Wheel Fortune may have freaked fans out a little bit too much with its latest Halloween-themed puzzles. The Wednesday night broadcast of Wheel is going viral for featuring puzzles that included iconic horror genre tropes – including one based on the Candyman movie franchise. When the Wheel of Fortune contestants started working on a puzzle whose answer was “CANDYMAN CANDYMAN CANDYMAN CANDYMAN” Twitter exploded with viewers who guessed the answer early freaking out about the consequences of solving the puzzle. Tweets like “Wheel of Fortune is playing a dangerous game tonight,” kept viewers thrilled while the puzzle was finished – and certainly helped boost Wheel of Fortune’s visibility on social media:
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They have a death wish. @WheelofFortune #Candyman 😳 pic.twitter.com/1OhO9PuCuf
— Throw Up & Theology (@revlaurelj) October 27, 2021
In case you need a refresher course, the rules of the Candyman mythos state that you must save the ghostly entity’s name five times in a mirror, in order to summon him – something Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak made sure to clarify for viewers, after committing a slight faux pas on air:
“That, by the way, for those of you that don’t know is from a film called Candyman,” Sajak said. “And I said it a fifth time which means he appears isn’t that the way it works? Maybe he’s under the wheel.”
Luckily, no hook-handed entity appeared to take out Pat Sajak and the Wheel of Fortune contestants. In fact, it was quite the opposite: The contestant who solved the Candyman puzzle, Jordan, ended up winning the entire game and went home with over $40,000. Don’t be surprised if more people don’t start trying to summon Candyman, looking for a payout.
The original Candyman was released in 1992, starring Virginia Madsen and Tony Todd as the titular Candyman entity. A direct sequel of the same name was released back in August, starring Aquaman’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen.
(Warning: Candyman 2021 Spoilers Follow!)
The new Candyman revealed that Mateen’s character, Anthony, was actually the young baby that Candyman nearly claimed as a sacrifice in the first film. However, by respawning the Candyman legend through his art, Anthony ended up making himself the next vessel for the evil spirit. After Anthony was gunned down by police, he became the true Candyman and is now just one face of the entity, like Tony Todd’s Daniel Robitaille.
Fans are still waiting to see if director Nia DaCosta’s new vision of Candyman gets continued. But having the franchise acknowledged by major game shows like Wheel of Fortune certainly doesn’t hurt.
