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:45.520
It's everywhere.

00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.439
That's the truth.

00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:50.240
I'm doing excellent.

00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:52.479
Yeah, really well.

00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:53.600
Fabulous.

00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:59.200
Um it has, I, as you know, because you used to live there.

00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.240
I live in a spooky neighborhood.

00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:03.200
I love it.

00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:06.000
They capitalize on spooky.

00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:13.920
And so the um the Halloween decor competition wrapped up, and all those winners were announced.

00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:14.640
Nice.

00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:16.239
That was really cool.

00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:20.480
And we've had there's like spooky movies, spooky shorts.

00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:23.680
There's a stories on the circle tonight.

00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:24.719
Oh, nice.

00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:26.799
The windows are getting painted.

00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:28.079
Yeah, I love that.

00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:33.359
That was my mom talks about that and how as a kid she would paint a window.

00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:37.040
And then when my daughter was little, we used to have her paint a window.

00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:41.359
And I suspect that your kiddos were window painters as well.

00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:43.599
They were window painters.

00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:44.079
Yeah.

00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:55.120
So basically, for those of you who are not familiar with Irvington and the way that it works, but Halloween is just, it is the holiday, and the whole neighborhood gets involved.

00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:08.159
All of the commercial area of town with the little shops, they all segment off their windows and let kids paint Halloween-themed scenes on the windows.

00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:11.919
So and boy, you have to get in line quick if you want a prime spot.

00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:15.919
You've got to be like Johnny on the spot to get your window.

00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:16.479
Yep.

00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:20.080
And there is like a contest, they all get judged.

00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:21.199
We are so good.

00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:27.520
And they have moved it, as with most things, online.

00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:29.439
So you can sign up online.

00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:31.840
Oh, well, that's that's humane.

00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:33.439
Because it would, you're right.

00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:36.719
The line of the library would be hugely long.

00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:37.280
Yeah.

00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:37.680
Yeah.

00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:38.479
That's good.

00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:39.280
Missed it.

00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:40.560
You missed it.

00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:41.919
The I do miss it.

00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:42.639
I will say that.

00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:46.479
And the I love the haunted tour.

00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:54.479
There's a ghost tour that happens like every Friday and Saturday night throughout the entire month, which is amazing.

00:02:54.479 --> 00:03:06.800
And we have, or you, I guess I'm not a part of it anymore, some wildly good haunted stories, just of houses and murders and oh my gosh.

00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:07.280
Yes.

00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:23.360
I feel like Irvington, I don't know if this is true, but the urban legend or the tale is that we had like the highest number of serial killers like stop by a pass through or temporarily stay.

00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:33.599
And it it makes some sense because Indianapolis is the crossroads of America, like it was road through from one big town to another big town.

00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:34.960
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:39.520
I mean, I know where one of the houses stood where bad things happened.

00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:41.919
So yeah, wow.

00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:48.159
Well, I enjoy all of the Irvington-ness that Halloween brings because it is so fun.

00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:51.039
Or I guess Halloween-ness that Irvington brings.

00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:54.000
So shenanigans, major shenanigans.

00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:58.159
As of the day that we are releasing this, releasing this episode.

00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:14.080
So when it goes live, it will be the day of the 79th annual Irvington Halloween Festival, which, as far as I understand, it is the longest running festival that closes down a major highway.

00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:19.120
We are the only festival that closes down a major highway left in the United States.

00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:19.680
Yep.

00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:20.240
Yep.

00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:25.519
And it's what, like 20,000 of your closest friends, maybe more than that, even.

00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:26.079
I don't even know.

00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:28.800
Between 80 and 100,000 people.

00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:32.000
I grossly underestimated that.

00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.120
We'll descend upon our neighborhood this weekend.

00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:39.519
That is a that's a lot of people and not very much parking, folks.

00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:43.839
So that's what's happening right now, as you're listening.

00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:45.439
Oh, so so fun.

00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:46.160
So fun.

00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.839
Well, here's to to good weather because that's the other issue that happens.

00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:51.759
Oh shit.

00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:52.480
Yes.

00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.360
And you went on a little Halloween adventure.

00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:56.879
Like you just got back.

00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:57.600
I did.

00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:00.639
I did a quick Disney World trip with my daughter.

00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:01.519
It was great fun.

00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:07.759
We went to the the not so scary Halloween party at Magic Kingdom.

00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:09.680
Super, super fun.

00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:16.240
I hesitate to tell everybody to go do it because I don't want any more crowds, but you all know about it anyway, so blah.

00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:18.319
Yeah, super fun.

00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:22.720
The there are special things that happen to some of the rides.

00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:25.680
All the villains are out doing their villainy things.

00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:30.879
The Haunted Mansion is just like the spot.

00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.439
And I it's the spot for me anyway.

00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:46.639
But then you layer on, you know, some spooky extra music and soundtrack and fog effects and the occasional character actors that hang out in the graveyard and talk to people while they're in line.

00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:47.759
So nice.

00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:49.600
Oh, that's great.

00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:50.079
Awesome.

00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:51.680
I'm glad you're super nerdy.

00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:52.480
I loved it.

00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:53.920
It was, yeah.

00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.720
So and I miss the warm weather.

00:05:57.360 --> 00:05:58.720
Uh true.

00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:02.160
It has gotten cold like in a snap.

00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:03.519
Yep.

00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:10.000
So wherever these, wherever you find folks are, I hope it's still a little bit warm for you because boy, it turned on a dime here.

00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:10.639
Mm-hmm.

00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:15.040
So we're doing a little bit of an afterschool special this weekend.

00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:19.519
Yeah, I think just a slightly more abbreviated podcast.

00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.639
Uh, because we want people to go out and have fun with their Halloween-ess.

00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:23.199
Yes.

00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:27.680
So they should the theme, what's the topic?

00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:59.199
Well, so I was thinking about Halloween and it made me think of Halloween as a kid when in the 80s, kind of late 70s and 80s, I remember parents starting to really freak out about poison in our candy or tampered with or razor blades in apples and all kinds of things that I just I needed to know if it was real.

00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:00.560
Sure.

00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:01.360
Yeah, yeah.

00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:01.920
I hear that.

00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:04.480
Am I crazy?

00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:08.000
What is this something we just made up as kids?

00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.079
I have memories of that too.

00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:11.040
Yeah, yeah.

00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:18.399
And and you know, I I was like, when did when did it stop being okay to give a kid an apple?

00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:18.959
Right?

00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:21.040
Like, right.

00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:25.279
Why don't we give homemade treats or homemade treats?

00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:25.600
Right.

00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:26.000
Yeah.

00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:35.040
Because I remember as a little little kid, I feel like the lady down the street made chocolate chip cookies and put them in little baggies, and you got a cookie.

00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:37.360
Yes, homemade caramel apples.

00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:39.360
I remember that for sure.

00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:40.160
Yep.

00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:44.959
And and then suddenly it was not a thing anymore.

00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:47.040
Yes, yeah.

00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:50.000
And there were like candy inspections.

00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:51.680
Right, right.

00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:52.160
Yeah.

00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:53.600
Like, yeah.

00:07:53.600 --> 00:08:04.399
So I did a little bit of research, and here I'm I will tell you what I what I learned and see if this kind of tracks with what you remember growing up.

00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:16.000
So, you know, of course we had the the ritual at the kitchen table where you dump all of your candy haul and your mom and dad go through and inspect everything, right?

00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:27.120
Now, previous when you were younger, it was probably mom and dad just pulling out the things that they really liked, and you're stuck with some of the crap candy, but right, yes, jerks.

00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:35.600
Yeah, but like as a kid, there was a a moment where all the homemade stuff just went in the trash, like the the transition, right?

00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:43.039
From like if it wasn't fully wrapped or it was homemade, it went in the you know, in the shit can.

00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:44.960
Oh yeah, yeah.

00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:53.039
So yeah, so so what I learned was like news anchors warned about razors and poison all of a sudden.

00:08:53.039 --> 00:09:00.960
Dear Abby was actually warning people about you know, about candy tampering.

00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:16.480
Hospitals, hospitals and fire departments started x-raying Snickers bars and candy bars, and it kind of like it felt like it, you know, made sense, maybe like parents were like all on board about it.

00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:17.120
Uh-huh.

00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:35.200
But if you do the research and you go back and you look through like actually what happened and or did anything actually happen, stranger danger candy problems and the like the stranger danger danger candy killer was completely made up.

00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:40.879
There was literally nothing, like it never happened.

00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:43.279
Not one single incident.

00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:44.720
No, not once.

00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:47.919
So the there's so I shouldn't say not anything.

00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:53.440
There were two things that kind of made maybe made this urban legend a thing.

00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:59.360
In 1974, there was a Texas man, his name was Ronald Clark O'Brien.

00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:10.960
Okay, and Ronald Clark O'Brien murdered his son with a cyanide laced pixie stick in order to cash in on a life insurance policy.

00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:14.960
So it didn't work.

00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.840
Clearly, it didn't work.

00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:19.279
I mean, right.

00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:21.279
Like he didn't know about it.

00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:26.080
So he but he disguised it as like Halloween candy sabotage.

00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:35.360
So he told people this was like, you know, this his kid got tired of his pixie stick.

00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:36.320
Right?

00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:37.679
What the fuck?

00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:40.080
I know, super bad dad, right?

00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:41.600
Not not a good not a good person.

00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:44.799
Ruined it for all of us, ruined it for everybody.

00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:56.240
Local, the the local parents in that area were like, holy shit, and they all rushed, you know, to the police station, like, we need you to test our kids candy.

00:10:56.240 --> 00:11:00.399
And but then that, of course, like the way things do, that story spread.

00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:04.799
And so that whole idea of poison candy was kind of born that way.

00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:06.159
Oh my gosh.

00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:14.480
Nobody actually tried to poison somebody else's kids, it was some shitty dad that poisoned his own kid.

00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:15.840
Poisoned his own kid.

00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:17.200
That's horrible.

00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:19.679
I know, I know, awful, awful.

00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:20.559
So there's that.

00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:23.360
So that was one piece of of it.

00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:25.519
And like I said, that was like 1974.

00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:29.039
So it probably took some time back then.

00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:30.159
Sure.

00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:31.600
I was like one.

00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:32.639
Yeah, right.

00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:36.639
It but it probably took some time for all of that to kind of grow and become a thing.

00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:38.000
Absolutely.

00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:45.840
So in 1982, there was the Chicago Tylenol murder murders, if you recall.

00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:48.159
Yes, yes, I do.

00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:55.600
So seven deaths, all from cyanide that were put into store shelf Tylenol capsules.

00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.080
Okay, yeah, I totally remember.

00:11:58.480 --> 00:11:59.279
Yeah, right.

00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:07.600
Like I I remember this, and it was wasn't Halloween, but it was like product tampering, right?

00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:12.080
So, like immediately you're like, ooh, product tampering, and so everybody's out to get us.

00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:20.240
And that ultimately led almost immediately into this idea of tamper-proof packaging.

00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:21.279
Okay, sure.

00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:25.440
So now you have like three layers of stuff you have to get through if you have a headache.

00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:32.559
Tons of like little bits of plastic and oil and seals and and all of that stuff.

00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:37.519
And if you have a headache, you just want to pill and maybe a cyanide pill.

00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:38.000
I don't know.

00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:40.159
I don't know how bad the headache is.

00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:47.039
Okay, so those two things together.

00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:48.639
Yeah, yeah.

00:12:48.639 --> 00:13:09.919
So that like there's a sociologist named Joel Best, and they went through a ton of different press reports all the way from 1958 to 1983 and found zero verified cases of a child killed by a stranger's tainted Halloween candy.

00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:12.399
There was nothing.

00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.039
Nothing actually happened.

00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:26.399
So we like put the equivalent of the like the content warning on CDs on Halloween, like the explicit lyrics warning.

00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:30.159
It's just like Halloween is so dangerous.

00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:31.600
Watch out, kids.

00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:32.559
Like dudes.

00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:40.159
I mean, we already talked about satanic panic, but no, I'm thinking of that, like satanic, like this is an extension of that.

00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:47.039
Like it's just another reason to like be afraid and ruin something for kids.

00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:49.759
We have to ruin something good.

00:13:49.759 --> 00:14:04.399
But like think now of like, I don't know if I've I feel like now if I opened a bottle of literally anything and it didn't have some sort of inner seal on it, I don't I don't think I'd use it, right?

00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:06.960
I'd be like, sure, this feels weird.

00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:07.600
Right.

00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:15.120
Because now it's so normalized that everything has like a label on it and that kind of thing, or it has the like seal on it.

00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:18.879
Yeah, I think like occasionally, like I still get like bottles of lotion.

00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:28.639
They don't always have like sure, but definitely on your medications, always like you're buying an off-the-shelf medication.

00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:45.200
And I'm wondering, I always made the assumption that like at least for my kids, like you couldn't bring home-baked treats because of allergies, you know, it was like like an allergy-based thing, but also like a board of healthy kind of thing.

00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.639
Like you can't, you don't know how clean everybody's kitchens are and that kind of stuff.

00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:49.279
100%.

00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:56.960
But do you think that like there's some like, you know, we have to switch to all packaged treats, no more homemade anything?

00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:59.120
Like, I don't know when that happened in school.

00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:00.240
Did that happen?

00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:13.039
I mean, I think it's probably I think it probably happened about the same time where you know everybody was like, ooh, you know, we can't we we can't do that because we don't know if Timmy's mom is a serial killer.

00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:24.159
I just sticking razor blades in salad in her like homemade moon pies, and now we just have like little Debbies, and that's it, nothing else.

00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:29.679
And if it tastes like shit, you know, too bad hostess only.

00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:32.080
Theoretically, it's safe.

00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:34.399
Yeah, I know, yeah.

00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:44.000
Well, and even like I mean, I'm even thinking about like like ding dongs used to be wrapped kind of loosely in aluminum foil.

00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.559
Yes, they were and it wasn't real foil, but it was like a it was like a foil, right?

00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:49.279
Like a plastic foil.

00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:51.759
My mom freaking loved ding dongs.

00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:54.720
I want them to, like your your mom was spot on.

00:15:54.720 --> 00:16:00.639
I just love water, and they were definitely wrapped in foil, and they were bigger.

00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:04.879
They better, yes, but it was like a loose foil, right?

00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:07.919
Like it wasn't sealed, it was just like they were just like.

00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:11.519
Yeah, yeah.

00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:28.720
So everything's changed, and then you know, yes, yes to medication having that inner seal, but like I'm thinking about like if you buy a big jar of planters' peanuts, there's a maybe it's freshness.

00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:37.840
I don't, you know, I don't like freshness seal, but yeah, the whole idea of like we're sealing everything now to like make sure that nobody gets into it.

00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:41.840
Okay, so I just thought that was really interesting.

00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:47.279
Like, I wanted to know why the hell we were x-raying our candy as games.

00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:48.159
Sure.

00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:59.679
And I remember PSAs, like I remember either either radio or television PSAs that would tell you what fire stations had the x-ray machine.

00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:01.279
Yes, absolutely.

00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:02.960
No, I have a memory of that.

00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:13.039
You could go to like your community news, so it was early cable, but also like most people absolutely just had network TV in their houses, right?

00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:17.759
And your local TV stations would say, Don't forget, Halloween's coming up, trick-or-treat.

00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:24.480
You can go to this police station and this police station, and they'll have x-ray machines set up and you can just run your candy through.

00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:30.400
Now, like we never did that, but it was a normal thing to hear.

00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:31.599
Right, right.

00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:40.240
Well, and the other thing that became kind of normalized, I think, too, was specialty trick-or-treat nights, like at the mall.

00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:41.359
Oh, yeah.

00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:51.359
Yes, yes, and like the um, I always thought it was so fucking weird, but the like advent of like trunk retreats.

00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:54.880
Yes, you like go to a parking lot.

00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:57.119
Okay, listen to our solution.

00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:11.119
You can take your children to a parking lot where strangers put candy in their trunks and they decorate their trunks to make them inviting.

00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:17.839
And then, I mean, I know little kid, the parents were with them.

00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:18.799
I get it.

00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:25.519
Lots of them were probably at churches, there were lots of, but let's think about the precedent that we're setting.

00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:26.240
Right.

00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:35.039
Climb into the trunk to walk up to a stranger's vehicle who offers you candy.

00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:37.359
That is everything I was warned about.

00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:38.160
Right, right.

00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:51.119
I am pretty sure when the dude came to our elementary school and said was trying to teach us about street smarts, he was telling us not to get into the van with the with the guy with the treat.

00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:56.880
Yes, yes, no shit, like absolutely.

00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:59.680
Oh, it's lucky, we're lucky we're alive.

00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:06.480
So you were you were talking about this, and I had like kind of buzzed through a CNN article really quick.

00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:15.440
So I was like, okay, I know what we're gonna talk about, and you were doing like the deep dive on it, but I just saw an interesting like sociological perspective on the whole like poison candy thing.

00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:16.480
Do you want to hear about it?

00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:18.319
I just read this piece.

00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:23.279
This, the author of this article on C it's CNN Health, it was published in 2019.

00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:24.319
You guys can find it.

00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:31.680
But they were talking about the impact of 1974, the Nixon resignation, and the Watergate scandal.

00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:33.839
I think this is fascinating.

00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.960
There was a lot to like worry about that time.

00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.920
Like the end of Vietnam was happening.

00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:44.240
There was the American, he wrote this guy who wrote a book called The American Reckoning.

00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:54.160
He described the era post-Vietnam, stagnant economic growth, soaring inflation, caused many Americans to see the country itself as a victim of forces beyond its control.

00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:54.640
Okay.

00:19:54.640 --> 00:20:09.519
So the social change in the 70s fed the creation of urban legends, argues the sociologist, whose name is Jeffrey S.

00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:10.480
Victor.

00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:20.880
Um, a brutal story about strangers with poison candy seemed a preferable national fantasy to historical reality in the 70s and 80s.

00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:22.480
Okay.

00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:25.200
I mean, I, yeah, I could see all of that.

00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.720
I can't do anything about where this country is right now.

00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:31.200
Right.

00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.920
So you know what we're gonna freak out about?

00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:35.359
Yeah, yeah.

00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:40.079
I can't fix the you know situation in Iran.

00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:49.279
I can't fix the the oil shortages, I can't fix protests about Vietnam.

00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:58.559
I can't fix, but by golly, I can make sure that my little family is protected from the probably fake boogeyman.

00:20:58.559 --> 00:20:59.039
Right.

00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:00.559
It's a thing I can do.

00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:02.000
Yeah, that's fascinating.

00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:06.559
Yeah, I have agency and it helps like me manage my anxiety.

00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:10.400
Well, and then it would just, it would just feed on itself, right?

00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:19.839
Like, because then you've got one stupid urban legend that is gonna feed into another one and another one.

00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:32.480
And you know, Gladys down the street just heard about the first one, and so it's like this nasty circle that's just gonna continue to build and and and you remember the game that you we like.

00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:34.319
We probably that you probably played.

00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:40.799
I know I played it as a kid, that telephone game where like you say something to one person, you share it to somebody else, you share it to somebody else.

00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:45.759
Yes, by the time it gets to the end, it's completely different from whatever the first thing was.

00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.519
Yes, absolutely.

00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:49.839
Oh, yeah, that is totally that.

00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:52.079
That's I think that's fascinating.

00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:58.799
The same sociologist noted that like that was sort of the same era that sparked like the exorcist.

00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:02.880
Like, there was this like this number of horror films that all came.

00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:14.880
It's just so interesting to kind of see how like when things are happening that we have no control about, of course, as human beings, like our instinct is to create something that we can control.

00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:19.680
Yeah, well, and the horror movie genre that'd be interesting to figure out too.

00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:23.279
The horror movie genre that deals with children.

00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:24.480
Absolutely.

00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:35.839
You've got Rosemary's Baby, you've got The Exorcist, you've got Children of the Corn, you've got you know, Polterweist, all of them where these kids are victims, right?

00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:38.160
Right, but also terrifying.

00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:44.000
Like also like the the the damned, the village of the damned, all of those, right?

00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:47.279
Like, yeah, oh it's fascinating.

00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:48.880
I think that's so interesting.

00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:49.519
Ugh.

00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:50.880
So do you remember?

00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:54.880
Like, did you ever have to take your candy to like get scanned?

00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:58.400
Like no, I don't know, I don't think so.

00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:05.200
I think we probably I remember like the sorting of the candy, right?

00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:09.119
And I I don't I I don't remember any.

00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:16.799
I I uh I gotta think about this because I can't remember.

00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:28.000
I know that there were homemade treats that that would have come from my neighbors when I was little, like super little.

00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:28.720
Okay.

00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:38.559
And I but I couldn't tell you when that switch was and if anybody in my house freaked out like about anything.

00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:48.720
I just I kind of feel like no, but uh you know, I okay maybe we just didn't have the the treats, the homemade treats after a certain time, you know.

00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:50.480
It just sure.

00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:52.559
Do you remember trucker treating?

00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:53.359
I do.

00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:53.920
I do.

00:23:53.920 --> 00:24:09.839
When I was when I was really little, we had we were in a a cool, like older neighborhood, and you know, the houses were were kind of they were like tutors and uh you know, kind of like old stately looking houses.

00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:25.599
And and my mom will tell you that she paid, I think, somewhere like twelve thousand dollars or something for their house in this, which now and I think they sold it for 19 and now it is like an $800,000 house.

00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:27.839
Some bonkers.

00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:28.319
Yes.

00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:40.720
Um, but the but that neighborhood was really cool, had big old trees, had like neighbors who lived in that neighborhood for a really long time, and they would really do up Halloween.

00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:51.119
They would, you know, like the neighbor across the street had a cool, a cool big old tree, and he would hang a ghost from it, and it would drop down on you as you, you know, walked up the sidewalk kind of.

00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:52.240
Oh, amazing.

00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:52.640
Yes.

00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:54.799
Um, so stuff like that.

00:24:54.799 --> 00:25:02.720
I remember a we we had moved to a condominium like a few years, number of years later.

00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:08.720
I remember there was a guy who dressed up like Darth Vader and gave out candy.

00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:11.440
No shit was like when the move, right?

00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:20.079
That was like it was probably Empire Strikes Back, but like everybody in the neighborhood was like, Oh, that dude's dressed up like Darth Vader.

00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:21.200
That's fast.

00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:22.640
Yes.

00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:27.119
So those are like the two memories that really come to mind for me.

00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:31.359
I loved trick-or-treating with my daughter, my husband did it every year.

00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:40.559
I was I like pretty much stayed back and made chili and handed out candy, but like getting her her outfit together and like sending her off to trick-or-treat, so funny.

00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.960
Doing the costuming part, of course.

00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:44.000
Okay, girl.

00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:44.400
Yeah.

00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:45.119
How about you?

00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:45.839
Do you remember it?

00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:50.079
And and what because I know you weren't in a neighbor, like you were out a little bit.

00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:50.720
Yeah.

00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:53.920
So that as you were talking, I was thinking about that.

00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:55.519
I was like, what did we do?

00:25:55.519 --> 00:26:02.480
Because I think up until five, I lived in like we had a ton of close neighbors.

00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:02.880
Uh-huh.

00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:09.839
So I'm sure that I did, but I have no memories of truck or treating at that age at all, up to five.

00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:14.960
And I was thinking, like, there were probably eight houses.

00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:22.400
So I know that, and it was a walk to like even in our close area, like for me as a tiny child.

00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:29.599
So I know that we had to have walked to those houses, but I don't have like really specific memories of it.

00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:36.079
My two specific Halloween memories, one of them was, and it's based on a picture.

00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:40.160
Like, I don't really have a sensory memory, but the picture has built a memory.

00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:46.160
I think before my folks had my brother, so I was probably four.

00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:46.559
Okay.

00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:49.920
We were actually in Florida for Halloween.

00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:50.480
Oh.

00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:52.799
And we would stay at this hotel.

00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:54.160
It was in the Tampa area.

00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:56.160
It was called the Wits End Motel.

00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:57.359
And I think it's still there.

00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:59.200
It was like a motor, a motel.

00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:09.039
You would drive in, and it was two stories, and all the doors to the rooms opened inward, like towards the pools, and there was like this little grotto.

00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:10.480
It was very successful.

00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:11.680
Very Florida.

00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:13.920
That sounds very old Florida.

00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:14.480
Okay.

00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:19.920
And I definitely had on like you remember the like plastic sheet costumes.

00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:20.799
Yes, ma'am.

00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:26.720
There's just like plastic mask.

00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:29.440
And I was definitely Wonder Woman.

00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:30.000
Okay.

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:31.599
Most definitely.

00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:33.920
So and that.

00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:35.599
Yeah.

00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:36.880
Oh, definitely that.

00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:40.640
And then there was definitely like a panda with me.

00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:44.160
Like there were probably eight or ten kids.

00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:44.640
Okay.

00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:49.279
And we went trick-or-treating at every single room in the motel.

00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:52.640
Oh, everybody got candy.

00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:56.799
There probably were more kids, but like in this photo, there were like eight or ten kids.

00:27:56.799 --> 00:27:57.200
Yeah.

00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:59.680
And so they did trick-or-treat for us.

00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:01.279
That's very cool.

00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:02.400
And it was cool.

00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:03.440
I was in Florida.

00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:04.480
Like as a tank.

00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:04.880
Yeah.

00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:08.079
So it was probably like 77.

00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:09.039
Okay.

00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:10.400
Oh, I love it.

00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:11.359
70.

00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:13.920
Yeah, it had to be 76 or 77.

00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:17.200
And you were a little little, and that sounds like a blast.

00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:18.079
Oh my gosh.

00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:20.400
And then like everybody there knew everybody.

00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:23.039
It was then like we know that this still happens.

00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:27.119
But in the olden days were whoever you met on vacation, are you coming back next year?

00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:28.000
Are you coming back next year?

00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:29.119
Yeah, we always come this week.

00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:33.279
And they all knew each other and they all knew the motel owners and all that stuff.

00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:40.400
So the other really distinct memory I have is Halloween, like my freshman year of high school.

00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:40.960
Okay.

00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:46.799
And I went to a college party with my sister.

00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:50.079
But like we didn't really go to the party.

00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:57.039
Like one of my friends and this like boy we were flirting with came and we like wandered the neighborhood.

00:28:57.039 --> 00:28:58.079
Okay.

00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:00.160
My sister was at this party.

00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:01.920
So we sort of like ran amok.

00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:07.119
But but we were like at a college party, right?

00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:12.319
But not and she asked to bring me and we were like, Yeah, we'll go.

00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:14.160
But I didn't see her the whole night.

00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:17.279
Like we were just wandering this neighborhood.

00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:26.160
I don't know if we took her treated or if we were like, I feel like you made all of this up because you watched an 80s movie.

00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:26.880
Right?

00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:30.319
Doesn't it sound so quintessentially 80s?

00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:31.759
100%, yes.

00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:48.240
So, but it's just in that time where, like, okay, I had dead mom, my dad had not remarried, he was desperate to like figure out something to do with a daughter, and like he was like, Here, spend some time with your half sister.

00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:52.880
Like, she was kind of in our lives, and she was like, I'll take her to a party.

00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:55.599
We also went to the haunted house at the fairgrounds.

00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:57.519
Oh my goodness.

00:29:57.519 --> 00:29:58.000
Yeah.

00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:59.839
Quintessent to late 80s.

00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:02.319
And she bought me Prince 1999.

00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:03.599
It's my favorite CDS.

00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:04.720
Oh, well, I like her.

00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:05.519
That's cool.

00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:06.400
Yeah.

00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:08.559
So there, yeah, we wandered around a neighborhood.

00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:09.119
We did nothing.

00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:10.880
I mean, we didn't drink, we didn't get in trouble.

00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:13.200
We just like wandered around a neighborhood all night.

00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:13.759
Okay.

00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:25.440
I mean there's things two Halloween memories outside of like having kids and taking them trick-or-treating and then like living in the Halloween.

00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:39.680
There was a time in the in my twenties where, like, you know, as a young 20-something, the whole idea of big Halloween parties and coming up with costumes and all of that was like such a big deal.

00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:40.559
Yes.

00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:56.960
Um, and and my husband, previous to being my husband, I mean, I remember we went to a costume shop and like rented costumes and would buy them like old costumes, buy them and like use them next year or that kind of thing.

00:30:56.960 --> 00:31:04.640
And and then I don't know what happens, like something in life just happens, and you're like, I'm not dressing up.

00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:07.680
Like it's just I need a nap.

00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:16.000
I don't, I'm gonna stay home and maybe hand out some candy and turn off the porch light at about 9 p.m.

00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:16.880
and that's it.

00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:18.160
Good night, kids.

00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:18.720
Good night.

00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:22.160
Did you do haunted houses?

00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:29.119
Because I do think I know there's a big haunted house like culture now, but it felt like haunted houses in the 70s and 80s.

00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:33.359
Like we would have host one at school, we would build one in the basement.

00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:34.720
So I guess I do remember that.

00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:40.079
But like, did you go to them when you were in high school or I am sure I did?

00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:45.200
I'm I'm sure that I did at least a couple times, right?

00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:49.759
Like I have vague memories of going to something and people jumping out of places and scaring me.

00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:50.480
I hate that.

00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:52.880
I do hate it.

00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:56.640
Like I like I love the Disney haunted mansion.

00:31:56.640 --> 00:31:57.839
Yes, I love it.

00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:00.079
It is, it's my aesthetic.

00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:03.440
I could decorate my house like that and I would be happy forever.

00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:04.000
Absolutely.

00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:08.319
But that jump scare bullshit, no, I have no tolerance for at all.

00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:10.640
People following you right behind you.

00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:12.400
No, awful.

00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:17.119
And in fact, we went to New York Comic Con, what, just like a couple weeks ago.

00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:21.119
And the I I wish I could remember what the what the booth was.

00:32:21.119 --> 00:32:24.240
It was some scary something, something.

00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:27.440
And it was a house, and oh, it was like it.

00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:28.400
I think it was like an it.

00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:30.480
Oh, yeah, that's bullshit.

00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:31.200
Fucking sound.

00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:41.039
I came around, I'm like walking around this house, and the backside of it had this like fake backyard porch kind of thing.

00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:57.279
And there was an actor there who was standing there looking, he had his head down and his eyes up, and like this horrible creepy expression on his face, and he was just standing there and staring and he kind of smiling.

00:32:57.279 --> 00:32:59.599
And I was like, the fuck?

00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:00.240
No.

00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:07.440
I turned to my husband and my daughter, and I'm like, fuck this shit, and walked the other way.

00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:11.119
I was like, no, we are not doing that.

00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:14.880
No, it's good to have boundaries.

00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:17.359
I'm like, do not scare me that way.

00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:18.400
Go away.

00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:18.960
Yeah.

00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:23.119
So I don't do like the I don't do this, the scary jump scare movies.

00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:30.400
I don't, you know, I the haunted house thing, if they're gonna jump out of me, I don't, that's not a jam.

00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:40.480
There is something very different in my nervous system in middle school where like I was like, sure, I'll watch all the Halloween movies and all the Friday the 13th movie.

00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:41.839
And I think it's true.

00:33:41.839 --> 00:33:44.480
Like, I remember my daughter being the same.

00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:48.160
Like, there's something about like, I don't know, okay.

00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:55.279
Like it's yeah, or it's just like fascinating, or they're just like, I don't know, and they would go to haunted houses and they would go together.

00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:59.680
There would be this like group, like, we're gonna get so scared together, you know.

00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:02.079
And then they would just come home, like, no big deal.

00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:02.720
It's fine.

00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:13.280
I bet you, and you could put your little therapist hat on, but I bet you that there is a like bet there's a endorphin or something that follows with that, right?

00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:14.880
Oh, for sure.

00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:17.440
It's safe terror.

00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:18.320
Sure.

00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:19.599
Yeah.

00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:29.199
Like, because you know it's safe, but you can let your imagination run wild that it is not, and you are in a very dangerous situation.

00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:32.960
So maybe as you get older, you're like, no, there are real terrors out there.

00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:35.599
I've I've got plenty, I don't need any more of this.

00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:38.639
I think you are absolutely right.

00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:42.719
Like, do you want like a true confession?

00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:43.519
Sure.

00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:44.960
Hell hell yeah.

00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:48.639
Did you ever go to the children's museum haunted house?

00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:50.239
I did, yes.

00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:53.360
Which, by the way, just as an aside, is fascinating.

00:34:53.360 --> 00:35:00.480
The the children's museum in Indianapolis is the world's largest children's museum, and they have this big haunted house every year.

00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:03.039
It is a hundred percent volunteer driven.

00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:07.920
So, like the staff has at the at the children's museum has nothing to do with any of that.

00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:12.000
And it's like they're one of their biggest fundraisers that's all volunteer driven.

00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:12.559
I love that.

00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:17.760
It's put on by like the museum guild, I think, and they raise a ton of money.

00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:23.760
So we of course went, like, I think when I was young, elementary school, like in Girl Scouts, scared the shit out of me.

00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:28.559
And and I remember going and it was like in a building separate that was outside of the museum at that point.

00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:30.559
Like in the parking lot or something, right?

00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:31.840
Yeah, yeah, and it was cold.

00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:33.920
I remember being cold and like waiting outside.

00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:41.760
So my kids really wanted to go to the children's museum in like elementary school to go through the haunted house.

00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:42.960
And I was like, okay, okay.

00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:49.280
And we even went, it wasn't during lights on, okay, but it was during a not so scary time.

00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:51.440
Okay, supposedly.

00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:55.199
I have a feeling I know how this is gonna end.

00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:56.079
Go ahead.

00:35:56.079 --> 00:35:58.559
I was certainly not walking in front.

00:35:58.559 --> 00:36:02.320
Okay, I used my children as human beings.

00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:06.159
In you go.

00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:08.320
I was scared to death.

00:36:08.320 --> 00:36:11.760
I was hiding behind my eight-year-old.

00:36:11.760 --> 00:36:19.920
Oh god, and the kids were out front and they were laughing, and there were some parts that were I was about to piss myself.

00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:21.039
I was so scared.

00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:21.920
That sounds awful.

00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:29.280
And it was, I was not wrong because suddenly next to me, behind me, is a figure all in black.

00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:33.679
Like they have this black body girl just walking next to me.

00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:47.039
Do you know the problem with that is at this point in my life, if that were to happen, my initial reaction would be to throw a punch first for sure and ask for forgiveness later.

00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:48.320
Absolutely.

00:36:50.480 --> 00:37:02.639
No, so any future grandchildren, if you ever exist, sorry, grandma's not taking you to the hotel house because menopause says I will have to kill all threats.

00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:05.280
And that will not work.

00:37:05.280 --> 00:37:07.679
Human shields, they thought it was hilarious.

00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:08.960
I was terrified.

00:37:08.960 --> 00:37:15.199
We went through there so fast, and they were like, and then to go in and do it again.

00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:16.320
Right.

00:37:16.719 --> 00:37:17.679
Go by yourself, and I'll see you.

00:37:17.679 --> 00:37:19.679
Have fun, do it.

00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:21.920
You you know where I parked.

00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:23.280
Good luck.

00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:26.239
So here we are.

00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:27.760
Oh my god, that's awesome.

00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:38.559
So I don't I don't want to keep anybody for too terribly long, but I know that we were gonna also talk about like the you know, the urban legend, obviously, of the poison candy is one thing.

00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:52.639
But did you have or do you remember the like places in town that were specifically haunted, scary, like go just to be scared kind of places?

00:37:53.679 --> 00:38:01.199
I don't personally, because I didn't well, okay.

00:38:01.199 --> 00:38:05.440
So the place to be scared would have been my elementary school.

00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:06.400
Okay.

00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:09.760
When I went to my weird Montessori school.

00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:19.039
Okay, we had so many ghost stories about our own school because it was like this weird old manton in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere.

00:38:19.039 --> 00:38:19.920
Oh yeah.

00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:28.159
But in high school, like when we had like wheels, I don't remember you know, when you got your driver's license and you had wheels.

00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:30.639
I don't remember it.

00:38:30.639 --> 00:38:33.039
Yeah, I know.

00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:38.800
That's what I was like, and I pulled up my lock when I got in the you know.

00:38:38.800 --> 00:38:42.639
So I don't remember it.

00:38:42.639 --> 00:38:51.039
Like I remember mostly kind of hanging out outside of my crazed run through a neighborhood at a college party, mostly being at friends' houses.

00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:54.400
So like we could go places to try to get super freaked out.

00:38:54.400 --> 00:38:56.079
Like what do you remember?

00:38:56.400 --> 00:39:13.440
Well, so like our I know there was there's legends in in Indianapolis about a house house of blue lights that was like you could totally Wikipedia that thing if you wanted to, but it was legendary from like when our parents were younger.

00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:15.039
Absolutely, yes.

00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:19.840
And then eventually they tore the house down and oh, it is gone.

00:39:19.840 --> 00:39:20.320
Yeah.

00:39:20.320 --> 00:39:29.599
I'm sure that the that you know the ghosts still remain, but you know, that was that was the haunted, kind of kind of the haunted house, I guess.

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:32.719
Yeah, and there was a so this all makes sense.

00:39:32.719 --> 00:39:35.599
There was a book written about it in 1975.

00:39:35.599 --> 00:39:39.840
It was called The House of Blue Lights by KJ McLott.

00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:41.119
There you go.

00:39:41.519 --> 00:39:43.039
So there you go.

00:39:43.039 --> 00:39:45.679
Yeah, that was that was the one that I remember.

00:39:45.679 --> 00:39:56.480
And then I think like the I remember, I want to say it was like in Noblesville, which you know, if you're not local to us, you won't, you'll be like, whatever.

00:39:56.480 --> 00:39:57.519
I don't know what that means.

00:39:57.519 --> 00:40:04.960
But there's a an area like probably, I don't know, 30 minutes or so north of where we live.

00:40:04.960 --> 00:40:14.239
Um, and I remember there being a bridge that you would go to that was supposedly super duper haunted.

00:40:14.239 --> 00:40:23.440
Oh so I went one night and like fully expected to be, you know, to see ghosts and stuff, and it was a massive disappointment.

00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:26.559
Oh, you didn't even like scare each other to death?

00:40:27.119 --> 00:40:30.079
No, I was like, well, what where's the ghosts?

00:40:30.079 --> 00:40:32.079
You know, but I'm open to it.

00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:36.400
If ghosts want to come along, I'm happy to like, you know, check it out and talk to them.

00:40:36.400 --> 00:40:38.239
I think it'd be super fun.

00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:40.639
Have you ever lived in a haunted house?

00:40:40.639 --> 00:40:43.519
Like, did you ever want to like when you lived in Irvington?

00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:45.519
Did you have like weird bumps in the night ever?

00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:47.840
So our house was not haunted.

00:40:47.840 --> 00:40:52.400
The house across the street, I'm pretty sure did have a ghost.

00:40:52.400 --> 00:40:54.400
Totally friendly, not a bad thing.

00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:54.719
Okay.

00:40:54.719 --> 00:41:05.440
But my neighbor across the street would talk about how she would look in the mirror in the bathroom, and you would and the towel rack was behind her, and she could see the towel go up and down.

00:41:05.440 --> 00:41:08.320
Like, so that would happen from time to time.

00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:15.519
And she said she saw her like walk down the stairs one time and she had a blue dress on, and and like just cut her out of the corner of her eye.

00:41:15.519 --> 00:41:17.519
So there's that story.

00:41:17.519 --> 00:41:25.039
My next door neighbors, somebody had murdered somebody in that house, as one does.

00:41:25.039 --> 00:41:26.079
Yes.

00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:26.719
Okay.

00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:33.440
And there was a spot in the dining room which still had blood in the hardwood.

00:41:33.440 --> 00:41:33.840
Wow.

00:41:33.840 --> 00:41:38.400
And she had a rug on top of it because you know, you just ignore that.

00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:50.639
And sh her dogs would ever so often walk over to that spot and stand and stare at that spot and bark their heads off.

00:41:50.639 --> 00:41:52.639
Like a lot.

00:41:52.639 --> 00:41:54.480
That's that story.

00:41:54.480 --> 00:41:56.800
And then I'll give you one more because I love this story.

00:41:56.800 --> 00:42:03.519
Okay, this is my favorite Halloween haunted, haunted house story in from Irvington.

00:42:03.519 --> 00:42:03.760
Okay.

00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:04.480
Okay.

00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:08.480
So big huge house on the south side of Irvington.

00:42:08.480 --> 00:42:11.440
I'm happy to like drive you by it sometime if you want.

00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:13.039
I know the owners.

00:42:13.039 --> 00:42:19.360
The the previous owners, the she the woman had two kids.

00:42:19.360 --> 00:42:25.119
One was a teeny tiny little infant, not able to walk, teeny tiny, very important.

00:42:25.119 --> 00:42:29.360
The other one was a little boy who had braces on his legs.

00:42:29.360 --> 00:42:32.000
So he could not walk without braces on his legs.

00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:32.880
Heard.

00:42:32.880 --> 00:42:43.119
She put these two kids upstairs for a nap, and she went outside to hang laundry up, and the house catches on fire.

00:42:43.119 --> 00:42:45.199
So she's freaking out.

00:42:45.199 --> 00:42:48.239
It is a raging inferno of fire.

00:42:48.239 --> 00:43:01.360
He comes running around the front door, opens the front door, and the two kids are sitting, well, the little baby's laying on the floor on the bottom step of the house.

00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:02.239
Right?

00:43:02.239 --> 00:43:04.559
So the bottom step of that stairway.

00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:10.639
And she gets these kids outside, and the fire department comes, they put the fire out.

00:43:10.639 --> 00:43:12.559
Presumably everything's okay.

00:43:12.559 --> 00:43:19.760
A little while later, she says, Wait a minute, how the hell did those two kids get down the stairs?

00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:21.920
He can't walk without braces.

00:43:21.920 --> 00:43:23.920
The baby clearly isn't walking.

00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:25.519
How did that this happen?

00:43:25.519 --> 00:43:30.480
And she turns to her son and she says, How did you get down the stairs?

00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:34.800
And he says, The nice woman brought us down the stairs.

00:43:34.800 --> 00:43:40.079
And the people that own that house now have confirmed that there is a ghost.

00:43:40.079 --> 00:43:42.000
They see her all the time.

00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:43.360
She is lovely.

00:43:43.360 --> 00:43:45.599
They live in complete harmony.

00:43:45.599 --> 00:43:49.519
It's wild as fuck.

00:43:49.519 --> 00:43:51.039
But I love that story.

00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:52.159
It's my favorite.

00:43:52.480 --> 00:43:54.719
The nice woman brought us downstairs.

00:43:54.719 --> 00:44:02.880
And the not nice person gave us candy out of their trunk.

00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:05.760
And we climbed in the trunk.

00:44:05.760 --> 00:44:19.679
And then we had to learn about our street smarts and kick the rear, kick the windows out, kick the uh the stoplights out with the back of the car so we can alert somebody behind us that we were stuck in the trunk.

00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:20.559
Yeah.

00:44:20.559 --> 00:44:22.719
Excellent story.

00:44:22.719 --> 00:44:23.679
So good.

00:44:23.679 --> 00:44:25.199
On that note.

00:44:25.199 --> 00:44:26.320
Yeah.

00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:30.159
I think we can wrap up this little after school special.

00:44:30.159 --> 00:44:30.639
Okay.

00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:31.679
Love it.

00:44:31.679 --> 00:44:36.239
The candy panic of the 70s and 80s.

00:44:36.239 --> 00:44:37.360
Indeed.

00:44:38.159 --> 00:44:40.159
And the power of urban legend.

00:44:40.159 --> 00:44:45.360
It all stems from one shitty father and a pixie stick.

00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:47.599
It's fucking horrible.

00:44:47.840 --> 00:44:48.559
Ridiculous.

00:44:48.559 --> 00:44:50.880
Somebody's got to ruin it for everybody.

00:44:50.880 --> 00:44:53.199
That jackass, clearly, yeah.

00:44:53.199 --> 00:44:55.679
Now no homemade treats.

00:44:55.679 --> 00:44:57.519
None for you, sir.

00:44:57.519 --> 00:45:02.800
Leslie, have an amazing Halloween tomorrow with or Halloween festival.

00:45:03.280 --> 00:45:04.480
Yeah, thank you.

00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:07.039
It's gonna be an awesome weekend.

00:45:07.039 --> 00:45:08.719
And we'll be back here.

00:45:08.719 --> 00:45:11.280
So this episode, it's the 25th.

00:45:11.280 --> 00:45:14.559
As update of airing, and we'll be back here in two weeks.

00:45:14.800 --> 00:45:16.079
That sounds amazing.

00:45:16.079 --> 00:45:17.440
See you later, Alley.

00:45:17.440 --> 00:45:19.760
Yeah, happy Halloween, everybody.

00:45:19.760 --> 00:45:25.599
If you celebrate, yeah, may the uh may the nice lady bring you safely down the stairs.

00:45:25.599 --> 00:45:27.760
Go watch the exorcist.

00:45:28.639 --> 00:45:29.119
See ya.

00:45:29.119 --> 00:45:30.079
Bye.

00:45:30.079 --> 00:45:36.079
You have been listening to Gen X Women Are Sick of This Shit.

00:45:36.079 --> 00:45:37.599
Hey Megan.

00:45:37.599 --> 00:45:38.719
Hey Leslie.

00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:41.039
What do people do if they want to find us?

00:45:41.199 --> 00:45:48.800
Well, we have a website that people can find us on, and that is genxwomenpod.com.

00:45:48.800 --> 00:45:51.760
We also have a Facebook page.

00:45:51.760 --> 00:45:54.559
We have an Instagram account as well.

00:45:54.559 --> 00:46:00.800
We have a YouTube account where we put YouTube shorts and other little tidbits up there.

00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:02.320
We have a TikTok account.

00:46:02.559 --> 00:46:03.760
I don't talk to Dick.

00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:05.360
I you know TikTok.

00:46:05.760 --> 00:46:09.679
I I barely talk to TikTok, but I did put a TikTok.

00:46:09.679 --> 00:46:13.360
That's okay though.

00:46:13.360 --> 00:46:15.519
We need to know how to merge.

00:46:16.159 --> 00:46:17.440
Can people buy merch?

00:46:17.440 --> 00:46:18.559
They absolutely can.

00:46:18.559 --> 00:46:24.480
We have a merch store on the website itself, and we also have an epic store too.

00:46:24.480 --> 00:46:25.920
So it's pretty easy to find.

00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:28.000
It's just Gen X Women.

00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:34.639
And if you are listening to this podcast, presumably you found it somewhere.

00:46:34.639 --> 00:46:37.360
And while you're there, give us a review.

00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:37.840
Yeah.

00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:39.360
Let us know what you think.

00:46:39.360 --> 00:46:40.880
Throw some stars at us.

00:46:40.880 --> 00:46:41.599
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00:46:41.599 --> 00:46:44.320
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00:46:45.840 --> 00:46:51.440
And also make sure that you are hitting subscribe so that you're notified whenever a new episode.

00:46:51.440 --> 00:46:57.280
We also have a five minutes of fame that I think we should tell people about it too.

00:46:57.440 --> 00:46:58.079
Hell yes.

00:46:58.079 --> 00:47:00.960
We want to know your stories or five minutes of fame stories.

00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:13.840
You can send those stories then on the website, or you can call 1888-Gen X Cod and leave your story for us, and we will play it live in our next episode.

00:47:14.079 --> 00:47:14.239
Yep.

00:47:14.239 --> 00:47:18.079
We'll listen to it on a little red phone just like Batman.

00:47:24.159 --> 00:47:25.119
I think that's it.

00:47:25.119 --> 00:47:26.320
I think it's great.