Which Halloween Candy Reigns Supreme?

The grocery stores are fully stocked with giant bags of treats and pop-up shops filled with costumes are lining street corners. This can only mean one thing: Halloween is on the brain.

We surveyed 1,057 Americans adults to get their perspectives on Halloween candy, rituals, and costumes.

Candy bars surface as the most coveted type of Halloween candy (48%), followed secondarily by chocolate that’s not a candy bar. These findings mirror trends we see from our members uploading receipts; the top three candy brands uploaded in the past 30 days are Hershey’s, Reese’s, and M&M’S.

The least appealing candy to receive? Sorry licorice, you’re out of favor (cited by 44% as the worst Halloween candy).

When asked to identify their favorite season of life to celebrate Halloween, 45% are nostalgic for the days when they trick or treated as a child. Most of the remainder are divided between preferring the parties and social aspects as an adult and participating in Halloween festivities with their child (25% in each case).

One Halloween tradition that remains fun for adults? Haunted houses. Just over six-in-ten enjoy checking a haunted house at least some of the time. Another 20% would saunter through a haunted house “only if everyone I’m with wants to go”. Roughly one-in-five find them too scary and will always pass.

Stay tuned for the next installment of our Halloween research, where we explore which pop culture costumes are most highly anticipated this year!