by: -RoG-

...CONTINUED

Creepy Candy Finger With Dipping Powder

I've always liked the concept of dipping candies, and back in the day, I ate way more packages of "Fun Dip" than any kid should have. So when I saw this new "Creepy Candy Finger with Dipping Powder" package, it caught my attention right away and I had to try it out. The zombie green finger with stylish red nail polish (Maybe she died with it... maybe it's Maybelline!) is definitely nice to look at and has a pretty decent green apple flavor on its own. The orange dipping powder, however, is a huuuuuge letdown. This stuff tastes like Clorox. I haven't tasted Clorox before, but I imagine this is pretty close to what it would taste like. So yeah, zombie finger good, dipping powder extremely bad. My suggestion is to buy this for the zombie finger and they buy a pack of Fun Dip and then combine the two for the ultimate Halloween treat. Huzzah!

out of 5 Counts (ah-ah-ah!)

Russell Stover Chocolate Marshmallow Ghost

Now this is one of those things that always annoys me. They make the packaging look all Halloweeny, but once you open it up, it's just your average piece o' candy. A note to all candy companies: if you're going to take the time to change the packaging design, at least make the shape of the actual product something more seasonal as well.

out of 5 maggots

Palmer Double Crisp Pumpkin

Yes sir, I like it. It's basically just like a Nestle Crisp chocolate bar, only in pumpkin form. They added in some white chocolate on top to give the face a bit more color and character. My only complaint is that it's not quite as crispy as a Nestle Crisp bar, which of course, is the best part of the thing. Other than that though, a solid chocolaty Halloween effort here.

out of 5 Mummies

Cherry Liquid Filled Gummy Skulls

I had to try these generic Gummy Skulls from CVS simply because they were filled with cherry-flavored blood. What I didn't expect was to be hit by the virtual wall of of sweetness that smacked me right in the face upon opening the bag. It's a great scent and even more surprising, for a generic bag of Halloween candy, these things are tasty as hell. As soon as you bite into the gummy skulls, the cherry blood shoots out into your mouth and it does not disappoint. So yeah, this is a perfect example of the old adage "don't just a book by its cover" proven to be true. They may look like crappy generic brand candies, but trust me when I say much deliciousness resides within.

out of 5 Mothras

Life Savers Halloween Gummies

Life Savers definitely steps it up for Halloween with their gummy treats. Instead of just redesigning the package to be more festive, they've created not one, but three different sets of molds for you to munch on. Mummies, spiders and spooky shapes can all be found in the individual treat packages. And yes, they're just as tasty as ever, but compared the the Gummy Skulls with cherry blood inside that I just reviewed, these Life Savers just can't compete. Still, a fine treat for anybody, but if you have access to a CVS, I'd check for those gummy skulls first. Or buy both and give the Life Savers to the trick-or-treaters while saving the skulls for yourself. Then everybody wins... sort of.

out of 5 puzzle boxes

Creepy Candy Lollipops

These are the kinds of treats that it pains me to eat. Some real nice craftsmanship went into them and I love the designs of each one, especially since Dracula's fangs almost appear to be coming out of his nose. If those are indeed fangs... they are black after all. Flavor-wise, they're alright, but definitely not good enough where you won't regret eating them instead of using them as part of your Halloween decorations at home. Still, if you're dead set on eating them, I'd recommend trying the vanilla-flavored mummy. Them old bandages are fairly palatable.

out of 5 Creatures from the Black Lagoon

Candy Rings

If you're into candy necklaces, then I'm sure you'll like these Halloween candy eyeball and skull rings, because they're made of the exact same stuff. While not as good as Ring Pops, they're still tasty, and come with a resealable plastic package. As far as the design of the rings go themselves, you can tell that these aren't nice as some of the other ones on the market. So, if one of your primary reasons for buying candy rings is being able to wear nice looking ones, I'd suggest shopping elsewhere, especially since the ring part is also made of candy and can easily break if you try to slip it onto your finger.

out of 5 black widow spiders

Monster Hunt

Now here's something different: an Easter egg hunt for Halloween! I like this a lot. For the longest time, Christmas has been invading Halloween's holiday territory every year - why, just this past week, my local Target was already tearing down half of their Halloween stuff so they could start setting up their Christmas goods. Halloween isn't over and they're already tearing down!? There's just no excuse for that kind of crap.

Well this new Monster Hunt eggs game is a great start for Halloween to invade a different holiday; in this case, Easter. The monster eggs themselves are highly colorful, wide-eyed, buck-toothed and perfect for just about any Halloween party. The skull and pumpkin candies found within are the exact same ones found in those Candy Beakers, so no complaints there, but it would be nice if they had a variety of different candies in each egg. Then again, they're supplying you with the monster eggs, so there's nothing stopping you from putting whatever you want in them.

I should also mention that there's also an "Eyeball Hunt" pack available, and on a recent episode of Doc Mock's Movie Mausoleum we even had Licky go on a hunt for eyeballs on a recent episode of Doc Mock's Movie Mausoleum. Click here to watch the clip of Licky's Eyeball Hunt!

out of 5 leaf piles

Fear Factor
Slimy Gummy Octopus Swimming In Sour Ooze

Good god! This is without a doubt, the nastiest looking Halloween candy product I've ever seen! I'm not even sure it can qualify as candy because merely looking at it makes my stomach turn sour. It's a bag of slime with octopus bits in it. Let me say that again in all caps to make sure that sunk in: A BAG OF SLIME WITH OCTOPUS BITS IN IT!

What's nice is they made the bag resealable... you know, for those of you who somehow can't finish off your BAG OF SLIME in one sitting. These definitely win the award for grossest candy of the year... if not the decade.

I'm scoring this one not on flavor, but for its inherent ability to make just about anybody wince when they see and smell it. Because, let's face it, if a candy can actually scare a person more than your average horror movie, that's an impressive Halloween feat by any standards.

out of 5 Audrey II plants

Revenge Of The Giant Earthworm,
Return of the Giant Tentacle &
Attack of the Giant Centipede
Monster Gummies!

[click here to enlarge]

Look at 'em! LOOK AT THEM! These, my friends, are a thing of absolute beauty! I put a quarter at the bottom of the picture just so you can see the scale of how huge these gummies really are. Flix has truly outdone themselves this time. Don't even try to find a better looking Halloween candy this season, because it's not going to happen. These are easily the most artistic Halloween candies you'll see this year. The giant gummy earthworm could surely be put on a hook & line, tossed in a lake and catch you the legendary fish that all the local fishermen tell tall tales about how it got away. The centipede is so detailed with all of those tiny individual gummy legs to help it crawl right down into your gullet. And the tentacle... oh the tentacle. It's giving me flashbacks to the glory days of "Day of the Tentacle" gaming. I think I'm in love with all three of these. These candies shouldn't be devoured... they should be framed and hung above your mantle for everybody to gape in awe at.

out of 5 jack-o-lanterns

So that does it for our my Ultimate Guide to the Halloween Candies of 2009. There didn't seem to be as many new products on the market this season, but the new stuff that was released did seem to have more variety than usual, so I think that's a fair trade-off. As always, I must remind you that many of the candies I reviewed last year are back in stores again for this season, so be sure to keep an eye out for them as well. If you happen to spot any candies that I haven't covered yet, drop me a line and let me know so I can try to track 'em down before Halloween rolls around next year. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find away to come down from this sugar high before my heart bursts right out of my chest and runs a marathon.

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