‘Black Halloween’: The year Halloween went off the rails

FARGO — The headline the morning after Halloween 1934 was chilling:

“3 West Fargo Youths Shot After Halloween Prank.”

The story began:

“Eddie Oftelie, 13, received a charge of buckshot in both eyes and his chest from a shotgun in the hands of a West Fargo resident. He is in a Fargo hospital in serious condition. His eyesight may be lost.”

The shooting shocked readers, but what made it most disturbing was how unsurprising it seemed.

Just a year earlier, Fargo, along with the rest of America, had endured what many called the wildest Halloween in memory — the “Black Halloween” of 1933 — when violence and vandalism reached their peak.

In 1933, America was mired in the Great Depression and a punishing drought. Jobs were scarce, tempers short, and anxiety ran high. Halloween became a press