Some mark the holiday's start as the time Halloween costumes and candy first appear on store shelves, which is a practice I respect but don't follow. Every year Christmas pushes just a little closer to summer, consequently shoving the rest of the holidays earlier into the year with it. I saw my first Halloween products on shelves in early September and that's just too damn early.
For me, Halloween now begins when Monster Cereals emerge from hibernation. And that day was today.
I've been looking for them for the better part of a week without luck, but expanded my hunting grounds into the next state today (that's North Carolina, for those of you keeping score.) My first few stops were a bust, but I finally found them for sale at Target where they were proudly displayed on an endcap at the registers (see the photo above.)
I miss the days when you could get Monster Cereals year round, but apparently people only eat breakfast in the forms of bars and/or shakes these days. It's all very Jetsons but that's no excuse for not being able to get a bowl of Frankenberry in July.
But I shouldn't bitch too much. I fully expected to go another year without finding a box of Boo Berry, which is notorious for being the most elusive of the Monster Cereals. As you can see in the photo above, the Boo Berry crops must have been bountiful this year because there was plenty available. You'll also note they've redesigned the boxes (again) which is probably necessary because they're only produced once a year. (The boxes are also noticeably smaller than in the past.)
It seems that the monster bug is even spreading out into other cereals this year. Cap'n Crunch appears to have succumbed to lycanthropy on the front of the new Halloween Crunch cereal (which turns your milk green!) I like to imagine the good cap'n is trolling the waters of the English Channel with an entire ship full of werewolf pirates, laying waste to those who cross his path.
Robbie Coltrane IS Captain Horatio "Sea Wolf" Crunch.
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