WHAT THE F%$K IS THIS? Monster Cereal Edition

[stethacantus]

You never know if or when Stop and Shop will be offering any holiday themed cereals. Just that you must be there the week they are on the shelves because most of them sell out fast. I had no idea if there would be any Halloween themed cereals this year. Just last week they had a shelf with nothing but special edition Football themed cereals.

Well, this past weekend a shelf built specifically for the monster cereals appeared in the snack aisle. Just Count Chocula, Frankenberry and Booberry. But this year it was Muppet themed.

...and the back of the boxes...

Will check next week to see if they sell any cereals from any of the other Monsters. Or if any of the other brands offer any Halloween themed cereals.

[stethacantus]

It is about halfway through October, and Stop and Shop has not put out any more Halloween themed cereals. They did put out Count Chocula, Frankenberry and Booberry, but no other Halloween themed cereals. In the past few years the Monster Cereals were joined on the shelves with Capn' Crunch Halloween editions, Fruity Pebbles Halloween editions, one shot cereals, one shot special cereals like The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, special Pumpkin Spice versions of Chex, Frosted Flakes and other cereals, and so on. This year, a separate display case for the Monster cereals in the snack ailse, which once they sold out, was replaced with bags of Halloween candy. ( Not Halloween themed candy, but regular candy in bulk to hand out to Trick-or-Treaters ) One shelf had what remained of the unsold Monster cereals, a lot of Booberry and some  Frankenberry. Yep, Count Chocula has sold out for the season. Probably because it has been the only Monster cereal to have flavored oats while the other two taste like styrofoam other than the marshmallows. In the past, the other Halloween themed cereals seemed to sell out in a week or two, so I do not know if this is Stop & Shop giving up, or if because of the economy the other brands are not putting out Halloween themed cereals this year, or if they are holding them back to be released in the week directly before Halloween. BUT, they did have this....

.....and here is what is on the back of the boxes..

This actually came out the same week as the Muppet Monster cereals, but I refused to get it because.. they are not Halloween themed cereals. They were on their own shelf, replacing the football themed cereals, the remainder of which were moved to the regular shelves. But this week, the remaining Wicked cereals were put on the display shelf with the remaining Monster cereals. And everyone in the household who complained that I didn't get the Wicked cereals said "See! They are Halloween cereals". Sure, you got two witches. But this is the friggin Wizard of Oz! So I lost out on that argument just because they are on the same shelf as Booberry, and they both came home with us.

[stethacantus]

Got in a fight over this...and lost.

A couple of years back General Mills began rereleasing their classic Monster Cereal brand as a limited edition for Halloween. Now, I am just as nostalgic as anyone. These cereals were huge back in the 70s and 80s. There were the big three, Count Chocula, Frankenberry and Booberry. And the others, which each were around for a couple of years, but seemed to be attempts at pushing the same mixed fruit flavor that wasn't very popular. Some time around the 90s they stopped making Booberry. Then a few years after that, Frankenberry disappeared from the shelves.  That left Count Chocula as the victor in the monster war. ( as seen in the commercials where all three monsters pitched their cereals at the same time and claimed theirs were the best. ) Chocula was around for a long time after the demise of his rivals. And then one day, ( the early 00's perhaps. I wasn't keeping track, ) none of the stores had Count Chocula on the shelves anymore. I heard rumors that the cereal still sold out of state, or perhaps in Mexico, but if it is not in New York City then I assume it is nowhere. I mean, we get these weird European cereals on the shelves here, so most of the stores try to stock everything.  Then a few years ago, while in Stop & Shop, I saw a display where the Monster Cereals were being sold, and bough a lot of them. Just stocked up on them because the display said "Limited Edition" Somehow this translated into our family getting the Monster Cereals every fall when they are rereleased... and somehow also any cereal releasing a limited edition for Halloween. And as of lately, that is every Halloween themed cereal. This year it looked as if there would be no other limited edition cereals at Stop & Shop than the three classic monsters. I heard word that you could get other limited edition cereals at Target. But screw them. They charge $7 for a box of cereal, while most stores are between $3.50 and $5. This week we found this on the shelves...

Now, it doesn't specifically say Halloween anywhere on the box. But my family kept demanding I get it, despite Fruit Loops being one of my least favorite cereals. There is no mention of Halloween anywhere on the box. But they insisted that Toucan Sam is wearing a costume. A very lazy costume. I cant tell if it is supposed to be  a half assed attempt at a mummy costume, or if the neighborhood teens TP'd him. But now we have this in the pantry.

[Cyrusso]

I tried to chocolate chex recently, and it's not bad!! very rich but good. Also -not low in calories!!!

[harold reed tees]

Thanks for bringing this to MY attention, I was living in the dark, man. Anyone else get a Angelina Jolie vibe from Carmella Creeper? Like a "Hackers" or "Gone in 60 Seconds" thing?

Harold

[stethacantus]

Remember how Christmas seemed to come earlier and earlier each year as stores rolled out the decorations and television aired themed commercials earlier each year? Well, Stop& Shop began promoting Halloween two weeks ago. That's when the display shelf with Halloween Candies ( mostly Pumpkin shaped Peanut Butter Cups ), and then this week the 2026 Monster Cereals showed up. Once again, Muppet themed, this time with a cutout Muppet on the back of the box that I doubt will actually work. I am keeping my eye out for other Halloween themed cereals, if Stop& Shop ever gets them.

[stethacantus]

It's the first week of October, and more Halloween themed cereals have materialized at my local Stop & Shop. Last year it was just the Monster cereals, but just Count Chocula, Frankenberry & Booberry. None of the other monsters and no Monster Mash. Also, a Froot Loops box with Toucan Sam probably wearing a costume? Not really a good year for holyday themed cereals in that store. And, no Christmas themed cereals last year. Apparently if I had shopped at Target, there would have been every limited edition Halloween themed cereal. I don't shop there. Too expensive.

This year Halloween came in August?

Mid august the first Pumpkin Spice flavored cereals hit the shelves, and appeared to have sold out before September. Not that many of them were on the shelves though. My family still finds the idea of Pumkin Spice flavored cereal revolting, so we never touch them. A week later the Monster cereals arrived, once again Muppet themed. And then nothing else for the last week of August and entire month of September. They did restock the Monster Cereals frequently. This week they are almost sold out. All of count Chocula gone. Some Frankenberry and Booberry still left. And then they added Wednesday cereals to the Halloween cereal section:

And a quiz on the spine of each box.

I heard that there were limited edition Wednesday cereals last year, but just not in our neighborhood. The box with Jenna Ortega on the front was nearly sold out, Looks like the one with Thing on the box sold well.  I haven't seen the Wednesday series yet, so I do not know who the girl on the third box is. But tat one looked like no one but me bought any.  I will check back to see if any other Halloween themed cereals show up next week.

[AnimalMan]

Fruit Brute had too much class to put up with the ever-dropping quality of cereals and decided to GTFO early.  Heed the wise werewolf.