History Main / IGotARock

In {{Halloween Episode}}s, some characters go trick-or-treating. They eagerly open their candy bags and ready themselves for the candy. The adult reaches into a bowl and grabs some ... fruit? This will typically make the children mad, usually resulting in the vandalizing of said adult's house.

[[caption-width-right:296:''"I don't understand it. I went trick-or-treating and all I got was a bag full of rocks."'']]

** In a sketch from the 1970s, the extraterrestrial Coneheads give out beer and "fried chicken embryos" (eggs). None of the children retaliate, but the Coneheads do get an angry visit from neighborhood parents, who are mollified when the aliens give their explanatory {{Catchphrase}}, "We are from France." They apologize about the beer but continue dispensing the fried eggs when assured that's okay.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Pinkeye," Stan is carrying a taser as part of his Halloween kit:

* The ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Summerween" has a joke about unpopular "loser candy" such as [[BlandNameProduct Mr. Adequatebar, Gummi Chairs]], and Homework: The Candy. [[spoiler: It also turns out that the Summerween Trickster is [[TheWormThatWalks a sentient amalgam of all those rejected candies]].]]

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'''[[TheCameo Charlie Brown]]''': I got a rock.

* When {{Music/KISS}} was on ''Series/{{MADtv}}'', they did a bit where they went trick-or-treating and Peter Criss got a rock... but he loves rock!

* In an episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Lily inherits (or rather, is given) her grandparents' house in Long Island. When Marshall proposes that they sell it (and they're expecting a baby), she tries to use the neighborhood kids as a means to get him to reconsider. Problem is: her "baby-brain" causes her to hand out a mug, a stapler and a bottle of wine instead treats from the candy bowl on the table nearby. [[spoiler:The kids egg the house.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* A Webcomic/BasicInstructions strip has Scott tell the trick-or-treaters to go to hell, and they inform him that if he doesn't give them candy, they will egg his house. He responds "If you have eggs, you don't need candy". Later he decides that the best way to scare children is to act in a more subtle manner, and he starts pouring Mr. Pibb directly into a child's candy bucket.

** The best dentists will open their door in full dentist garb, a scary smile, and give regular candy to those who haven't run in fear yet.

** In the episode "Halloween" he proceeds to shit in the bag of a trick-or-treater that shows up at his door, with the excrement very apparently coming out as liquid. When he tells the kids he got him some chocolate the kid tells him "That's not chocolate, that's poop." James proceeds to correct him by saying "It's not chocolate nor is it poop--it's shit!" When the two demand candy James proceeds to give one kid his copy of ''[[VideoGame/Halloween2600 Halloween]]'' and the other one an UsefulNotes/Atari2600 after they tell him they don't know what Atari is.

-->'''Bart:''' Good grief! This candy's terrible. Circus peanuts, raisins, nicotine gum, a library card.

* In the {{Trope Namer|s}}, ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'', all of the other kids get candy in their respective treat bags. Charlie Brown never gets anything but a rock[[note]]which means that a whole neighborhood, for reasons unknown, collectively decided to give rocks to [[ButtMonkey one specific kid]]... [{{Jerkass}} good grief]][[/note]]. If this were to happen in real life, the homeowner would run the risk of having the rock returned... through a window.

* In the {{Trope Namer|s}}, ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'', all of the other kids get candy in their respective treat bags. Charlie Brown never gets anything but a rock. If this were to happen in real life, the homeowner would run the risk of having the rock returned... through a window.

* In 2021, Kaiser Permanente Antioch Medical Center in California [[https://empowerednurses.org/epic-fail-for-national-nurses-week/ literally gave out rocks]] for National Nurses Week, calling them "encouragement stones". The internet was ''not'' impressed, especially since it was during a time period when medical professionals everywhere were massively overworked due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

* In 2021, Kaiser Permanente Antioch Medical Center in California [[https://empowerednurses.org/epic-fail-for-national-nurses-week/ literally gave out rocks]] for National Nurses Week, calling them "encouragement stones". The internet was not impressed.

** In the episode "Halloween" he proceeds to shit in the bag of a trick-or-treater that shows up at his door, with the excrement very apparently coming out as liquid. When he tells the kids he got him some chocolate the kid tells him "That's not chocolate, that's poop." James proceeds to correct him by saying "It's not chocolate nor is it poop--it's shit!" When the two demand candy James proceeds to give one kid a copy of ''[[VideoGame/Halloween2600 Halloween]]'' and the other one an Atari 2600 after they tell him they don't know what Atari is.

* In [[https://notalwaysright.com/christmas-is-off-to-a-rocky-start/48171/ this story]] from [[Website/NotAlwaysRight Not Always Related]], a boy apparently does not need Christmas presents (according to his [[AbusiveParents mother]] because he has "a perfectly good rock."

** In the actual Halloween events, players can get handfuls of candy from buckets on each inn. You get candy, including the kind you can trade for vanity pets, or trinkets that count towards achievements, yes, but also can get temporary BalefulPolymorph, Tooth Picks (which do nothing but give you a ten-second buff that makes your mouth shine) or penny bags, which are bags that only have one slot (when the most basic bags have four) and sell for one measly copper.

->''"An apple? Where's my candy, you son of a bitch?!"''

* In an issue of ''Comicbook/IncredibleHulk,'' the (intelligent) Hulk studies his officially licensed [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]] action figure. He comments that while everybody else has some cool accessory (ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's shield, etc.), but "I got a rock."

* In ''Comicbook/{{Impulse}}'' #45, Max Mercury (a time-jumping hero who grew up in TheWildWest) gives out homemade popcorn balls to trick-or-treaters, who react with horror at the thought they could be RazorApples. His daughter, a dentist, tells him, "The world has changed since you were a kid in ... what was it, the 1400s?" and then gives the kids coupons for $5 off their next dental cleaning. The kids leave vowing to tell everyone that "this house ''sucks''!"
* [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4BLyIOniQ8I/VcHQxDCtJqI/AAAAAAAADaM/-Twycx8albU/s1600/IMG_0987.jpg The cover]] of the same month's ''Comicbook/YoungJustice'' shows Robin, Superboy and Impulse trick-or-treating as their mentors ([[CoversAlwaysLie this doesn't happen in the issue]]). A perplexed Impulse is, in fact, holding a rock.

* During ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'''s Halloween event, you used to be able to loot granola bars and toothbrushes as VendorTrash.

* In the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book ''The Haunted Mask'', Carly Beth gets apples. Since EvilFeelsGood with the mask on, she throws it at the house.
** The short story ''The Wish'' has the protagonist getting a literal rock from a woman. The rock turns out to be what grants the titular wish.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Millennium}}'' a depressed man gives young Frank Black a cigarette.

* In the {{Trope Namer|s}}, ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'', all of the other kids get candy in their respective treat bags. Charlie Brown never gets anything but a rock.
** If this were to happen in real life, the homeowner would run the risk of having the rock returned... through a window.
** And doesn't ''everybody'', on Halloween night, make sure to include a rock or two among their candy supply, just in case a trick-or-treater shows up with a particularly lame costume?

* The ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Summerween" has a joke about unpopular "loser candy" such as [[BlandNameProduct Mr. Adequatebar, Gummi Chairs]], and Homework: The Candy. [[spoiler: It also turns out that the Summerween Trickster is the embodiment of all those rejected candies.]]

* During ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'''s Halloween event, you can loot granola bars and toothbrushes as VendorTrash.