5 New Halloween Candies to Steal From Your Kids’ Stash This Year

Halloween is here and there are several new Halloween candies on the market for 2017. Many of your old, familiar brands have re-vamped for the Halloween season. Here are five of the most exciting new Halloween candy offerings that you might find in your (or your kids’) trick or treat bag this year.

1. Butterfinger Skulls

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There’s nothing terribly revolutionary about this latest incarnation of the Butterfinger – it’s essentially the same candy, just in a skull shape. You can’t go wrong with the peanut-buttery, crispy core with a candy coating that we all know and love.

2. Caramel Apple Peeps

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There’s hardly a more divisive topic in our culture these days than Peeps: You either love ‘em or hate ‘em. If you fall firmly in the “love ‘em” category, then grab their newest flavor of marshmallow-y goodness with a crunchy sugar coating. Caramel Apple PEEPS® Delights Apple Flavored Marshmallow chicks dipped in delicious salted caramel fudge. They are an irresistible treat that is fast becoming a favorite fall tradition.

3. Sour Patch Zombie Kids

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For those with extreme taste buds, there is the spooky version of the Sour Patch Kid reinvented as Zombie Kids for the Halloween season. Sour Patch Kids are a soft candy with a coating of invert sugar and sour sugar. Their slogan, “Sour. Sweet. Gone.”, refers to the sour-to-sweet taste of the candy.

4. Reese’s White Chocolate Ghosts

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Reese’s have come out with a version of their perennially popular peanut butter cups that are shaped like ghosts and coated in white chocolate for Halloween. Some might say that a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup with white chocolate is blasphemy, but you can’t dispute the cuteness of this version.

5. Haribo Gummi Sour Vampire Bats

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Haribo has a wide array of animals and characters represented in their gummy candies, so it’s no surprise that Gummi Vampire Bats are the next logical choice for Halloween candy. Featuring the same sweet, gummy consistency that we all know and love, but in a spookier shape, Haribo’s Gummi Vampire Bats will be flying off the shelves this Halloween.

History of Halloween Candy

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According to the History Channel, when the custom of trick-or-treating started in the 1930s and early 1940s, children were given everything from homemade cookies and pieces of cake to fruit, nuts, coins, and toys. In the 1950s, candy manufacturers began to get in on the act and promote their products for Halloween, and as trick-or-treating became more popular, candy was increasingly regarded as an affordable, convenient offering.

It wasn’t until the 1970s, though, that wrapped, factory-made candy was viewed as the only acceptable thing to hand out to all the little ghosts and goblins that showed up on people’s doorsteps. A key reason for this was safety, as parents feared that real-life boogeymen might tamper with goodies that weren’t store-bought and sealed. The National Retail Federation estimates that Halloween spending (which includes costume, candy, and decorations) will hit a record high of $9.1 billion dollars in 2017.