8 Spooky Foods to Pack to Your Halloween Picnic

     It’s the time of the year again - when the skies set a few hues darker and the air feels heavier as ghosts and ghouls come out to roam the streets of Neopia. Yes, it’s time for Halloween!

     As you doll up in Ghostly Sheet Costumes and Pumpkin Lid Hats and wander along the Deserted Fairgrounds, why not spice up the holiday for you and your friends with a Halloween themed picnic this year? Pack your picnic mats and have this checklist of items ready when you head to the Spooky Foods Store.

     First up, appetisers. A good appetiser is essential for a great picnic. How else are you going to get your guests excited for your fantastic (and spooky) meal? It not only sets the stage for your picnic, it also leaves your guests wanting more. Here are a few appetizers from the Spooky Foods store that will haunt your guests:

     Haunted Salad

     Who doesn’t want to be haunted while they’re eating their veggies? Dig into this delicious salad and have your guests enjoy the company of a couple ghosts while you’re at it! If you really want to throw a truly spooky picnic, why not dine with the undead? Your greens are good for you, so you know this dish won’t hurt you—at worst, the ghosts will just say, “boo” and moan plaintively while you eat. R.I.P. the lettuces and carrots that died to form this dish.

     Cadaverous Cola

     Hmm, we are not really sure what this is but we definitely need a drink to accompany our delectable picnic! 13 sugar-free souls in every can, is the only description scribbled on the sides of the bottle as you turn it around in your hands. The seemingly green souls circle the bottle - murmuring, hissing. You pop the cap open and take a gulp, I mean how wrong can colas get, let alone a sugar-free one for your healthy indulgence? The cola fizzles in your mouth, down to your stomach, and as you think all is well, you hear the voices of the souls in your head...

     Next up, we have the mains. Be sure to check if your guests can still stomach more -coughs- delicacies as it is about to get interesting. We’ve selected a few obscure but still delightfully sinister foods that you can place in your hamper of horrors.

     Parts on a Pizza

     Pizza is a popular go-to food that pretty much everyone under the sun loves in some form of another. But this pizza might be hard to swallow, both literally and conceptually. It’s pretty telling that this is basically the only pizza the Blumaroo at the Neopia Central Pizzeria won’t sell, considering he sells an item that’s literally called the Pizza of DEATH. Somehow Parts on a Pizza is a more horrifying creation. Part pizza – part pizza delivery guy, the description reads. There are a lot of fascinating questions this raises, most prominently: did the pizza delivery guy really have at least seven eyes? Do you have to remove the bones in the fingers before you eat them? Is that actually sauce? Either way, if your guests can brave the dish, we’re sure they’ll find it delicious—it is considered a gourmet item, after all! And, at its core, it is still pizza, so there has to be something good about it. Bon appétit!

     Saus-Rage

     Wait, what’s that rustling in your picnic hamper? It’s the Saus-Rage trio! No doubt they are nicknamed “rage” for a reason as they hop up and down on their plate, waiting to wrestle and escape. In case you are wondering if those are grill marks or not, they are actually battle scars. From what battles, you wonder? You hope it’s not from another person’s plate as you try to stab a fork through one of the saus-rage. You hope for your own sake and your guests’, that the previous person was unscathed, and you will win the battle this time.

     Undead Broccoli

     Most baby Neopets are told to eat their broccoli and that it’ll help them grow big and strong. Despite the complaints, the pleading, and the tears, they’re usually unsuccessful in getting out of eating their veggies. But it’d be hard to find any Neopet, baby or otherwise, who would willingly eat a plate of Undead Broccoli. It’s the perfect vegetable if you want to be festive for the holiday or if you just really want to terrify your guests. The pale teal of the stalks looks unhealthy, and the drab pink of the broccoli heads looks like the colour of, well, brains. It’s doubtful that any healthy Neopet would grow strong from eating something like this. It’s truly a food fit for a zombie.

     Lastly, who can forget desserts! For a taste of the unconventional, we have coursed through the Spooky Food Desserts section to bring you our favourites. Mind you, it was a tough choice as everything just looked so alive and... palatable.

     Disgruntled Candy Corn

     Does anyone get excited about candy corn? It seems sometimes like even candy corn isn’t excited about candy corn, as evinced by this sweet treat with a not-so-sweet attitude. There’s something kind of strange about your dessert looking upset, or really about it looking anything other than delicious. Why is it so angry? It looks like it wants to fight you; it’s almost as if your desert is sizing you up. You shouldn’t have to be afraid of your food. Maybe try to eat it quickly before it gets too uncomfortable staring back at it. And, if you don’t like candy corn, it might be a good idea to keep this item closed off in your picnic basket and far, far away from you at night.

     Pulsating Brain Custard

     What’s so creepy about the Pulsating Brain Custard is pretty obvious: (1) it pulsates and (2) it looks like a brain. Both while you’re chewing the custard and while you’re digging into it with your spoon, it’s hard not to imagine it pulsing and throbbing all the time. It’s almost as if it’s actually alive, and I trust that I don’t need to explain why it’s weird to feel like your food is sentient even as you’re eating it. Does it think? If it looks like a brain and pulsates like a brain, it’s hard to tell. What is it thinking as you’re digging in with your spoon? Is it judging you? Is it plotting its revenge? Or, maybe—and most likely—is it just regular custard that pulsates for some reason? Either way, the fact that you have to second-guess makes us feel like you can’t trust this food at all and makes it a very spooky dessert.

     Pink Spooky Ice Cream

     Everyone loves ice cream. It’s a sweet dessert that comes in many different flavours—vanilla, chocolate, mint, and… now, pink. What is “pink” supposed to taste like, anyways? Is it strawberry or something more sinister? Given the contents of some of the food the Spooky Food shop sells, it may be best not to ask. Either way, the Pink Spooky Ice Cream is a great way to put a familiar dessert in a new, completely terrifying light. It’ll be very easy to spook your guests with this ice cream cone—the cool, pink goop running down the cone is a bit unnerving, and let’s not talk about the eyeball on top. The thought of having your dessert stare back at you is enough to make even the most intrepid Neopet waver a bit before chowing down. Regardless of whether anyone actually eats it, the Pink Spooky Ice Cream is a perfect dessert to bring to a Halloween picnic; not only is it alarming and very fitting for the season, but you’ll never have to worry about your food going unwatched should you have to leave for a few minutes. It’ll watch itself.

          As you round up the respective items for your Halloween picnic from the Spooky Foods store, be mindful to have them wrapped up nice and secure! You don’t want any of your food escaping before you even had a chance to set it up on the picnic mat. Lastly, don’t forget a picnic spot - we recommend having it near the Deserted Fairground gates for an amazing, spooky ambience. Enjoy!

     Also written by tsiegred & lookidontcare3