Mike and Sarah are journalists obsessed with the past. Every week they reconsider a person or event that's been miscast in the public imagination.

Halloween Pranks with Chelsey Weber-Smith

October 13, 2026 0:55:39 9.49 MB ( -9.5 MB less) Downloads: 0

Choose wisely: trick or treat? Starting in the late 1800s, the spooky and goofy version of Halloween we know today became a time of ruckus and sometimes dangerous pranks by kids and teenagers that caused widespread property damage and bodily harm. For this episode, Halloween correspondent Chelsey Weber-Smith joins Sarah to take a look at old newspaper articles detailing these pranks, and the reactions they elicited until the adults of the mid-20th century finally took control back from the youth, trying their best to soften the annual Purge-esque mayhem. Digressions include how to eat a cactus (and why), the killer clown panic, and the horror of midnight margaritas.

More Chelsey Weber-Smith:

Listen to American Hysteria

Follow on Instagram


Original music in this episode brought to you by Magpie Cinema Club


Produced + edited by Miranda Zickler


More You're Wrong About:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bonus Episodes on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy cute merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YWA on Instagram⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices