Thursday, October 20, 2022

Monster Mash (Chewy Edition) - Spooky Berry Fruit Snacks


Monster Mash Fruit Snacks - CVS 

Last year we got a Monster Mash cereal, I loved the concept, but the execution left something to be desired. The logo was great, box art was great, but the cereal itself was generic berry and marshmallow, which is the go-to for any novelty release and pretty, "meh." Thankfully, the Monster Mash concept and logo isn't dead and buried. This year we have the same concept applied to chewy fruit snacks!


My favorite thing about the box, other than the typographic "monster Mash" logo I gushed over last year, is that the mock-up packaging shown on the side panel is completely inaccurate. (Hence the disclaimer that "pouch designs may vary.") Inside the box I have pouches with this cool, retro, split-screen looking artwork that reminds me of old TV shows like the Partridge Family, or comic book panels. I think it looks way cooler than the CG-heavy box art, and I already turned a few of the wrappers into pinback buttons with my button press so I can hang on to them forever. (They're -that- cool looking...and yet I forgot to take a decent photo of them. I'll have to post them on my Instagram later!) I would love to see more flat, retro, Monster illustrations, like last year's cereal box, but this isn't too shabby.  


Anyway, inside these cool pouches are candy! Well, fruit snacks. Which are essentially candy, so I'll refer to it as such from here on out. 

Each of these candies is a different color, and shape, but the texture is all the same. It's dense, and pasty, a lot like the Ghost Dots I reviewed yesterday, just a bit softer. 

So, do the colors actually taste any different?  


Franken Berry
(pink) -  Sweet but super generic. It's fruity but in such a non-specific way I wouldn't even know what fruit to liken it it. It tastes "red"-ish, but also kind of "blue." Given that it is pink, and the shape is Frankenberry, I am guessing it is strawberry but nothing about it tastes like strawberry. It's good, and I like it, but it's just...fruit flavored. 

Yummy Mummy (orange) - Again, sweet, fruity, and I like it...but at first taste I had to question if it was any different from the first flavor I tried. I had to eat another Frankenberry piece just to compare. After doing that, back to back, I decided they do taste different, but the differences are very faint. Orange doesn't taste like orange, after all the mix is called "spooky berry," but I think this color tastes a bit less..."red?" It could be the powers of suggestion, but the orange color tasted less berry-like to me than the pink. What flavor is it meant to be? No idea. It's fruity, but un-nameably-fruity.  

Fruit Brute (yellow) - this one tastes a bit brighter than the others, again, not in a citrus kind of way, but in a more slightly tarte way,  it reminds me of Skittle's Darkside version of Pomegranate. Which is interesting given that it's the lightest and brightest color. But I am starting to worry that the differences are all in my head since that darker flavor doesn't match such a light colored candy. Am I losing it? 


Fruit Castle
(green) - This shape looks like a Frankenstein's monster-hand is giving me the middle finger. It took looking at the box to try and figure out what it is actually meant to look like, which is a fruity castle. Now that I know I can kind of see it, but my mind still goes to "green-hand," first. It actually tastes more like strawberry than anything else in the box, more specifically, like Strawberry Gushers, without the goopy center. It's actually my favorite, even though it looks like it's flipping me off. I ate three bags worth to see if I really do think it tastes different and I think it does. I'm like, 75% sure it's different. 

Count Chocula (purple) - Again, berry-like, but not quite unique enough to name. Maybe an attempt at raspberry? blackberry? I think I'm just grasping at berry-flavored straws at this point. Thankfully everything tastes pleasant. It's just turning my brain to mush that I can't say with 100% certainty that anything so far is night and day different from it's predecessor.   

Boo Berry (blue) - Mild, tangy, and fruity. another nearly unnamable berry flavoring, this one has a slightly tangy after taste, but it could be me hoping for something different or possibly whatever coloring agents are in each one does influence the overall taste somehow. 


After snacking on multiple bags...I am still not sure if these all taste the same or not. I'm losing it, man. 

Unique or not, the colors are fun, I like the packaging, the shapes, and the overall taste is pretty great though generically fruity. 


Fruity, chewy, spooky, what more could you want? I would definitely buy these again to hand out for the holidays, or to pass out to kids in classrooms, or just to snack on as a 35-year old. 


Today's Halloween ramble is actually about a similar product to today's post, the FrankenBerry, BooBerry, and Screaming Strawberry Halloween Fruit Roll-Ups. A holiday staple for me. I buy them every year AND I scoop up as many boxes as I can after the holidays (on clearance. Especially the Halloween ones because they were a smaller snacking-size.) Last year I even bought two of the Franken Berry and Boo Berry 72-packs from BJ's wholesale club! I have slowly been snacking on my stash throughout the year, planning to restock this season but...they are NOW WHERE TO BE FOUND?! 

I looked online and I guess they just, didn't release them this year? I am heart broken. TO fill the Halloween-shaped hole in my heart I tried to buy a box of normal strawberry Fruit Roll-ups, but all of the stores only have those garbage tie-dye-tropical ones or variety packs. No, thanks. All-berry or bust! Halloween was the one time of the year I could stock up on the berry specific flavors with a spooky aesthetic, and now? I've got nothing! I'm so bummed.  

Is there a seasonal product that didn't return this year that's got you down? Commiserate in the comments below while I go cry into my dwindling supply of Halloween fruit roll-ups. 

Fans of these would also like: Monster Mash Cereal, The Transylvania Twist, and Reese's Franken-Cup
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2 comments:

  1. I'm still mad Kraft never brought back the sugar cookie marshmallows. Those were the best.

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    Replies
    1. I feel like Kraft has really dropped the ball on new flavors and seasonal releases. #bringbackthemallows

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