Which candies are coveted and which are the first things we traded away
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The 20 Best and Worst Things We Ever Got When Trick-or-Treating
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Trick-or-treating is basically a national sport for children all across America. Every Halloween, girls and boys around the country run around their neighborhoods dressed as spooky skeletons and creepy cats in order to try to get as much candy as possible in the allotted two or three hours. But let’s be real for a second: Not all Halloween candy is created equal... Here are the best and worst things to get in your candy bucket.
Best: 100 Grand Bars
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The 100 Grand Bar is an underrated candy bar. With a perfectly stretchy caramel center and a crisp rice and chocolate coating, this chocolate bar typically only pops up with frequency around Halloween, making it a special treat.
Worst: Apples
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Apples are nature’s best fall fruit, but that doesn’t mean we wanted them while trick-or-treating. Apples are healthy (eww!) and heavy, making them less than ideal for lugging around your neighborhood. Plus, they’re the perfect thing for a nefarious person to slip a razor blade in!
Best: Anything Reese’s
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Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are the most popular Halloween candy, and it’s no wonder why. Regardless of whether we got the classic cup, a shaped Reese’s, or Reese’s Pieces, this peanut butter and chocolate confection is pure perfection.
Worst: Bit-O-Honey
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This classic candy should have stayed in the old times. Simultaneously super chewy and hard to bite into, this salty, honey-flavored food is an epic fail.
Best: Caramel Apple Lollipops
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Seasonal treats are always a win, and caramel apple lollipops are at the top of the Halloween candy list. A little sour, a little sweet, and a little fruity, this candy has everything.
Worst: Granola Bars
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Granola bars are a fine after-school snack, but they are not an indulgent treat and never have been. Those chocolate chips don’t make this candy.
Best: Flavored Tootsie Rolls
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The flavored Tootsie Rolls only seemed to pop up in bulk bags around Halloween, making them another elusive delight. Whether you favored the vanilla ones, orange, or lime, these are the perfect sweet bite.
Worst: Tootsie Rolls
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We don’t intend to hate on the classic Tootsie Roll — it can be a wonderful chocolate treat! There’s just nothing special about it. Plus, these come free from their small wrappers a little too easily, turning into a sticky, dirty mess at the bottom of your pillowcase.
Best: Full-Size Candy Bars, Boxes, and Bags
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Do we need to explain any further? Full size candy bars, boxes of movie theatre candies, and bags of gummy bears or Sour Patch Kids are the Halloween Holy Grail.
Worst: Loose Change
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We welcomed dollar bills. But loose change is weird, heavy, and pretty useless. What can a dime even buy anyway?
Best: Gummies
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Friendly gummy bears, spooky gummy worms, those weird but delightful gummy-shaped hamburgers with lettuce and tomato? Yes, yes, and yes!
Worst: Fruit Snacks
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This “healthy” snack alternative isn’t even good for you. And they’re a normal, boring snack like the granola bar. These are not meant for trick-or-treating.
Best: Nerds Ropes
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Meanwhile, the Nerds Rope has no pretense of being a healthy snack. It’s a fruity, tart sugar bomb and it’s awesome. Plus, it’s extra-large, making it a wonderful double whammy.
What even is a Necco Wafer? These chalky candies claim to have eight different flavors, but the only flavor we ever tasted was bleh.
Best: Skittles
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The Skittle is an iconic candy, and there’s good reason for it. The balance of flavors is perfection. Whether you’re a lemon gal or a grape guy, you’ve got a Skittle.
Worst: Raisins
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We don’t know how many times we need to say it. No fruit or “healthy snacks” were welcome in our trick-or-treat bags. Raisins are both — and very, very lame.
Best: Snickers
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We’ll even take the super tiny Snickers bars. They still have that perfect balance of chocolate, peanut, caramel, and nougat, after all.
Worst: Religious Pamphlets
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Not everyone celebrates Halloween, and that is OK! But instead of turning off their porch lights, some people felt compelled to scare kids with stories of hell for the holiday. Not cool.
Best: Twix
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It’s all in this mix. A delicious wafer candy, caramel, and a perfectly sweet, milk chocolate coating. With a snap and a deliciousness that’s unmatched, Twix were always one of the first candies we gobbled up.
Worst: Toothbrushes
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We get it: Candy causes cavities. Just let us have fun for one night, please. (Plus, who doesn’t already have a toothbrush?)