You probably don’t think of Halloween as a “foodie” holiday. After all, it doesn’t involve a traditional, epic meal in the way of Thanksgiving or Christmas. However, it’s pretty much the ultimate holiday when it comes to gorging yourself on candy, and I (and the 6-year-old in me) like to consider that one of the major food groups.

I associate certain candies specifically with Halloween. Taking a bite of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup instantly transports me to a brisk fall day when I’m dressed as a princess (or a pirate, a witch, a fairy – take your pick) and I’m pissed off because my mom is making me wear a jacket over my sweet costume. Then there were those mysterious things with the orange and black wrappers that I was always too suspicious of to actually taste – more on those later.

In thinking about all the different kinds of Halloween candy, I was inspired to take an impromptu and highly scientific poll of my friends on Facebook and Twitter to find out which kinds of candy they got most excited about receiving, and which kinds they ended up pawning off on naïve younger siblings in grossly unfair, but cleverly conceived trades. Here are the results:

Next Best Thing if Your Parents Refused to Drive You to the Rich Neighborhoods for King Size Candy Bars:
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups seem to be the big winner here, as nearly half (42%) of the people I polled remember them as one of their favorite candies to find in their trick-or-treat bags. Coming in second at 21% were Snickers bars, with 3 Musketeers, Nerds, and candy cigarettes also listed as favorites by several people. Does it make anyone else feel old to realize we grew up in a time when children were encouraged to mimic a highly carcinogenic behavior? I’m just saying…

Worse Than Receiving Pennies or Peanuts (Ok, Maybe Not That Bad):
It seems that candy corn and Mounds bars were highly unpopular, as 38% of those polled stated that they were less than thrilled when either one of these sad excuses for candy were thoughtlessly tossed in their bags. However, the greatest disappointment (and perhaps one of the most intriguing Halloween mysteries of all time) turns out to be those small, unlabled, and ridiculously unappetizing pieces of chewy candy concealed in plain orange and black wrappers. Which brings me to my next point…

What In the Name of All That is Halloween ARE Those Orange and Black Things??
While I was never brave enough to actually taste one of these things, I’ve heard from many other people that they are GROSS. However, there was one person in my poll who admitted to liking them, so I guess fans of these waxy abominations do exist. I’m just going to assume that most of them are over the age of 70 or have non-functioning taste buds.

Of all of the people who responded to my poll and mentioned these candies, not a single one seemed to know exactly what they are. Thanks to some highly refined investigative skills (aka Google), I am now able to answer that question. You may be surprised to know that “Orange and Black Things” is actually not the name of these candies. They are called peanut butter kisses and are made by several different candy companies, the most popular variety being Necco’s Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses. I’d like to point out that Necco is also the company that makes those round, pastel wafer things, and doesn’t everyone hate those too? Another question: is Necco still in business?

I was able to find a description of what makes up the chewy conglomeration that is a peanut butter kiss. Apparently it is “A soft molasses taffy with a peanut butter center. Made with real peanut butter.” I’m not sure if that last part about “real peanut butter” is supposed to lend credibility to the candy’s natural ingredients or nutritional value, but I’m not buying it (literally and figuratively speaking). After reading that description, it’s no wonder these things often end up in the bottom of a garbage can instead of the belly of a happy little trick-or-treater. I mean, molasses? In my mind, that’s basically just a fancy way of saying syrup, and while they may like it on their waffles, I don’t think many kids out there are begging their parents to let them have another mouthful of syrup.

So basically, if you want to be popular with the neighborhood kids this Halloween, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Snickers are the way to go. If you want them to leave you alone and skip your house next year (some kids don’t get the “no lights on” concept), stock up on some peanut butter kisses. But don’t buy too much – you definitely don’t want to have leftovers.

Carlie is the Food and Drink Editor for Girls Guide. By day she is an educational textbook editor, and she moonlights as a foodie and barfly. You can email her at carlie [at] girlsguidetothegalaxy [dot] com, and you can follow her on Twitter – @carbirwin.