Forget horror movies, haunted houses or decorations that seem a little too realistic. For many, paranoia around drug-laced candy can make trick-or-treating the ultimate scare.
"We've pretty much stopped believing in ghosts and goblins, but we believe in criminals," said Joel Best, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware. "We tell each other scary stories about Halloween criminals and it resonates. It takes the underlying cultural message of the holiday — spooky stuff — and links it to contemporary fears."
