It's Scary How Small The Halloween Candy Has Become with Shriek-Flation

Halloween has officially gotten scarier, and it has nothing to do with ghosts. You've heard of shrinkflation, when companies quietly make products smaller without making the price smaller.

Well, now we have: SHRIEK-FLATION. 👻 Halloween candy is getting more expensive while some packages are getting smaller.

And if you've been standing in the Halloween aisle thinking, “Didn't this giant bag used to be… giant?” You're not imagining it.

Candy prices have reportedly jumped 71 per cent since 2021.

Manufacturers have been dealing with higher costs for things like transportation, ingredients and production, but one of the biggest problems has been cocoa. Cocoa prices jumped nearly 144 per cent between 2019 and 2024.

Which explains why buying Halloween chocolate now feels less like grocery shopping and more like investing in precious metals.

RELATED: What Your Halloween Candy Says About You

Here are some of the biggest examples of Halloween candy shrinkflation:

🍫 1. Hershey's Dark Chocolate Assortment

The bag is reportedly 17 per cent smaller than it once was.

Seventeen per cent!

At this rate, next Halloween you'll open the bag and Hershey's will just send you a photo of chocolate.

🍬 2. Rolo Party Pack

Rolo party packs reportedly shrank from 40 ounces to 35.6 ounces, while prices increased.

So we're paying more…

For fewer Rolos.

Someone needs to answer for this.

🥜 3. Reese's Miniatures Party Pack

Same problem.

The package dropped from 40 ounces to 35.6 ounces.

And Reese's are already called MINIATURES.

How much smaller can we go?

By 2030 we'll just be licking peanut butter off the wrapper.

🍫 4. Hershey's Miniatures Assortment

These dropped from 40 ounces to 35.9 ounces.

Which raises a very important question:

WHAT DID THEY REMOVE?

Because if there's one less Krackel in that bag while they're leaving me with 14 Mr. Goodbars, we're going to have a problem.

🍭 5. M&M's Party Size

M&M's Party Size bags have reportedly shrunk by almost 10 per cent since 2019.

And I think we need to discuss the phrase “Party Size.”

Because if I can eat the entire bag while watching one episode of Love Is Blind…

That's not Party Size. That's Tuesday Size.

So this Halloween, you may notice the candy bowl getting emptier a little faster.

The bags are smaller.

The prices are higher.

And somehow we're expected to hand this expensive chocolate over to children we don't even know.

At these prices?

You're getting one mini KitKat, Brayden. Choose wisely.