By Andrew King
Tis’ the season of ghosts, goblins, turning leaves, jack o’lanterns, and frightening reads! But that’s not all–it wouldn’t be a proper spooky season without candy, sweets, and all sorts of treats. To help you get in the Halloween spirit (get it?), we’ve paired some of our favorite books and candies into a list that’ll satisfy your need to read and your sweet tooth.
M&M’s: Dark Chocolate
Paired With: Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal
This delightfully frightful novel from Ann Dávila Cardinal delves into the mythos of El Cuco, a shadow monster that haunts disobedient children. Dealing with themes of innocence, corruption, and retribution, Dark Chocolate M&M’s are the perfect snack to pair with these pages. The peppy colors and sugary taste has given away to a more bitter (but still delicious) dark chocolate taste.
Candy Corn
Paired With: The Last Harvest by Kim Liggett
The saccharine and slightly synthetic taste of candy corn is the perfect compliment to Kim Liggett’s eerie novel about cultists in cornfields. Are the neighbors keeping secrets? Are they plotting your demise? Do you like candy corn? You’re twelve deep into the bag and still can’t tell. Do they taste good or taste like plastic? Good plastic? Both candy and book will have you questioning your perceptions in the best possible way.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
Paired With: The Burning Shadow by Jennifer L. Armentrout
The vaguely astral shape and gold foil of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is a total aesthetic and thematic match for Jennifer L. Armentrout’s powerful novel about aliens, love, conspiracy, and lost memories. In the book, Evelyn Dasher has a gap in her memory that no one will explain. Just like the chocolate shell hides the peanut butter deliciousness of a Reese’s Cup, Evelyn’s memories have been hidden from her.
Jelly Beans
Paired With: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Kendare Blake’s roaring success of a novel follows professional banisher of spirits, Cas Lowood as he grapples with the particularly dangerous and blood-stained ghost of Anna. When you read Anna Dressed in Blood with a family-size variety box of jelly beans at your disposal, nothing will stop the tide of sanguine flavor.
Sour Patch Kids
Paired With: The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis
Charlotte Nicole Davis’s debut follows a group of runaway “Good Luck Girls.” They’ve had sweetness trained into them by a system that doesn’t care about their needs and their wants. Just like Sour Patch Kids these “sweet” girls have turned sour towards the powerful men who run Arketta, the wandering spirits of the enraged dead, and the psychic bounty hunters that hound their every move.
