It's the time of year when we all start carving pumpkins and getting ready for the sugar rush that is Halloween.
Most supermarkets launch their own ranges for the spooky festivities and we decided to see what's on offer at two of them - M&S and Aldi.
Selection wise there certainly seemed to be more products at M&S. A whole corner of the retailer's Leigh store was dedicated to Halloween goodies when we visited this week.
Read more: 30+ things to do with kids in Manchester this Halloween and October half term
There's everything from a light-up haunted house shortbread tin, to vampire fang crisps and of course Colin the Caterpillar has been given a makeover - he's now a 'yummy mummy' and has been given an extra coating of white chocolate bandages.
Aldi's selection didn't seem quite as big, but as well as the dedicated Halloween section, there were themed treats scattered about elsewhere too - like the vanilla and chocolate orange macaron kits and 'Franken Furters' complete with pumpkin faces on them, which were all found in the fridge section.
It's hard to do a full comparison as many of the products are so different - and you can probably guess that M&S is generally more expensive than the budget retailer.
Cupcake wise it was Aldi's four-pack that my both my children and I liked best, preferring the soft fondant topping to the crunchier icing on the smaller nine cakes from M&S.
We also preferred the Aldi's Dairyfine chocolate on the chocolate lollies.
When it came to the netted bags of chocolate balls and bags of jelly sweets, it wasn't as clear cut. I preferred the solid chocolate balls from M&S, while the kids preferred Aldi's, with a milk truffle filling. And while Aldi's juicy Gruesome Gummy Brain sweets got my vote, the kids preferred the skulls from the M&S Fruity Creepy Carnival multipack, which have a 'Jelly Babies' taste about them.
There was no complaint about any of the products and there are some right monster treats in there - with the M&S caterpillar centrepiece and Aldi's Melting Frankie, a chocolate Frankenstein head that you in a warm mug of milk and has marshmallows inside.
Maybe the decider will come in the form of Aldi's Halloween cheesecake, a chocolate orange flavoured cheesecake on a digestive biscuit base. It's not in stores until October 27, so as they say, the proof will be in the pudding.
Halloween shopping list and prices
M&S
- Yummy Mummy Colin the Caterpillar - £12
- Yummy Mummy Colin the Caterpillar mini rolls - £2.75
- Vampire Fangs - £2
- Fruity Creepy Carnival sweets - £2
- Zombie Eyeballs - £2
- Chocolate Omballs lollies - £1.50 each
- Gingerbread eyeballs - £1 each
- Mini Monster Cupcakes - £4.25
- Critter cake - £2
- Chocolate balls inside net - £1.10
Aldi
- Halloween cupcakes - £1.69
- Macaron kits - £2.99 each
- Jaffaween cake bars - £2
- Freakishly Fizzy Spiders - 99p
- Gruesome Gummy Brains - 99p
- Chocolate lollies - 89p each
- Mallow lollies - 99p each
- Franken Furters - £1.29
- Chocolate balls inside nets - 59p each
- Melting Frankie - £1.79
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
-
Where to go pumpkin picking in and around Greater Manchester for Halloween
-
'I compared Asda Just Essentials with Extra Special and the result was quite unexpected'
-
'For any Harry Potter fan, the Forbidden Forest is an experience you don't want to miss'
-
Shoppers are going crazy for Poundland's new Halloween Hocus Pocus range
-
You can get extra ride time at Alton Towers' Scarefest this October half term and Halloween