5 Store-Bought Halloween Snacks To Grab And 5 You Might Want To Avoid

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Fall is officially upon us, and that means that pumpkin spice everything season is (finally!) in full bloom. Gone are the summery Aperol spritzes and cocktails adorned with tiny umbrellas. It is now time to pump up our October vibes with apple picking, caramel-dunking, and steaming hot mugs of cider.

Of course, one of the best ways to get into the fall spirit is by heading to your local supermarket and choosing a few key Halloween snacks to indulge in throughout the month. Luckily, there are tons of options. If you've had the chance to go grocery shopping of late, you've probably already noticed that the aisles are totally decked out in neon orange wrappers decorated with tiny ghouls and spooky spiders. While it might be fun to see these festive products as you wander the snacks section, it is not always easy to know which witch is which — or rather, which package is best.

The good news is that we have done a deep dive into several of the most popular Halloween snacks on the market to determine which products you should bag and which ones are better to leave alone. From the scrumptious seasonal Oreos to the more questionable Harvest pumpkin spice pretzels, it's fair to say that not all themed treats are equally delicious.

While Halloween Oreos are here to bring a taste of autumn into your home, there is another type of cookie that won't necessarily have that same impact. The sugar cookies by Favorite Day Bakery may seem like the sort of thing that will get you in the mood for fall. They're certainly cute, but when you actually put them in your mouth, their flavor is reportedly seriously lacking.

In fact, despite the fact that each of the hand-decorated cookies comes in an adorable shape — either a ghost, a bat, a pumpkin, or a Frankenstein's monster — they have deplorable reviews. Target reports that just 36% of shoppers would recommend these cookies to a friend. What's worse, a whopping 28% of customers gave this Halloween snack just one star. As one Target patron shared in their review, "These look super cute, and I love that it's individually wrapped so it goes well in a boo basket." However, they went on to warn, "Don't buy [this product] for the taste." The issue? According to the reviewer, "They taste like pure sugar."

To make matters even more disappointing, customers complained quite a bit about the price. One package of just eight cookies sells for a hefty $14.99 — not exactly cheap! Given this exorbitant cost, shoppers were particularly frustrated, with another summarizing by saying, "These cookies were adorable but overpriced!"

When it comes to enjoying fall to the fullest, pumpkin might just be the most vital ingredient. That being said, any good Halloween snack needs more than just a scoop of pumpkin to make it taste great. On top of being festive, the best October treats must be fresh, balanced, and soft on the spice. Unfortunately, however, Walmart's Pumpkin Cake Roll seems to fail on all three of these essential levels.

According to the data shared by Walmart, about 44% of customers gave this cake a disappointing single star. Reviewers described its flavor as too potent — and too old. One shopper wrote, "I feel it should be fresher than this." They then went on to clarify that the problem had nothing to do with the product's expiration date, adding, "Today is the 25th and this item has a 'best if used by' date of the 27th."

Other customers balked at the excessive amount of spice that had been added to the pumpkin cake's recipe. As one Walmart patron relayed, "Heavy, overwhelming taste of clove. It's a bit much. I love pumpkin rolls but I won't be purchasing another one from here." Another shopper tried to imagine why the recipe was so overpowering, "I think someone dumped the whole container of cloves in this batch; even the icing wasn't a save for the overwhelming spice mixture in the cake. My whole family hated it."

While some Halloween snacks will provide you with a delicious treat, others practically scream "TRICK!" Such is certainly the case for Harvest Caramel Apple Caramel Corn. At first glance, this product might seem like it has all the components of a great fall snack — caramel, apples, and popcorn. However, once you actually get ready to chow down, it seems that this snack falls majorly short. As one dissatisfied Target customer revealed in a product review, "This sounded so much better than it tasted." Another echoed this sentiment, "Tasted like chemicals. Wanted to like it but was awful. Ended up throwing it away."

Sadly, it appears that this negative caramel corn experience was fairly common among customers. Just 34% of Target shoppers said that they would recommend this product to their family or friends. And, a whopping 26% of patrons gave the product one star — although at least one customer said that they wished they could give it an even lower grade. The disappointed shopper shared, "This is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! ...I'd rate it 10 NEGATIVE STARS if I could!!!" The reason for this horrible rating was also because of a "chemical" taste that bothered the reviewer. They also mentioned the snack's smell, which was said to be less than appetizing.

When fall is finally in the air, it can be tempting to pair a nice hot coffee with a plate of chocolate cookies and just enjoy the flavors. However, if and when you go to do this, it is best that you sip your drink with something other than Halloween Joe Joe's Cookies. Found at Trader Joe's, these vanilla bean and chocolate cookies might seem like the perfect way to sink into October, but reviews of this product are extremely hit-or-miss. And when they miss, boy do they miss!

As one cookie aficionado shared in a Halloween Joe Joe's review thread on Reddit, there was something majorly off about the snack's texture. They mentioned, "I must have gotten a bad batch, because the cream in these is almost...waxy. I have a cookie sitting next to me that I'm not even going to eat, because they taste terrible. And that is unheard of!" Unfortunately, though, this shopper was not the only person who struggled to enjoy this Halloween snack. Another Trader Joe's patron confessed that even though their boyfriend loved these treats, they themselves just couldn't get behind them. They wrote that the cookies have a "chocolate chalk" flavor that does not mix well with the "cream filling." Ultimately, the reviewer's conclusion was, "I prefer the other pumpkin ones that look like blonde Oreos."

We love pumpkin spice products as much as anyone else, but Harvest's Pumpkin Spice Mini Pretzel Twists just don't seem to be the answer to our fall cravings. Thanks to its orange and white frosted exterior, this product might look like the perfect Halloween snack. However, when you actually go to pop one of these pretzels into your mouth, you might find that the flavor is not quite what you expected it to be.

As revealed by Target, this seasonal treat got a measly 3.8-star rating from customers. To make matters worse, nearly 1 out of every 3 shoppers gave this product either one or two stars. Reflecting on their disappointment, one customer explained, "Unfortunately I didn't taste any pumpkin flavor. They just tasted like white chocolate covered pretzels." The same reviewer added, "If you like that, then they're tasty. But I was disappointed with the lack of pumpkin spice."

In confirmation, another shopper agreed that the pretzels lack any sort of pumpkin spice flavoring — and went on to say that this snack tasted like something way less appetizing. The anonymous reviewer wrote, "At first they taste like dog biscuits." They then went on to claim that the aftertaste is "very sweet." If it's Halloween cookies you're after, maybe it's best to pass on these.