It’s National Hard Candy Day: Books and Movies Featuring Deadly Treats
Today is National Hard Candy Day!
Woo hoo! Candy! Everyone’s favourite treat has unfortunately been demonized over the years with parental warnings of poisoning, rotting your teeth out, or worse: death! But how much do you know about the origins of these sweet candy treats?
Hard candies or “boiled sweets” are made from melting down sugar into syrups boiled at high temperatures. The liquid sugar can be moulded or rolled into sweet treats as it cools then moulded into hard confectionary treats. Most commonly hard candies can be composed of sucrose, glucose, or fructose, but sugar free sweeteners do exist as well. The “hard candy” that we know and love today appears everywhere from grandma’s pockets to the doctor’s office checkout desk, but got its start in 16th Century Europe. Boiled sugar candies gained popularity in england in the 1700s, and thus eventually hopped across the pond to the Americas. In the 1800s, the Scots gifted us with “rock candy” which is used today as a lollipop treat as well as a sweetener for coffee, tea, and more.
In keeping with the theme of National Hard Candy Day,
we’re going to feature our favourite books and movies with candy themes!
Whether they have candy in the title, on the cover, or as a feature story component doesn’t matter.
All that matters is these are some seriously sweet treats for your eyes and ears.
So check out our list and let us know what picks you’d like to add to this list!
Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke
“At first glance, Phil Pendleton and his son Adam are just an ordinary father and son, no different from any other. They take walks in the park together, visit county fairs, museums, and zoos, and eat together overlooking the lake. Some might say the father is a little too accommodating given the lack of discipline when the child loses his temper in public. Some might say he spoils his son by allowing him to eat candy whenever he wants and set his own bedtimes. Some might say that such leniency is starting to take its toll on the father, given how his health has declined.
What no one knows is that Phil is a prisoner, and that up until a few weeks ago and a chance encounter at a grocery store, he had never seen the child before in his life.”
Eye Candy: A Novel by R.L. Stine
“Lindy Sampson is a beautiful twenty-three-year-old New Yorker with an unusual problem: She’s too beautiful, and guys are intimidated by her. Her roommate suggests Internet dating and writes a personal ad for Lindy, calling her “Eye Candy.” The responses pour in. Suddenly, Lindy is dating four guys at once—and having the time of her life. Until she gets a terrifying note that warns: “Don’t say no, Lindy. Keep going out with me. I’ll mess you up if you ever say no.”
Which one of her admirers is a deadly freak? Lindy is now forced to say yes to everything the four men ask of her—dates, invitations to spend the night, anything. From the East Village to the Hamptons, panic and paranoia shadow her every move. Lindy suspects everyone, even the one person she thought she could trust. But Lindy Sampson doesn’t know the half of it—and what she doesn’t know could kill her.”
“Take a little Horror home with you! An extra-long, extra-scary Halloween Special Edition: a HorrorLand first!
After a trip to HorrorLand, Meg and her brother, Chris, can't wait to celebrate Halloween. Until that Weirdo in the baby alien costume shows up and begins to wreak havoc on their lives. They just can't seem to get him to leave. And Meg's beginning to suspect that his orange skin isn't a halloween disguise...
What happens in the world's scariest theme park on the most frightening day of the year? Meg is about to find out when she's mysteriously called back to HorrorLand on Halloween. Can she survive the trick or treachery?”
“MEET HANNA: Seven-year-old Hanna is a sweet-but-silent angel in the eyes of her adoring father Alex. He’s the only person who understands her. But her mother Suzette stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good.
MEET SUZETTE: Suzette loves her daughter, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. She’s also becoming increasingly frightened by Hanna’s little games, while her husband Alex remains blind to the failing family dynamics. Soon, Suzette starts to fear that maybe their supposedly innocent baby girl may have a truly sinister agenda.
A battle of wills between mother and daughter reveals the frailty and falsehood of familial bonds in award-winning playwright and filmmaker Zoje Stage’s tense novel of psychological suspense, Baby Teeth.”
“Halloween Candy is a Jack O'Lantern of a book. An anthology of horror fact and fiction, newly stuffed after a night of trick-or-treating with film critiques, short stories, haunted house reports, punditry, a screenplay, and an interview with Dark Shadows actor Jonathan Frid. Both new items and reprints from: Wicked Mystic, 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, Midnight Marquee, Horror, Sci-Fi Universe, and Filmfax. Writings dark and serious and whimsical, and all else that is horror.
Also included is the screenplay, Halloween Candy, which was honored with an American Film Institute reading (moderated by Robert Wise -- The Haunting), was thrice-optioned, and nearly directed by Tom Savini. Plus a recounting of "the making of Halloween Candy." Or rather, how the film almost got made ... again and again and again. A behind-the-scenes look into the world of low-budget horror filmmaking”
Trick R Treat
This one’s an obvious inclusion. That lollipop’s a classic.
This one’s available to rent on Hulu or Amazon Prime.
Hubie Halloween
A perfect treat for halloween season, this one premiered this year to some pretty sweet reviews.
Now streaming on Netflix.
My Bloody Valentine
Move over, Russel Stovers. Get lost, Gertrude Hawk. Suck it, Godiva.
Nothing says I love you better than a heart in a box.
Now Streaming on Hulu.
Candy Corn
With a title this divisive, how could we forget it? Whether you love the stuff or you hate it, this movie might still be a treat for you.
Now streaming with a Hulu Premium subscription.
Bad Candy
This one’s not out just yet, but it’s full of bite-sized horror nuggets to consume. Start hoarding your fave sweet treats to consume when it does!
Find out more here.
Snow White
Hooray, candy apples! There’s no razor blades in these, but it is poisoned.
Watch now with a Disney+ Subscription.
Happy Death Day
We’ve “got another confection to make” and this time it’s not candy but a cupcake!
(sorry not sorry for the ear worm)
Watch now with a Hulu Premium subscription or rent via YouTube or Amazon Prime.
Tales of Halloween
This one’s a real Mixed Bag of treats and tricks, and there’s a few nuts in there, too!
Now streaming on Vudu and Amazon Prime.
Urban Legend
When we said we’d kill for some vintage candies, this wasn’t what we meant. But pass the PopRocks anyway!
Watch for Free on PlutoTV.
Hereditary
Watch out for allergens in your candy. They’ll getchya.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime, Youtube, and GooglePlay.
Wreck It Ralph
Wondering what a Disney movie is doing on our list? King Candy is a pretty tyrannical villain, and that qualifies in our books!
Watch now with a subscription to Disney+.
Hard Candy
This one makes the cut for Stranger Danger and its title!
Watch free on Peacock TV or Rent on Amazon, iTunes, and Youtube.
WARNING: The following short film contains graphic violence and death. Viewer discretion is advised.
