I Tried Burger King’s New Halloween Menu, and My Favorite Item Surprised Me

Burger King is going all-in on Halloween this year. Last week, the chain announced it’s bringing back its popular BK Halloween Buckets on October 13. And this week, it’s dropping a new monster-inspired menu that’s more treat than trick. (Although, come to think of it, BK’s Monster Menu does have a few neat tricks up its sleeves.)

I got an advance taste of the limited-time menu. Here’s what BK fans need to know:

What is Burger King’s new Monster Menu?

Set to arrive at participating Burger King locations Tuesday, September 30, the spookily fun menu features Halloween twists on four popular menu items — and some very cute and creepy packaging.

The menu includes a Jack-O-Lantern Whopper, featuring a carved-pumpkin-inspired bun sprinkled with black sesame seeds. You may be relieved to know that its orange color is naturally derived from paprika. Apart from the eye-catching bun, it’s a regular Whopper with American cheese, bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickles, ketchup and mayo.

The menu also features Vampire Nuggets: chicken nuggets in the shape of vampire fangs and bats. They come in a carton that looks like a coffin and are available either on their own or as part of the King Jr. Meal.

The new Mummy Mozzarella Fries are slim, breaded sticks of mozzarella, served with marinara dipping sauce. They come in a limited-edition mummy-themed box with a slot for your dipping sauce.

And what is a Halloween menu without something sweet? Burger King is on it, offering a special Franken-Candy Sundae. The dessert tops vanilla soft serve with a bright-purple “franken-candy” syrup that tastes, unexpectedly, like salted caramel. A sprinkle of crumbled Oreo cookies and purple and green popping candy add the finishing touch.

How did the new menu items taste?

Despite its double-take-worthy, seasonally appropriate bun, the Jack-O-Lantern Whopper tasted like a typical Whopper — which is good news, if that’s your thing. Curiously colored buns are a recurring move for Burger King; they’ve done purple, red, green and black in the past. The orange color seemed subtler, yet more appealing, than some of the others — more natural. And the black sesame seeds were a nice contrasting touch.

I found the Mummy Mozzarella Fries to be tasty, with a good pull that belied their slenderness, and the packaging was super cute (not cheesy). For me, the mozzarella fries tied for second-place with the Vampire Nuggets — also flavorful and cleverly contained, although I mistakenly thought the fang-shapes were meant to be ghosts.

My favorite Monster Menu item was definitely the Franken-Candy Sundae, which surprised me by not being fruity (that purple color threw me off) or too sweet, but actually super delicious. The salted caramel syrup had a retro butterscotch-candy appeal. I’d go out of my way to have that cool-looking, yummy-tasting ice cream sundae again.

What else is Burger King doing for Halloween?

Burger King is featuring the Vampire Nuggets in a special-edition King Jr. Meal, which it says is “the first King Jr. innovation in years.” The meal comes with an adorable lineup of six collectible toy figures “inspired by Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Gang.” The toys feature masks that can be mixed and matched with the figures, which hold candy bags, for an extra Halloween touch.

“BK fans have come to expect something spirited from us during the Halloween season, and each year we try to bring even more fun to families,” Joel Yashinsky, chief marketing officer of Burger King US&C, says in a press release. “This year, we’ve dialed up the fun and flavor, not only with our ‘Monster Menu’ line-up complete with themed menu innovation, packaging and a special crown, but also with collectible buckets and Scooby-Doo toys –- creating even more experiences for everyone.”

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