Eight years ago, in honor of Halloween, we brought you Vapes on a Plane, a collection of strange and occasionally alarming dispatches from the world of vaping. We assumed things couldn’t possibly get any weirder.
We were wrong.
Since then, we’ve witnessed vaping raccoons, bovine burglars, swamp monsters, exploding handbags, and and the arrival of a vape that supposedly pays you in Bitcoin.
Apparently, the universe took our original article as a challenge.
So, in honor of Halloween, we’ve once again ventured into the darker corners of the internet to bring you some of the strangest vaping news we could find.
Grab your candy, lock your doors, and whatever you do, keep your vape away from the raccoons!
1. The Great Raccoon Vape Heist
In which a masked bandit attempts to acquire an electronic cigarette.
We’ll begin with a criminal mastermind who was, quite literally, born wearing a mask.
In December 2024, a raccoon made an enthusiastic attempt to steal a man’s vape after it fell from his pocket. The resulting encounter was captured on video, with the understandably bewildered owner attempting to negotiate the return of his property.
The raccoon seemed convinced it had discovered something delicious. The owner tried explaining that it wasn’t food.
Eventually, the raccoon abandoned its prize.
No charges were filed, presumably because the suspect fled on four legs and refused to cooperate with authorities.
The moral of the story: Never trust anyone wearing a mask. Especially if they have tiny hands and a striped tail.
🎬 Caught on Camera: Watch the world’s least cooperative vape thief in action. Original footage credited to Devin Vegas, via Storyful.
2. Holy Cow! A Most Unusual Vape Shop Heist
In which a criminal makes an unfortunate wardrobe decision.
In August 2026, Tennessee police encountered a mystery involving two masked individuals checking the doors of a local market. One was dressed in a cow onesie.
Yes. A cow.
Just over a week later, three people burglarized the same business and stole vaping products. Security footage reportedly showed what the cops suspected was the bovine burglar returning with accomplices, proving once again that the criminal underworld has a serious shortage of competent wardrobe consultants.
We have questions.
Was this a carefully planned disguise? A last-minute Halloween costume? Was the suspect just hoping to blend in with the herd?
Whatever the explanation, we suspect the police report contained at least one sentence its author never imagined writing.
3. The Creature from the Vape Shop Lagoon
In which Swamp Thing apparently develops expensive habits.
Not to be outdone by Tennessee’s criminal livestock, a Georgia vape-shop robber took an entirely different approach to concealing his identity.
In March 2026, authorities sought a suspect who robbed a vape shop while wearing a full-body ghillie suit.
For the uninitiated, a ghillie suit is a camouflage outfit designed to make its wearer resemble vegetation. In the woods, it can be remarkably effective.
Inside a retail establishment? Less so.
The resulting surveillance footage looks like a scene from a low-budget horror movie in which an unusually acquisitive shrub wanders into a vape shop.
We’re not sure what the suspect hoped to accomplish, but we feel reasonably confident the responding officers were told to be on the lookout for a suspicious bush.
See the story and images from FOX 5 Atlanta
4. Nine Burglars Walk into a Vape Shop…
…after emerging from a single Hyundai Sonata.
In October 2025, surveillance footage captured an extraordinary sight outside a Virginia vape shop.
Nine suspects emerged from one Hyundai Sonata before breaking into the store. According to reports, two had been riding in the trunk.
Nine people. One car.
It’s the sort of logistical achievement usually reserved for circus clowns, although these particular performers reportedly made off with merchandise that included sneakers and Pokémon cards.
We’re not sure whether to be more impressed by the coordinated burglary or the seating arrangements.
We can only hope everyone remembered to buckle up. Except, of course, the two in the trunk.
5. Frankenstein’s Vape: Now with AI and Bitcoin!
Because apparently vaping wasn’t technologically complicated enough.
Just when you thought every conceivable feature had been added to an electronic cigarette, someone decided what the world really needed was a vape involving artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.
In June 2026, The Verge investigated a cannabis-vaping product marketed with a peculiar combination of AI technology and Bitcoin rewards.
The promotional concept suggested users could earn cryptocurrency through consumption. Upon closer examination, however, the rewards weren’t quite as straightforward as the marketing might have led customers to believe.
We have officially reached the point where a device can apparently require a blockchain explanation before you use it.
To be clear, this was a cannabis product, not an ordinary nicotine vape. But we simply couldn’t leave it out of our collection of vape-related technological oddities.
We’re holding out for the next innovation: a vape that folds laundry, files your taxes, and tells you whether Mercury is in retrograde.
Read The Verge’s investigation
6. Invasion of the Vape Snatchers
Is that a highlighter in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
Remember when a vape looked like a vape?
Those were simpler times.
In July 2025, ABC News investigated a growing assortment of illicit vaping devices disguised as ordinary everyday objects.
Among the reported disguises were highlighters, backpacks, smartphone cases, and handheld gaming consoles.
Some of these products were apparently designed to make vaping harder for parents and teachers to detect.
As manufacturers of vaping products intended exclusively for adults, we’re not particularly amused by that part.
There’s a difference between clever product design and deliberately disguising a nicotine product as something that belongs in a child’s school supplies.
Still, the sheer absurdity of the disguises is remarkable.
At this rate, we expect someone to introduce a vape disguised as a grandfather clock.
A word from Kai’s: Buy vaping products from reputable manufacturers and retailers, and be especially wary of unbranded devices with questionable origins or suspicious marketing.
Read the ABC News investigation
7. The Handbag from Hell
Some accessories are a little too hot for comfort.
This next story provides a useful reminder that, when it’s Halloween, even your accessories can take on a life of their own.
In October 2026, a woman enjoying an afternoon at a pub in Surrey, England, reportedly experienced a rather alarming surprise when batteries in inexpensive, unbranded vapes ignited inside her handbag.
CCTV footage captured the incident, which fortunately resulted in relatively minor injuries, according to the initial reporting.
While we enjoy a good spooky story, lithium-ion battery fires are no laughing matter.
The incident serves as a reminder that inexpensive, poorly manufactured, or unbranded vaping products can carry risks that aren’t immediately obvious from their appearance.
A word from Kai’s: Purchase devices from reputable manufacturers, follow their charging instructions, and avoid products of uncertain origin. Never use a battery or device that appears damaged, swollen, or unusually hot.
8. Pocket-Sized Pyrotechnics
Or: Why your spare battery shouldn’t live next to your car keys.
In March 2024, a security guard working at a Utah arcade experienced a terrifying incident when a spare e-cigarette battery exploded in his pocket.
Surveillance footage captured the battery shooting across the room like a miniature flare.
Unfortunately, the guard suffered serious burns in the incident.
Unlike our criminal cow and thieving raccoon, this story isn’t particularly funny. But it belongs in our collection because it illustrates an important and entirely preventable hazard.
Loose lithium-ion batteries should never be carried unprotected in a pocket or purse, particularly alongside keys, coins, or other metal objects.
Metal objects can bridge the battery’s terminals, potentially creating a dangerous short circuit.
A word from Kai’s: If your device uses removable batteries, always transport spares in a proper protective battery case. Inspect battery wraps regularly and replace damaged batteries or have them professionally rewrapped where appropriate.
A tiny plastic battery case is considerably less exciting than an exploding pocket.
9. The Tell-Tale Vape Shop
In which police discover that the walls have secrets.
Edgar Allan Poe would have appreciated this one.
In October 2026, police investigating a Connecticut vape shop reportedly discovered illegal merchandise hidden behind a false wall operated by a remote-controlled magnetic mechanism.
A secret compartment. A magnetic release. Merchandise concealed behind the walls.
At what point did ordinary retail operations turn into an escape-room puzzle?
We don’t condone the alleged activity, naturally, but we have to admit that this is the kind of detail that makes a Halloween news roundup practically write itself. This vape shop’s mysterious wall turned the place into something reminiscent of a Batman movie. We gotta hand it to them, that was pretty ingenious!
Read the original report: Police Discover Secret Magnetic Wall Inside Connecticut Vape Shop
10. The Secret Beneath the Floorboards
Because apparently one hidden room wasn’t enough.
Our final story takes us to Stowmarket, England, where authorities discovered a concealed compartment beneath the concrete floor of a vape shop.
Inside were hundreds of packages of illicit tobacco products, reportedly valued at nearly £16,000.
The investigation even involved a tobacco-detection dog.
Imagine being the person who installed an elaborate hiding place beneath a concrete floor, only to have your entire scheme undone by an animal nose for nicotine.
Between the false walls, secret compartments, disguised devices, and criminals dressed as vegetation, the dark and mysterious corners of the vaping world continue to surprise us!
Read the official Suffolk Police report
Until Next Halloween…
Well, there you have it.
Raccoons with sticky fingers. Cows with criminal records. Suspicious shrubbery. Nine people packed into a Hyundai. Cryptocurrency-powered vapes. And enough secret compartments to furnish a respectable haunted mansion.
We can only imagine what the next eight years will bring.
We hope you enjoyed our latest installment of Halloween-themed vape stories. We’re also sending free Halloween candy with all Kai’s orders in the month of October while supplies last!
Happy Halloween from all of us at Kai’s!
And remember…
If you see a bush entering your local vape shop, don’t make eye contact!
Missed the original installment? Revisit the original Vapes on a Plane! for more bizarre dispatches from vaping history.
