For kids these days, Halloween and trick-or-treating go together like peanut butter and jelly.
In fact, the only thing most kids know about Halloween is that it’s a spooky time get dressed up and collect candy— but interestingly enough, candy wasn’t always part of the equation.
The ancient Celts of Great Britain considered November 1st as the first day of the New Year. As a result, the night before (October 31st, also known as Samhain) was thought to be a time when spirits came back to haunt and play tricks. To celebrate the otherworldly event, people would dress in scary costumes, play games, and leave food out for their ghostly visitors.
Trick-or-treating was in no way part of the original celebration.
In fact, it originated in the United States sometime around the late 1930s. During this period, children would go house to house, collecting treats like homemade cookies, fruits, nuts, and coins.
A few decades later, seeing a business opportunity, candy manufacturers started marketing their products specifically for the holiday. By the 1970s, parents had become increasingly fearful of homemade treats being tampered with— and as a result, mass-manufactured candies became the only acceptable thing to give out.
Now, Americans spend about $2 billion a year on Halloween candy, and the rest, as they say, is history. But what happens when you remove candy from the Halloween equation?
If this video is any indication, you will have a mass of angry kids to deal with.
In this video compilation, you see kids’ priceless reactions after being told their parents ate all their Halloween candy.
It’s unclear where this prank originated, but it seems to have roots with talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel often gets parents to prank their kids— whether it be by giving them a horrible Christmas present (half-eaten sandwich, anyone?) or by volunteering them for a fake lie detector test. As you can imagine, the reactions are always priceless. In fact, the kid pranks seem to be one of the most popular segments of his show.
Kimmel started the Halloween candy prank back in 2010, not realizing what a hit would be. Now, he’s made a routine of the gig, releasing compilation videos of kids reactions every year. In one of the first segments, he says:
“To those kids whose tears are about to be immortalized on television, I apologize in advance.”
As mentioned, Kimmel’s Halloween prank idea was a giant success. In fact, the very first video sits at 60M views. Check it out below:
Now, nearly a decade later, America’s Funniest Home Videos is discovering the hilarity for themselves, having released their own compilation of kids being told their parents ate their candy.
Comments on the AFV video read:
“OMG the boy @1:30 got me so bad… He’s such a good kid.”
“This is so mean, but the video is so worth laughing at.”
“Hahahahahahahah”
“Kid at 1:21 is going to grow up to be a fine man.”
Watch the compilation below!
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