This past Monday was Halloween, and I spent way more time than I probably should have this week thinking about candy. 

We live in a small neighborhood. It is, in fact, almost pocket sized. There are lots of good things about living in a small neighborhood, one of the best being that we know many of our neighbors, some of whom we have gotten to know quite well. One of the more hidden benefits of living in a small, very walkable neighborhood is that Halloween is simple. The neighborhood has two roads. We walk down and up and Halloween is done. It is the perfect distance for Justin - long enough to get a bucketful of candy, but short enough that we are done before his ADHD kicks in a he gets completely bored.

The downside of Halloween in a small neighborhood is that there is not a broad spectrum of candy opportunities. This means that the choices made by candy providers become critically important.

Anyone who has been to a grocery store in the last month can tell you that there are a lot of candy choices out there. Displays and even aisles have been full of candy for weeks. There are multipacks of single candies, single packs of multiple candies, and every possible combination of chocolate, nuts, and nougat imaginable. (On a side note, what the actual fuck is nougat? Does anyone really know?). It is all a lot. And so people go into this bewildering forest of choices to decide what to offer the eager trick ‘r’ treaters who will darken their door.

And so many choose poorly.

Here’s the deal (save for future Halloween reference). There are 4 “can’t miss” Halloween candies. These candies are, if you will, the Mount Rushmore of Halloween candy. The top 4 are as follows: