Devil's Night

Devil's Night is a name associated with October 30, the night before Halloween. It is related to the "Mischief Night" practiced in parts of the United States such as Philadelphia but is chiefly associated with the serious vandalism and arson seen in Detroit, Michigan, from the late 1960s to the 1990s, finally prompting the "Angels' Night" community response.

Devil's Night dates from as early as the 1940s. Traditionally, city youths engaged in a night of mischievous or petty criminal behavior, usually consisting of minor pranks or acts of mild vandalism (such as egging, soaping or waxing windows and doors, leaving rotten vegetables or flaming bags of canine feces on stoops, or toilet papering trees and shrubs) which caused little or no property damage.

However, in the early 1970s, the vandalism escalated to more destructive acts such as arson. This primarily took place in the inner city, but surrounding suburbs were often affected as well.

The crimes became more destructive in Detroit's inner-city neighborhoods, and included hundreds of acts of arson and vandalism every year. The destruction reached a peak in the mid- to late-1980s, with more than 800 fires set in 1984, and a number in the hundreds for each subsequent year until 2020. Only in Detroit.

Where The Wizard grew up (Winnipeg, MB Canada), we called it "Gate Night" and terrorized the neighbourhood throwing eggs and stringing toilet paper in the trees. You had to buy the eggs before the 30th as stores wouldn't sell them to minors without a note from the parents.