Best and Worse Halloween Candy of the Last 5 Years

In 2009, J.C. Reid (who now handles barbecue coverage for the Houston Chronicle) wrote a memorable post called "Top 5 Creepiest Halloween Candy" in which zit poppers, box of boogers and scab-a-roni were some of the attention-getting highlights.

In referencing the scab-a-roni (do they even make that anymore?), Reid poignantly wrote: "Somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of our minds is the memory of that kid -- that one kid -- in junior high school who would quite un-self-consciously pick at the scab on his elbow and then pop it into his mouth."

Ah nostalgia! And in keeping with the spirit of the season we decided to take a stroll along the dark and haunted version of memory lane, peopled by a certain attraction for grossness and occasional lapses into healthiness. Read on.

Nik-L-Nip sounds like the online alias of a child molester.

In 2010, food writer John Seaborn Gray contributed a post about "Top 5 Worst Halloween Candies," in which he decried the practice of handing out hard butterscotch candies, wax bottles, Tootsie Rolls, candy corn or pumpkins and most of all" peanut butter salt water taffy.

Of special interest is his description of wax bottles:

"These atrocities are made of flavorless wax that you have to gnaw through in order to reach the sickening syrup inside. They taste of chemicals and are simply not worth the effort."

Photo by Wendell Oskay

UGH.

In 2011, our then food critic Katharine Shilcutt (now with Houstonia magazine) wrote about Nik-L-Nip also made her list but others weren't so much gross as just seriously unwanted.

Besides jujubes, she picked out peanut butter bars, anything homemade and Dum Dums:

"Any candy that is given away for free at doctor's offices, bank lobbies and hair salons across the nation is not special, and therefore undeserving of being a Halloween treat. Does anyone really like Dum Dums anyway? Or do they just suck on the bland lollipops they fish out of a dusty bowl on a receptionist's desk just because they're there? It's difficult to imagine someone exclaiming, 'Dum Dums! Awesome! Let me see if they have my favorite flavor, Chloraseptic root beer!'"

http://www.abetterbagofgroceries.com/

Also in 2011 another writer, freelance contributor Minh T. Truong gave us some guidance on the best Halloween candy -- for adults with "Treats Aren't Just For Kids: Top Five Halloween Candy for Adults.

Covering everything from pez to "anything shaped like a penis or boobs" to the completely understandable "chocolate liquor bottles," Truong declared that: "Kids don't have a monopoly over Halloween anymore -- it seems like every year adults are putting the kids to bed earlier so they can enjoy a little fun of their own."