I got eerily angry complaints from parents one Halloween after I gave out cotton candy "because it filled up too much space in their bags for something that would dissolve in their mouth all at once anyways as well as make them hyper as it's just sugar". Makes me wonder how they spent their evenings.
Worst:
Those peanut butter chews wrapped in orange or black that have a weird soft but chunky feel that reminds me of something half digested. Anything healthy. Anything not candy (stickers, pencils, etc).
Like, our parents were supposed to look at our candy to make sure it wasn’t tampered with (urban legend), yet everybody looked at the unlabeled wrap job on those pieces of shit and was like “yeah, this def doesn’t contain a razor blade.”
I think they are actually molasses flavoured toffee if it's the ones I'm thinking of. Always left to the very last, only to be consumed in the more dire of candy draughts
I'm sorry but propaganda does not technically count as candy.
To be fair I once got 5 dimes wrapped in a little black mesh thing. It was lame as hell, but they did make an effort so I didn't complain. But even back in the late 80s/early 90s, 50¢ wasn't really useful, even for a kid.
My MIL used to work for a dentist. One year he encouraged? required? the employees to hand out toothbrushes on Halloween. My hubby begged his mom not to do it, to just fib and tell her boss she had. But... she went through with it. They got egged that night & their pumpkin was smashed. She fucked around and found out.
If the reaction of the kids who come to my door is any indication the best is ring pops. You can sometimes hear kids shouting to other ones down the street "hey, this place has ring pops!"
Worst: those molasses toffees with the orange/white/black wrapper
The best is almost always full size candy bars, though everyone's personal favorites are different.
As for the worst, people might rag on the orange and black peanut butter things, candy corn, or circus peanuts. I personally like them all and I feel most of the hate is memetic.
The real bad candy? Peppermints. Even worse and strange? Peppermint candy canes.
Sure, I like them in December, but seeing those mixed in with other candy is an insult and reminds you of Christmas creep. It's a breath mint. There might be one freakish kid who likes those hard minty disks of Christmas flavor around Halloween, but really, no one is excited about these restaurant give aways. Even hating on the candy you don't like is part of the Halloween experience, but peppermint just feels wrong in a trick or treat bag.