Since we celebrated Halfway to Halloween back in May, we felt we had to make the real Halloween extra special this year. So, we saved up in the months leading up to this spooky holiday, and when October rolled around, we decided to splurge a little — and honestly, it was worth every peso.
If you read my previous post, you already know I’ve been on the hunt for new Halloween goodies. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Argentina — and especially Córdoba City — has truly embraced Halloween in 2025 like never before. This year, the enthusiasm feels different. For the first time, there are even organized trick-or-treat routes for kids. Anyone who wants to hand out candy — usually local businesses — can register online so parents and children know which places to visit. Some of my students in Buenos Aires told me that kids there are also trick-or-treating at stores, which honestly makes my expat heart so happy to hear.
As local interest grows, businesses are catching the Halloween fever too. Party stores are overflowing with spooky decorations, and even big chains like McDonald’s are getting in on the fun — which, trust me, is a pretty big deal here in Argentina.
One of my favorite examples? The Halloween Happy Meal buckets shown below. They came in mummy, vampire, jack-o’-lantern, and Frankenstein designs — and even included Halloween stickers! Now, I know what you’re thinking: we don’t have kids, and we’re both in our 40s. But when you’re far from home in a country that, until recently, barely knew how to spell “Halloween,” you cling to any little reminder of it. No regrets here — these buckets (and everything else you’ll see) brought us pure joy.
McDonald’s wasn’t the only one getting into the spirit, though. Grido, the local ice cream franchise, released their own Halloween buckets featuring monsters, vampires, and other ghoulish faces.
Another surprise was Hellmann’s Stranger Things bacon-flavored mayo. I’m not sure if this exists back home (and if it doesn’t, it really should), but finding it in an Argentine supermarket felt like a small Halloween miracle.
Then there was Fanta’s “Chucky” edition. The flavor — “Chucky’s Red Punch” — wasn’t exactly life-changing, but it didn’t taste bad either. We were just thrilled to see Chucky’s face on a soda can at our local market.
At Cotillón Chialvo, we picked up a few more creepy-cute items (as I mentioned in my previous post). One standout was this flower with a demonic eye in the center — kind of like the Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings. We also got an adorable ghost lamp with an internal light. It’s more cute than scary, but it made a lovely addition to this year’s decorations.
Overall, we mixed pieces we’ve collected over the past 13 years with new finds from this October.
The McDonald’s and Grido buckets worked perfectly as candy containers this year.But it’s not just decorations — Argentina has been producing more Halloween-themed candy than ever before. Check out this creepy little guy and the variety of sweets in the next photo.
The ghosts in the photo below are ones we made ourselves by wrapping paper napkins over lollipops and drawing eyes and a mouth with a black marker.
Decorating our living room is always a must. We really went all out this year — but take a look at the photos and decide for yourselves.
Our Halloween tree has become a staple in our living room for the past few years. It’s an easy idea to recreate: grab some Halloween ornaments or make your own, and transform a regular Christmas tree into something delightfully eerie. When there’s too much empty space, we just tuck a mask between the branches — problem solved.
We also love making Halloween-themed food and desserts. The photo below shows our ghost-shaped biscuits.
These next treats were store-bought cookies and coconut cones that we turned into witch hats with a little imagination. We even added edible eyes to the cookies to give them a spooky touch.
Since rice krispies are almost impossible to find here, we made Trix Treats instead — using Trix cereal and melted marshmallows, shaped into brains and witch hats. Not traditional, but definitely colorful!
We baked our own Hocus Pocus “Book” brownie, complete with a candy eye and icing stitches. We’ve tried making it before, but I think this was our best version yet.
Food coloring and edible icing pencils helped us make regular vanilla pudding look like candy corn — it tasted the same, but looked festive.
One batch didn’t go as planned and the colors all blended together, so we added candy eyes and turned it into an “oozing monster.” Problem solved again.
Then came our masterpiece: a dessert we nicknamed “Demi Moore from The Substance.” (If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll understand.) It was made with green apple Jell-O, Smirnoff, gummy tongues, brain candy, and eyeballs. Let’s just say it was both disgusting and delicious.
For savory items, we made homemade donuts shaped like wolf paws, using almonds as claws and red food coloring for “blood.”
We also baked cheesy garlic bread — which we served on a coffin-shaped plate and called “broken mummy bones.”
Our deviled eggs got a Halloween twist too — we dyed the yolk orange, and they were so good I wish we’d made more.For the main dish, we made Sloppy Joe monsters with homemade buns, cheese “fangs,” olive “eyes,” and cucumber “tongues.”
Cute, creepy, and delicious.
All in all, the mix of sweet and savory food made Halloween 2025 unforgettable. But of course, we couldn’t end the night without one more tradition — trying on new masks.This year, we splurged a little more. Some masks were store-bought, others we made ourselves from brown paper bags — kind of our homage to The Strangers, minus the creepy eyes.
I wore a latex Art the Clown mask I ordered from the States, while my husband sported a Jason mask from Cotillón Puerto Alegría here in Córdoba. Our friend Melisa wore the Jigsaw mask and witch hat — both from the same shop. Since we have a dark and twisted sense of humor, we staged a Victorian-style post-mortem photo (inspired by The Others with Nicole Kidman). Back then, people would pose their deceased loved ones for one final “living” portrait. Morbid? Maybe. But perfect for Halloween.
Later, I hid behind our Halloween tree wearing the Art mask — can you spot me?Inspired by Melisa’s outfit, I later paired the Jigsaw mask with a witch hat, witch fingers, and a Magic 8 Ball.
Of course, no Halloween would be complete without an appearance from Jason Voorhees himself.
My husband got into the spirit, too — sporting a bloody apron, a bowl full of “gore,” a vampire baby, and a ghost lollipop.
He even let his “inner witch” out for another look and later posed with our McDonald’s mummy and vampire buckets.
Despite a tight budget and some cooking chaos, Halloween 2025 was an absolute blast. Every year we swear we’ll plan better and save more, but somehow we always end up winging it — and it still turns out amazing.
Now it’s time to shift gears and start thinking about Thanksgiving. With both ovens barely working, a turkey might be out of the question. Whatever we come up with, it probably won’t be traditional — but that’s half the fun of celebrating holidays abroad.
Before signing off, here’s our Halloween Movie List for 2025, along with a few honorable mentions that made the cut this spooky season.
Halloween Movie List 2025
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Hush: The Shush Edition 4K – The black-and-white version didn’t work for me
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning – Better than I remembered
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The Descent – A classic
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Wake Up – A surprising new favorite
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Spawn – Technically superhero, but it’s got demons, so it counts
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The Conjuring 4: Last Rites – Easily the weakest in the franchise
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Escape Room – A solid thriller
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The Jolly Monkey – Not great, not terrible
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The Descent 2 – Honestly, my favorite of the two
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Scurry – Giant burrowing bugs. Enough said.
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Vicious – A decent supernatural thriller
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Don’t Hang Up – The victims were annoying; I rooted for the killer
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The Deep House – Still eerie, but less scary on a rewatch
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The Strangers: Chapter 2 – Not as good as the first
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Silent Hill – Atmospheric and creepy
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Resident Evil – A classic
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Trick ’R Treat – My favorite anthology
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When a Stranger Calls – Forgettable
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Urban Legend – Meh
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Terminator: Dark Fate – More sci-fi, but the Rev-9 felt like a boogeyman
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Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th – A hilarious spoof
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From the Dead of Night – Bad effects, great tension
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Halloween Resurrection – Just… no
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My Best Friend’s Vampire – 80s nostalgia gold
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Scream 4 – Better than Scream 6
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Good Boy – A surprisingly emotional supernatural story
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Supernova – Sci-fi horror done right
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Chopping Mall – Killer robots in a mall. What’s not to love?
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Pitch Black – The monsters make up for the acting
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Takeout – Tubi’s hidden gem
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Don’t Log Off – Like Unfriended, but fine
Honorable Mentions
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Stag Night – Creepy subway horror
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Coyotes – Killer coyotes in suburbia
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Dead of Winter – More thriller than horror
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Black Phone 2 – Not as strong as the first
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Attack 13 – Terrifying Thai horror flick
And that wraps up our Halloween 2025 celebration here in Córdoba. We had an incredible time bringing a little piece of spooky Americana to Argentina, and can't wait to do it again next year.
Until next time... unpleasant dreams!
