NICHOLSON -- Halloween night started with a Monster Mash on Main Street in Nicholson. It ended with rumors around the borough of tainted candy and reports of parents having tingly lips and feeling high after eating Milk Duds.
"Like in any small town, news always travels fast. Good, bad or indifferent," Lisa Mihalina said.
Lisa Mihalina and Tiffany Germana are business owners on Main Street. They organized and hosted the Monster Mash party.
"We wanted to provide a safe and fun environment for the kids without going door to door. I have small children. I don't like to do that. We like to try to get all the kids together and do a community event," Germana said.
Before the women were done cleaning up, posts were being shared on Facebook. The organizers received a call asking where they bought their Halloween candy for the night's Monster Mash event.
"My first reaction after I read the post on Facebook was confident that it didn't come from our event, and then, of course, concern because where did it come from? How did it get there?" Mihalina said.
The Dalton Borough Police Department responds to calls in Nicholson. They say after the first report of tainted candy was posted on Facebook, they got about a half dozen more calls later that night.
"Bad news spreads faster than good. It was very disappointing to see all the bad about our town when we're really trying to revitalize the town and bring people together as a community," Germana said.
The person who originally reported the tainted candy did not specifically blame it on the Monster Mash event. After she posted it, others shared pictures of Mild Duds boxes that seemed to be opened and re-glued.
"I did see the pictures of the Milk Duds boxes. Is it weird? I mean it's concerning, every parent is going to inspect their kids Halloween candy. I did it when my kids were younger. If something looks suspicious you're going to throw it away," Mihalina said.
The Dalton Borough Police Department and the Wyoming County District Attorney's Office both say nothing was found so far, and it appears it may have been just a rumor that spread like wildfire on social media. The Factoryville Fire Co. Station 9 has also deleted their post about it.