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Recently, Japanese branches of McDonald’s and Burger King have been getting into the Halloween spirit with spooky black burgers infused with squid ink and bamboo charcoal. This is a problem for KFC, though, since both of those ingredients are a little too exotic to mix with the Colonel’s traditional set of 11 herbs and spices.

Since KFC can’t celebrate Halloween by embracing its dark side, the most popular fried chicken outlet in Japan is instead turning to the holiday’s other icon by offering pumpkin biscuits.

Technically, the Halloween biscuits are made with Hokkaido-grown kabocha, a type of squash that looks like a green, compact version of what English-speakers normally call a pumpkin.

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Kabocha also tends to be less bitter and a little moister than its orange cousin, which should give the 180-yen (US$1.65) biscuits some extra flavor and an enticing aroma. They biscuits with a honey maple sauce, since KFC understands that Halloween is as much about sweets as scares.

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Tempting as they sound, we suppose it’d be a little weird to walk into a KFC and not order any chicken to go with them. Thankfully, you can also get two pumpkin biscuits as part of a 1,850-yen Halloween combo bucket (or “barrel,” as it’s called in Japan) that includes six pieces of original recipe chicken. You’ll also find two small orders of fries in the bucket, in case the biscuits and fried chicken breading haven’t quite satisfied your starch cravings.

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Both the pumpkin biscuits and the Halloween bucket go on sale October 16, meaning they’ll be available in time to pass out to trick-or-treaters if you’re one of those types who isn’t comfortable with kids getting so much candy on Halloween.

Source: Entabe
Top image: KFC Japan
Insert images: Girls Channel, KFC Japan