Halloween is rapidly approaching, and if you’re the type who likes to get dressed up and spend the evening indoors handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, you better start preparing now. Supermarket shelves are already stocked with all the giant bags of candy you could need to satisfy the hordes of sugar-drunk kids who ring your doorbell every Halloween, but there’s almost too much variety out there. Do you stick with gummies, or spring for a mix of fruity candy and chocolates so that every kid can choose? It’s a tough call, but an important one. You don’t want to be dubbed the worst house on the block because you’re handing out terrible candy.
To find out what candy is the best to hand out on Halloween night, we went straight to the source — kids, duh — and asked them about their favorite candy to hoard well after October 31, which stuff they won’t even open, and why raisins are unanimously reviled. We also got details on the vibe and kinds of decorations you’re going to need alongside these candies to win “best house on the block” in the hearts of all your young neighbors. Here’s what they said.
The best Halloween candy
Not surprisingly, gummies and chocolate reigned supreme in our survey of the most popular candies, and size definitely matters — these kids want whole bags of candy and full-sized bars.
Zaeem, age 11: “Full-sized Twix or Hershey’s bar.”
Sawyer, age 11: “Sour Patch Kids, because they’re really yummy.”
Penny, age 7: “Candy corn, ’cause they taste really good.”
Joey, age 10: “A king-size Crunch bar is the sign of a great house. The rarest candy is Sugar Babies — I’ve never had one in my whole entire life. Gummy Krabby Patties would also be good.”
Musa, age 5: “Lollipops or Reese’s peanut butter cups.”
Iselle, age 9: “There is a house in our neighborhood that sets up a table with whole bags of a single brand of candy and kids get to pick the one they want, though I watched a kid choose a whole bag of Dots over Smarties last year.”
Theo, age 10: “King-size Hershey’s, king-size anything!”
The worst Halloween hand-outs
“No healthy stuff,” said nine-year-old Iselle, and that’s a popular sentiment in our informal survey. According to these kids, Halloween isn’t the time to bug them about brushing their teeth or eating their veggies. There are also some mixed opinions on the candies themselves — some kids aren’t into sour, others aren’t into chocolate.
Zaeem: “The worst thing to pass out are toothbrushes and raisins.”
Margot, age 7: “In my opinion, Warheads are the worst to give out because they are too sour and most kids don’t like them.”
Sawyer: “100 Grand bars are awful. I got so many of them one Halloween and they tasted awful.”
Kana, age 7: “Zombie Sour Patch Kids because they look weird and taste sour.”
Joey: “Twizzlers or licorice sticks. They suck. No one likes them.”
Miranda, age 11: “NEVER DENTAL FLOSS.”
Elena, age 8: “Fruit, raisins, veggies. No one wants healthy stuff.”
Logan, age 5: “Something out of the garbage.”
Aya, age 7: “Those candies that are hard and I don’t like them and I spit them in the trash.”
Want to be the best house on the block? Drag out those decorations — candy alone isn’t going to cut it.
Musa: “To be the coolest house on the block, you would need spiderwebs, ghosts, LED lights and maybe some Power Ranger or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle balloons.”
Margot: “Glow sticks are the best treat to give out because it’s really dark at night and they’re also fun to make bracelets and necklaces.”
Aya: “A princess house with vampire princesses and tiara ghosts and dress monsters.”
Miranda: “The best houses have good decorations and lots of candy.”
Parker, age 7: “If it’s a pretty decorated house and a lot of people are there, you know it’s going to be good.”
