The Great Halloween Candy Heist

🔎 THIS IS A MYSTERY GAME 🕵️
📰 DECIPHER THE CLUES TO COLLECT THE EVIDENCE 🫆
📝 SOLVE THE CRIME AND SAVE HALLOWEEN 🎉

A mystery is upon us Community members, a Halloween heist of devious proportions! A shadowy sugar-loving swindler has stolen all the treats out of our candy bucket, determined to make this the scariest Halloween of all time: one without our favorite sweets. Such a sinister spectacle surely cannot stand! 

Luckily, not all hope is lost in our quest to fill buckets to the brim with the candy we crave. We have a list of suspects, treats, and locations to investigate and we will release one clue in the @Community group each day between October 2 - 18, 2026. Each clue will bring you one step closer to solving the mystery by providing witness evidence that eliminates one of the suspects, treats, or @DA-Ambassadors led groups from consideration for this crime. Use the provided evidence sheet below as a helpful tool to rule out the suspects, treats, or groups not connected to the heist. In other words, decipher all the clues correctly and you will be left with one suspect ("who?"), one treat ("what?"), and one location ("where?") to solve the mystery.

"Evidence Sheet" and cover image artwork by @KABANOMORI
 

Once you think you've solved the mystery of The Great Halloween Candy Heist, make your accusation to capture the candy thief and ensure everyone enjoys a sweet holiday. Create a deviation depicting which suspect and treat are involved in this candy crime (or use the provided icons to create a collage) and publish that deviation with the tag #CandyHeist2026. Then, submit that deviation to the group from which the missing treats were stolen. Guess correctly and you will be eligible to receive badges, DeviantArt Merch, or even a custom "Candy Heist Detective" T-Shirt from @KABANOMORI!

Good luck, Detective! 

"Candy Heist Detective" T-Shirt by @KABANOMORI

THE SUSPECTS

DAn (art by @KABANOMORI)
Emo T. Cahn (art by @Alicante-Design)
Fella (art by @Milkate)

Heart (art by @CatDemonz)
Llama (art by @Alicante-Design)
Star (art by @HDdeviant)

THE TREATS

Candy Corn Cats (art by @KABANOMORI)

Dark Chocolate Bats (art by @Pascua-Tanya
Gummy Ghosts (art by @DrThomasStockmann

Milk Chocolate Mummies (art by @Alicante-Design)
Sour Skeletons (art by @DrThomasStockmann)

Sugar Spun Spiders (art by @KABANOMORI)

THE GROUPS

THE EVIDENCE

Clue 1 from @moonbeam13
Clue 2 from @KABANOMORI
Clue 3 from @R-4-Z-I-E-L
Clue 4 from @DrThomasStockmann
Clue 5 from @CathryneDelamort
Clue 6 from @exarobibliologist

Clue 7 from @AnaiKawaii

Clue 8 from @Pascua-Tanya
Clue 9 from @WDWParksGal
Clue 10 from @Alicante-Design
Clue 11 from @LayeredAnima
Clue 12 from @HDdeviant

ENTRY GUIDELINES & RULES

🗓️ Final accusation deviations must feature the correct suspect and treat and be submitted to the correct group by 11:59PM Pacific on Sunday October 31 for prizing consideration.

🙏 Thank you for including #CandyHeist2026 in the tag section of your deviation; this helps us find your entires more easily.

1️⃣ One deviation per deviant allowed when making your accusation; multiple deviations submitted to the challenge will disqualify you from the game.

🚫 Your deviation can include only one of the suspects and one of the treats in your image; including additional suspects or treats will disqualify you from the game.  

🚫 Your deviation can be submitted to only one group implicated in the Candy Heist to complete your entry; submitting to multiple groups will disqualify you from the game.

🚫 Don't post answers in the comments below, they will be removed; let's keep the surprise intact for all players throughout the month of October.

PRIZING

🏆 Prizes will be awarded to select deviations featuring the correct suspect and treat which have been submitted to the correct group for the game. Deviations / Deviants to receive prizing will be selected by members of DA Staff, @Community Volunteers, and @DA-Ambassadors and all decisions are final and non-negotiable. Not all correct entries will receive a prize.

🏅 Hype, Quartz, or other badges will be awarded to select entries by DA Staff or members of the Ambassadors team.

👕 DeviantArt Merch and T-Shirt prizes will be fulfilled by DA Staff.

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