Scary and Spooky Cereals

Behold, three seasonal and spooky cereals. These are possibly guaranteed to start your day right by making it spooky and creepy and all kinds of awesome.

Count Chocula

This might sound a little bit odd but to tell the truth, I don't recall ever having Count Chocula until I poured out a bowl for this review. I know that may sound sacrilegious to some of you but that's the truth. I'm not going to go into what it tastes like as if you've had it before, you know what it tastes like and if you haven't, imagine chocolate flavored rice cereal with marshmallows in it. Sorry to spoil it for you. However, the one thing I do want to talk about is that box! Just look at it! The crazy font, the cartoonish representation of the Count himself that looks like he could be a character in the next Hotel Transylvania movie, not to mention he'd doing the old Rob Van Dam thumbs pose (that's for all you wrestling fans out there), like he's simply saying "Buy me! Not those others!". 

Chocolate Frosted Flakes with Marshmallows

I've had chocolate Frosted Flakes before, so I knew kind of what to expect with these. However, adding the marshmallow component took this to a whole new level! Frosted Flakes are what they are but the marshmallow bits added a nice component, being slightly resistant to the bite. They also double as parts of a skeleton which you can put together if you feel inclined to do so. The packaging is pretty cool too, with Tony the Tiger presenting a nice big bowl of these in what looks like some sort of dog bowl. That, or it's a hollowed out green jack-o-lantern. Aside from that, the package is pretty basic but I will definitely recommend these.

Pumpkin Spice Cheerios

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with these. If I'm going to have Cheerios, then it must be of the Honey Nut variety as I don't like regular Cheerios. Also, would these be an explosion of pumpkin flavor in every spoonful? Or would it just barely be there. The answer is that the pumpkin flavor is somewhere is the middle. It's not overly powerful but it's just enough to let you know it's there. As for the box design, it's pretty plain. Just a simple bowl of Cheerios with a spoon and a pumpkin on a wooden background. I can't say I'd recommend these but if you happen to find them for cheap, then it might be worth a try.

Crazy Halloween Junk Food

I'll have to admit, September has pretty much been a blur. Between work kicking my butt and being busy nearly every weekend, I had precious little time to write. Fear not though, since it's now officially fall it's really time to embrace the season ... and by embrace the season I mean gorge myself on Halloween junk food. These items have no relationship to each other whatsoever other than the fact that I couldn't get enough out of them for a full fledged article.

Hostess Scary Cakes

Yes! These are back for another year. Sure, they're just the basic Hostess cupcake any other time of the year, but not in the fall. In the fall, they are "Scary Cakes" with S'cream filling. If these aren't a sign that the Halloween season is in full force then I don't know what is. The box design this year is great with a spooky design that just grabs you. The icing on the cupcake has that standard Hostess squiggle design but the frosting is orange! Name another time of year you'll find a cupcake with orange icing! Now, if you've had a Hostess cupcake before, you know what this tastes like, however I think it has just a little bit better flavor and taste because it has a Halloween style. Put some of these out along with a cold glass of cider for the Great Pumpkin when he comes and your Halloween will be that much better.

Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies

I've always looked at Pepperidge Farm stuff from afar, it being more expensive than your normal Chips Ahoy or Oreo cookie pack. I've gotten a few of their products before and haven't been too terribly impressed which is mostly the reason I stray away from them (the other being cost). These were one of the first "fall" products I saw in the stores, so I grabbed it. The package design is very bright as has a design of falling leaves on the top. Opening these, I couldn't discern any particular smell so I just hoped they wouldn't be horrible. Well, they weren't horrible, but they weren't great either. The chunks you see picture in the cookie on the package are cheesecake flavored chunks. The cookie itself had a slight sort of gingerbread-y flavor to it. I can't say I can recommend these but you could do a whole lot worse.

Count Chocula Cereal Bars

Speaking of doing a whole lot worse, I found these on a display at the grocery store lumped in with all the Halloween cereals (side note: review of the cereals coming soon) and though they looked interesting. The box has a very cartoonish  vibe to it, probably to appeal to kids or fans of the Count Chocula cereal. I had the cereal itself before I had this so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Well, everything I expected went right out the window when I bit into it. It's got a very processed and marshmallow heavy taste and has the consistency of cardboard. The chocolate looks and tastes incredibly fake and it's very heavy on the artificial sweetener. I tried to offer part of the bar to my 3-year old son and he promptly screamed and ran away. Even if kids are running from this, that should tell you something.

Hi-C Ecto Cooler

This was all the rage back in the summertime when the new Ghostbusters movie came out in July. People were looking high and low and grocery retailers big and small just so they could get a nostalgic taste of their childhood. I didn't find any in my area until mid-August, just before the movie left theaters. That didn't stop me though, I grabbed a bunch of the 10-box packs. It tastes just like I remember it, very citrusy with orange and tangerine. You better believe that when I found more of these at the store, I loaded up. There's no telling if this is back for good or if stores are just going through what stock they have left. One thing is for sure though, this is the perfect drink to have on a fall night when you're staying up late to watch a Pumpkinhead marathon.