Snickers. Skittles. Kit Kat. Nerds. Halloween’s proven candy favorites aren’t going anywhere, and that’s a good thing. But it’s also nice to sort through your (kid’s) bag at night’s end and find something you’ve never seen before, something strange and potentially life-changing. With that in mind the Weekly went shopping, for stuff we’ve never tried—or even heard of—to see if any deserve a permanent spot in the Halloween candy canon.
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Starburst Candy Corn
Reactions:
“Confusing.”
“Surprisingly delightful!”
“Just tastes like a Starburst with strange texture.”
“Waxy, like I’m eating a flavored candle.”
“Why mess with the original. It’s already so good.”
“A little perfumey. I could smell them from five feet away.”
“Holy crap, I like candy corn now!”
Average score: 2.5 out of 5
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Wonka Randoms
(Endless Gummy Variety)
Reactions:
“A little too cumbersome to chew. I’ll stick with my Kroger-brand, dinosaur-shaped fruit snacks.”
“Nice gummy flavor.”
“The cool shapes are where it’s at—Ray-bans and bicycles? Yes!”
“Too gummy.”
“Turns out gummy bowties and gummy crowns taste just like gummy bears.”
“I just ate a paint brush! And a clock! Finally, randomness gets its day.”
Average score: 2.6 out of 5
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Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins
Reactions:
“Yum, yum, yum. I could eat this all day.”
“I have a problem with an orange, pumpkin-shaped peanut butter cup.”
“Not as good as Reese’s Easter eggs, but I dig it.”
“Looks like cheese, tastes like butter.”
“I’d rather eat a skull than a pumpkin.”
“So peanut buttery. I want a bag all to myself.”
“No actual pumpkin flavor? Boo.”
Average score: 4.2 out of 5
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Trolli Sour Brite Eggs
Reactions:
“Tasty, but candy eggs make me think of Easter, not Halloween.”
“Oddly addicting.”
“Good for passive consumption.”
“The chewiest jelly beans ever.”
“Sneaky delicious (and the sourness varies by color).”
“Like eating a butterfly cocoon in Beijing.”
Average score: 2.6 out of 5
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3 Museteers Muskefears
(Spooky Red Nougat)
Reactions:
“Tastes the same.”
“Love the food coloring. Should be a year-round thing.”
“Pink interior and brown exterior looks like steak.”
“The dullest use of food coloring ever.”
“The name kills me.”
“Makes me think of red velvet cake. Gross.”
“Thank you, Jesus.”
Average score: 2.9 out of 5
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Mike and Ike Shredders
(Soul Wildberry)
Reactions:
“Cardboard hints with medical overtones.”
“Not sour enough.”
“Unpleasant texture.”
“Tastes like a bootleg version of Sour Punch Straws.”
“Good flavor, not too sweet.”
“Kind of like chewing on a grocery-store twist tie.”
Average score: 2.0 out of 5
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Pumpkin Spice Latte M&M's
Reactions:
“A reminder why I don’t buy pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks.”
“I would go to war for these.”
“Not sure why one of the greatest candies ever feels the need to bastardize itself. I’m angry.”
“They kind of taste like weed brownies.”
“Surrender to the P-Spice.”
“Like a kiss in the rain.”
Average score: 2.7 out of 5
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Twizzlers Pull ’n’ Peel
Halloween 2015
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- The Weekly Taste Test: Weird Halloween candy
- Scary cheap: How to score a cool costume for $20
- New scares refresh traditional haunts
- The amazing true story of the best candy bucket in Vegas
- The brief, bittersweet life of a pumpkin
- Khoury's taps the pumpkin this Halloween
- 20 reasons to go to the 20th annual Fetish & Fantasy Halloween Ball
- More big Halloween bashes worth reveling in
(Fruit Punch)
Reactions:
“Good, but it ain’t no Red Vine.”
“These should come with toothpicks.”
“Tastes like plastic, but it’s fun to play with.”
“It’s like gummy string cheese.”
“Since when is fruit punch bitter?”
“What I imagine a unicorn horn tasting like.”
“Like eating Playdough.”
Average score: 1.6 out of 5
