The Grinch

Name: The Grinch Dr. Seuss
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: For some reason, The Grinch is super popular this year. I don't know what it is, but I'll take any excuse to try a new cereal. Though it's vanilla, so I don't know how well I'll like it. But at least it has marshmallows! They're cute, too - little pink hearts. It all comes in a pretty green box that is very Christmas-y. Incidentally, I was just listening to a new Christmas song by rock band The Pretty Reckless, featuring Taylor Momsen who played Cindy Lou Who in the Grinch movie (25 years ago!).

I like the green puffs - they're very Grinchy. But the flavor is kind of off-putting. I taste more corn than vanilla. Looking at the nutrition facts, the sugar content is expectedly on the low side. Usually, General Mills nails their tie-ins; this tastes more like a Kellogg's promotional cereal. Did somebody turn the breakfast table upside-down? Or has the Grinch stolen all the flavor? I mean, it wouldn't be uncharacteristic of him. But of cereals based on characters likely to prank the public, I much prefer Wednesday's cereal from last year.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Corn milk. Yum.

Honey Bunches of Oats - Sugar Cookie

Name: Honey Bunches of Oats - Sugar Cookie
Variation: Honey Bunches of Oats
Manufacturer: Post

Review: After a short break, we're heading into the holiday rush now, starting with this exciting new flavor of Honey Bunches of Oats! Opening the box, it smells strongly of sugar cookies. But it's not as colorful as the box would suggest - these "festive" red and green sprinkles are barely noticeable. The flavor is good, though. The texture is a lot different from a soft, doughy cookie (that's one thing The Elf on the Shelf got right), but the taste is on point. I might even like it better than Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch! In any case, it's a delightful treat for the holidays.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Did somebody order a sugar cookie milkshake?

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Mexican Style Hot Chocolate

Name: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Mexican Style Hot Chocolate
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Cinnamon Toast Crunch shows off their south-of-the-border flare once again with an intriguing new flavor for the holidays. (Although it makes for an obnoxiously long title). I had to look up what constitutes "Mexican style" hot chocolate - there's a little more to it than just adding cinnamon. I'm interested to find out how this cereal compares to regular Chocolate Toast Crunch (which has been, inexplicably, discontinued recently).

First off, the toasties are very dark - suggesting a darker chocolate than usual. I know dark chocolate isn't to everyone's taste, but I'm a fan. Honestly, the best hot cocoa I've ever had has been dark chocolate. There's definitely something more going on here beyond just chocolate and cinnamon, though. It's actually a little bit spicy. Like CinnaFuego Toast Crunch, but (mercifully) dialed down to just a slight tingle on your tongue. The first bowl was a little bit strange, then it began to grow on me. But after eating it for days on end, I think it's beginning to irritate my throat. If nothing else, this has definitely been the most unique hot cocoa cereal I've ever tried.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Like a frozen Mexican style hot chocolate!

Halloween Oreo Puffs

Name: Halloween Oreo Puffs
Variation: Oreo Puffs
Manufacturer: Post

Review: When I spotted this cereal in the store - a box of Oreo Puffs with a vivid orange banner across the top - I actually thought it was Oreo Reese's Puffs, an experiment I had just tried on my own! Although I don't know how that would work, because Reese's Puffs is manufactured by General Mills, and Oreo Puffs is handled by Post - but the fact that both products are owned by different companies didn't stop them from combining them for a special promotion recently.

Anyway, it hasn't even been a year since Post debuted the new puffs format of their Oreo O's cereal, and it's already got a Halloween edition! It's a welcome companion to Halloween Fruity Pebbles in Post's autumn holiday lineup. I like it perfectly well, but since cookies and cream isn't my favorite flavor, I can't promise that I'll be buying it every year. And I do appreciate Halloween cereals that are a little more creative than just turning the milk "spooky" orange. Even Halloween Crunch has ghost berries...

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: More colorful than flavorful.

Chocolate Strawberry LOADED

Name: Chocolate Strawberry LOADED
Variation: LOADED
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I was excited to see that General Mills is continuing to expand their LOADED lineup this year. Previously, the only flavor not tied to an existing brand (Cocoa Puffs, Trix, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch) was Birthday Cake LOADED. Now, I introduce to you Chocolate Strawberry LOADED - and just in time for Valentine's Day!

The great thing about this cereal is that it's the first LOADED cereal to use chocolate (creme) filling instead of vanilla. How exciting is that? The color of the cereal is vividly red, and it smells of strawberry. It could have a more vibrant flavor, but I think what sells these LOADED cereals is the satisfying mouthfeel. They soften up in milk, without tasting soggy, and are a lot of fun to eat. Kellogg's Krave might very well have a new competitor!

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Vividly pink but faintly flavored.

Frosted Bunches

Name: Honey Bunches of Oats - Frosted Bunches
Variation: Honey Bunches of Oats
Manufacturer: Post

Review: I spotted this cereal last year, but passed it over since I had no experience eating Honey Bunches of Oats. But now that I've started familiarizing myself with the lineup, I'm happy I was able to have another chance to give it a try. Given the presence of corn flakes in this cereal regularly, using frosted flakes instead is a great idea. From the first bite, the added sweetness is a welcome presence. It's still dense, and no competition for most of the cereals I like to eat, but it may just prove in the end to be one of the few versions of this cereal I can tolerate.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Sweet, and flecked with oats.

WinterFest Fruity Pebbles with Marshmallows!

Name: WinterFest Fruity Pebbles with Marshmallows!
Variation: Fruity Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

Review: Just when I thought I was done with the holiday line of Fruity Pebbles cereals, Post has figured out the trick to get me to buy their WinterFest Fruity Pebbles again - they added marshmallows! It's basically Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles, just limited to the Christmas colors of red and green. Which is to say, not as pretty. In fact, the green is very dull - somewhat Grinch-like. I like that the marshmallows are simple, white, and round - they could be snowballs, and remind me of the marshmallows in Hot Cocoa Puffs. I'll begrudgingly give this cereal a two bowl rating, but I'm still waiting for Cocoa Pebbles to get the holiday treatment. Hot Cocoa Pebbles, anyone?

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Fruity, but looks an unappetizing dirty yellow.

Monster Combos

Three years ago, the appearance of Monster Mash cereal inspired me to combine my own mix of the Monster Cereals together for a frightful concoction. The result was disappointing; there was just too much going on in the bowl. So I'd been thinking of trying out different combinations of these cereals, two at a time. And with last year's introduction of Carmella Creeper to the lineup - a caramel apple cereal - the possibilities show even more promise. Step into my kitchen laboratory, and we'll try some experiments!

Chocolate/Caramel Apple

I thought this sounded like a good combination - chocolate and caramel go well together, and it's in a similar vein to the classic fall treat, the candy apple. And it does taste good. Honestly, I think the chocolate draws out the caramel flavor better. I'm surprised General Mills hasn't done something like this yet, although Carmella Creeper is still pretty new. Maybe it'll be next year's version of Monster Mash. I'd like that.

Strawberry/Blueberry

Mixing the two berry cereals together seemed like a no-brainer, although their similarity means the combination lacks distinction. And though, as expected, the flavors complement each other well, it's not as fruity as I would have thought. It tastes mostly of corn. Even the milk is surprisingly plain. Once again, it's the marshmallows alone that carry this cereal.

Caramel Apple/Strawberry

Visually, the green balances out that vibrant pink, and the marshmallows kind of fade into the background. When I eat Carmella Creeper alone, the flavors don't really stand out, but pairing it with something else seems to make the caramel pop. This is like plain Carmella Creeper, but with a slightly fruitier balance. I'd say it's an improvement over either cereal alone.

Caramel Apple/Blueberry

As far as I can tell, this is the combination they use for Monster Mash Remix - although they probably use a different mix of marshmallows, and who can be sure what flavors they might add without telegraphing it with the proper dyes? On that note, the colors complement each other well - bright green contrasted with dark purple. And the flavors do, too - better than you might think, pouring caramel over blueberries. This is pretty similar to caramel apple/strawberry, but I think Boo Berry has a slightly better flavor than Franken Berry, so this is a little bit better. It's not a bad choice for a Monster Mash; although I would still prefer chocolate/caramel apple.

Strawberry/Chocolate

Chocolate-covered strawberries, anyone? The brown and pink make a nice contrast. I feel like the fruity flavor is more front-and-center, but there's a nice chocolate undercurrent. It's not a bad combination - it certainly makes Franken Berry more palatable. I don't think I like it as much as chocolate/caramel apple, though. Every once in awhile, I get a bite that seems to clash, but I'm not sure why.

Blueberry/Chocolate

Although conceptually very similar to strawberry/chocolate, I think blueberries and chocolate is a somewhat less common combination. But still good. The purple Boo Berry pieces are so dark, you can hardly distinguish them from the brown Count Chocula pieces. It's a shame it doesn't make as good a visual impression (looks do matter), because I think it tastes better than the mix with Franken Berry. Which was to be expected.

Caramel Apple/Berry

I did this with Count Chocula way back when, so I thought it would only be fair to give Carmella Creeper a chance. And it's not bad. I used two parts caramel apple (1 cup) to each part strawberry and blueberry (half cup each) for a proper balance of flavors. It's really not that much different from using Franken Berry or Boo Berry alone. And the mix of colors looks much more lively. I have no idea why they don't use this as their Monster Mash; I think it's just as good.

Berry/Chocolate

Although I did this once before, with all the other combinations I was mixing together, I figured I could stand to give it a second chance. And this time, like with my caramel apple/berry concoction, I mixed the chocolate 2:1 with the strawberry and blueberry, so it's equal parts chocolate and fruity. The blending of the Count Chocula and Boo Berry pieces does dull the visual impression a little - on the other hand, it has more of a gradient look. I taste the chocolate more than the fruitiness. That said, the fruitiness kind of clashes with the chocolate for some reason. I honestly can't say why this combination doesn't work better, but the success of Monster Mash clearly relies on the presence of newcomer Carmella Creeper.

Monster Medley

I'm calling this "Monster Medley" because Monster Mash was already taken. You know I had to do it. But yeah, there's a lot going on in this cereal. The flavors aren't bad, but it doesn't really coalesce into a single flavor experience. Even if you take the time to mix it up evenly, you're bound to get a different concentration of pieces in every spoonful. It looks interesting, though - with all those colors. And now, I'm kinda sick of the Monster Cereals. I don't think I wanna eat them again for a whole year... :-p

Boo Berry

Notice: The year I started this blog, General Mills came out with Monster Mash. The following year, they brought back Frute Brute. And last year they introduced Carmella Creeper. I originally didn't review Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry because I considered them the regular cereals, and the others the limited edition novelties. But I've been waiting for a "fallow year" with a lighter load on Halloween so I could properly review the classics. And now that time has come!

Name: Boo Berry
Variation: Monster Cereals
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I know a lot of people who love Boo Berry, so I might break a few hearts with this review. Honestly, it's not a bad cereal. It's more purple than blue, but I like the low-key trans-friendly marshmallow colors. If I have to eat a bowl or two, it's perfectly fine. I just get bored with it quickly. Other than being blueberry instead of strawberry (a less common flavor for cereals), it's really no different than Franken Berry. And I'd rather eat Frute Brute. I don't know why Fruity Yummy Mummy is such a dark horse, because this lineup could really benefit from a citrus counterpoint to all these berry cereals.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Blue, berry, and marshmallow-flavored.

Franken Berry

Notice: The year I started this blog, General Mills came out with Monster Mash. The following year, they brought back Frute Brute. And last year they introduced Carmella Creeper. I originally didn't review Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry because I considered them the regular cereals, and the others the limited edition novelties. But I've been waiting for a "fallow year" with a lighter load on Halloween so I could properly review the classics. And now that time has come!

Name: Franken Berry
Variation: Monster Cereals
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: This is actually my least favorite of the Monster Cereals, even though it's basically the flagship variety (or was that Count Chocula?). It's a bright, shocking pink, and it smells good, but after so many bites, it kinda starts tasting plain. If not for the marshmallows, it'd be incredibly dull. Don't get me wrong, it's edible, but there's not much here to inspire a craving. You've heard me say this before, but I think they should use Frute Brute's new formula, and re-name it Franken Cherry. Strawberry's a good flavor, but it's overdone.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Tastes of strawberry, to its credit.

Count Chocula

Notice: The year I started this blog, General Mills came out with Monster Mash. The following year, they brought back Frute Brute. And last year they introduced Carmella Creeper. I originally didn't review Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry because I considered them the regular cereals, and the others the limited edition novelties. But I've been waiting for a "fallow year" with a lighter load on Halloween so I could properly review the classics. And now that time has come!

Name: Count Chocula
Variation: Monster Cereals
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Count Chocula is easily my favorite Monster Cereal. I mean, come on. It's chocolate, and it has marshmallows. A combination like that can't fail. There's really nothing more to say about it. I could take or leave the fruity Monsters (although I was pleasantly surprised by Frute Brute), and Carmella Creeper was an enjoyable novelty, but Count Chocula is the only cereal in the lineup I've made a habit of buying, and the only one I've over-enthusiastically indulged before, by buying what was probably too many boxes for one person to eat in a single spooky season...

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Satisfyingly chocolatey!

[Flashback] Reese's Puffs Hearts

Notice: Flashback reviews have been written from memory, without having the cereal in front of me. I started taking pictures of notable cereal varieties several years before I decided to start a blog reviewing them. As such, details beyond whether I simply liked the cereal or not may be hazy, especially regarding the quality of the leftover milk. Whenever possible, I have made an effort to procure another box of the cereal for a proper review (even the ones I didn't like), but due to the ephemeral nature of many of these novelty cereals, this is not always possible.

Name: Reese's Puffs Hearts
Variation: Reese's Puffs
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: When I started this blog almost two and a half years ago, there were three seasonal varieties of Reese's Puffs I'd had previously, that I was hoping to find again. Thankfully, Bunnies and Bats have proven to be somewhat resilient. But this is the third year in a row that I've looked high and low for the Valentine's Day version of Reese's Puffs (last spotted in early 2019), in vain. Which is why I'm finally resorting to writing a flashback review. It's not a difficult task, however - just a disappointing one. Like the other holiday specials, this is just Reese's Puffs with a slightly different shape. And like every purely cosmetic variation of Reese's Puffs I've had so far, I love it! Could there be a more perfect pair than chocolate and peanut butter?

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣

[Experiment] Strawberry Cocoa Pebbles

Description: New, and in time for Valentine's Day - it's... Strawberry Cocoa Pebbles! Except, not really. But I'm surprised I haven't seen this yet. Mixing Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles is such a simple idea. And I had the perfect opportunity to try it with this winter's WinterFest Fruity Pebbles; I separated out the red pebbles, and added them to a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles. It's not bad. And it looks great. I think it could maybe have a little more strawberry flavor (I've actually never thought about what flavor Fruity Pebbles are, or if the different colors are even the same flavor), but I'm sure that's something Post could tweak if they ever tried making this. I would buy it and try it if they did!

Rating: 🥣🥣

Apple Pie Toast Crunch

Name: Apple Pie Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Technically, I've already reviewed this cereal, but I feel like the individual components were overshadowed in the Caramel Apple Toast Crunch experiment, and I've been meaning to give these two cereals their own spotlight (stay tuned for the other one).

Taken alone, Apple Pie Toast Crunch is very sweet and apple-y; it's reminiscent of pie filling and not just mashed apples, which is pretty cool. The sweet, fruity flavor dulls a little bit as you progress through the bowl and your tongue acclimates to it, but it's a fun holiday cereal that I enjoy. If you have some Dulce de Leche Toast Crunch to add to it, all the better! My rating of two bowls from before shall stand.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: If your tongue isn't completely desensitized by the end of the bowl, it's sweetened with apple and cinnamon.

WinterFest Fruity Pebbles

Name: WinterFest Fruity Pebbles
Variation: Fruity Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

Review: This year, Post is offering a winter holiday version of its popular Fruity Pebbles cereal, which is functionally very similar to Halloween Fruity Pebbles, in that it's a cosmetic variation (red and green for Christmas) with the "same fruity taste!" you love (or so one would assume). That also means there are no surprises in store for you. Me? I'm still waiting for Cocoa Pebbles to get the holiday treatment. Any holiday. (How about... red strawberry pebbles mixed in with the usual cocoa, for Valentine's Day? Give me a call, Post).

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Fruity.

Gingerbread Toast Crunch

Name: Gingerbread Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I'm not crazy about gingerbread, but I was excited when I saw this new holiday edition of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, because it's a clever idea, and on point for the brand (what's a holiday version of bread? Gingerbread!). Visually, it looks like regular CTC. Digging my spoon into it, I'm reminded of CinnaGraham Toast Crunch; my predominant impression being that this is CTC, but blander.

There is an unmistakable gingerbread flavor, which is pretty neat. But I'm not in love with it. Maybe it needs some frosting. As far as holiday versions of Cinnamon Toast Crunch go, I think I'll stick with Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch, or Apple Pie Toast Crunch. Or even Cinnamon Toast Crunch Rolls. There are a lot of options, and this isn't going to become one of my favorites. But it was a fun idea, at least.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Gingerbread-y.

Halloween Re-Skins

If I'm being honest, I can have a completionist collector's mentality at times, but I'm going to have to draw the line at buying a cereal just because they redesigned the box (which can happen as often as yearly for seasonal regulars). But I'm seeing lots of substantial "re-skins" this year of Halloween-themed cereals I've already reviewed, and I wanted to shine a spotlight on them.

Starting with Halloween Fruity Pebbles. It's a subtle difference, but Bamm-Bamm now appears on the front with Pebbles, while Fred Flintstone has been pushed to the back of the box.

Kellogg's "Spooky Marshmallows" trio has received a complete makeover this year, with eyecatching "specimen-in-a-jar" designs for Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, and Chocolate Frosted Flakes.

Shocking Orange Rice Krispies adopts the same motif, despite not adding marshmallows (or anything, really, to make the cereal worth eating), effectively becoming the uninvited fourth wheel to the Spooky Marshmallows trio's proverbial tricycle.

Note the Cap'n's creepy new CGI look for this year (inching ever closer to that precipice overlooking the uncanny valley). As a piece of fun trivia, Halloween Crunch was the first cereal I ever reviewed for this blog!

And looky here - Reese's Puffs Bats gets yet another new design. I've also noticed that it's getting a more prominent display at Walmart, after being unceremoniously tucked away in the Halloween costume aisle last year.

If you stop over at Sam's Club, you can even find it in a double pack, paired with this year's new Kit Kat cereal. Don't give me any funny trick 'r treat ideas, General Mills!

Also spotted at Sam's Club is Zombie Apple Jacks - boasting a green apple flavor, and a formula that turns your milk green. If it weren't being sold in double packs, I would have bought it, but I'm pretty confident this is just Kellogg's repurposing Apple Jacks Nickelodeon Slime from last year.

On the subject of zombies, I was also excited to see Monsters Cereal's new flavor Carmella Creeper (and to a lesser extent, Monster Mash Remix), as well as Lucky Charms branching out into the autumn market with Haunted Marshmallows. But as these are brand new cereals, they've earned themselves each a separate post and review (along with late-comer It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown).

Go check them out - and pick up a few boxes before they turn up missing (if it's not already too late). But most importantly of all, have a Happy Halloween!

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Name: It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: This is a pretty neat idea for a cereal (in the same spirit of nostalgic holiday family films as General Mills' Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer from last Christmas), but honestly, I was a little bit exasperated when I spotted it on the shelves after the 1st of October (who waits until October to stock their Halloween products anymore?), as I had already had all my review slots filled up through Halloween - including two cereals (Reese's Puffs Bats and Halloween Fruity Pebbles) I couldn't squeeze in last year. (Don't worry, I eventually got the scheduling figured out).

I considered writing an angry letter to Kellogg's, when I realized it was really General Mills I should be writing the angry letter to. This is the only brand new Halloween cereal from Kellogg's I've seen this year; by contrast, General Mills not only introduced a new Monster cereal, plus a remixed version of Monster Mash, but - as if that weren't already more than enough - they also debuted a Halloween version of Lucky Charms. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, you know...

Anyway, it's a curious choice to make this a vanilla cereal (as opposed to, say, pumpkin spice?), but I really like the green and orange motif - it perfectly evokes the aesthetic of a pumpkin patch. I almost didn't notice it at first, but there are marshmallows present - little pumpkins hidden like camouflage among the orange puffs. And these puffs have that same pleasantly soft mouthfeel that I recognize from other recent cereals, including ICEE cereal (minus the menthol blast) and Miraculous. I'm not crazy about vanilla, but the flavor is inoffensive, and the texture of the puffs is quite inviting. I don't love it, but it's a very pleasant cereal to eat. As far as Kellogg's recycled novelties go, I like these "gentle puffs" much better than their "berry stars" (which we'll see again before the end of the year).

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Subtly vanilla.

Halloween Fruity Pebbles

Name: Halloween Fruity Pebbles
Variation: Fruity Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

Review: I spotted this cereal last year at Target; this year, it's even turned up at Walmart. Boasting the "same fruity taste!", this is just regular Fruity Pebbles, but colored for the holiday. At least you know what you're getting. The purple and orange pebbles look great, but regular Fruity Pebbles is so vibrant, I always have mixed feelings when they reduce the colors down to just two (like they did with Magic Fruity Pebbles). I'm surprised the box doesn't advertise a color-changing milk effect - I did observe the milk to change noticeably orange. One thing this cereal could do to improve my opinion is take a note from Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles and add some marshmallows. You could even make them spooky! (Or haunted). Barring that, I'd love to see Cocoa Pebbles have a turn with the Halloween banner...

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Fruity, and a little orange.

Chocolate Lucky Charms with Haunted Marshmallows

Name: Chocolate Lucky Charms with Haunted Marshmallows
Variation: Lucky Charms
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I knew Carmella Creeper was coming before she arrived on shelves, but I was surprised to find Lucky Charms with a new Halloween version of its cereal this year. I imagine it's poised to compete with Kellogg's Chocolate Frosted Flakes with Spooky Marshmallows - which I saw conspicuously missing from the store where I picked this box up, even though they had both Froot Loops and Apple Jacks with Spooky Marshmallows (albeit on the back end display of the aisle - did Kellogg's lose some bids with the marketing guild this year?).

Functionally, this is just Chocolate Lucky Charms like we've seen before, but with an even wider array of marshmallows. I do believe these Haunted Marshmallows are the same ones you can find in Count Chocula. Obviously, I love it - and the marketing is fun. The back of the box humorously features Lucky dressed up as a unicorn, and a unicorn dressed up as Lucky! But isn't the Halloween cereal market already pretty saturated as it is?

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Mildly chocolatey.