Friday five is our new opinion repeater in which a staff member presents top five items across various categories. Reasoning will be provided, views challenged and debates expected.

In spirit of the spooky season, I’ll be ranking my top five Halloween Candy selections. I wouldn’t exactly call myself a candy enthusiast, but I enjoy a good treat every once in a while. I’ve chosen to only rank candy off their most common forms to avoid bias. I do have a nut allergy, though, so your favorite nutty bars will probably not make my list. Feel free to disagree with my choices, and let me know at school, as I highly doubt my views will align with the majority.

5. Starburst

Starburst epitomizes the OG candy. You really can’t go wrong with its fruity goodness. From filling up a majority of history teacher Donna Gilbert’s candy jar (an awe-inspiring container aimed to make students’ days just a little bit better through the power of sugar) to serving as a prize when I place first in Kahoot during Spanish class, Starburst acts as a common means of brightening students’ days. Sadly, only half of the Starburst flavors provide me satisfaction. Strawberry stands proudly on top (self-explanatory), and lemon comes in close behind. On the other hand, orange proves too tangy to be sustainable, and cherry just straight up tastes like medicine. Although Starburst’s uplifting uses in an academic setting and strawberry Starburst’s elite status individually demonstrate the brand’s good qualities, the rest of the flavors drag down its ranking as a whole, so I can’t afford to place it any higher.

4. Skittles

Like their ever famous motto, Skittles really make me taste the rainbow through their variety of flavors: grape, orange, strawberry, lemon and green apple. Smaller and less chewy than Starburst, I really have to concentrate to bring out their full potential. When I first bite through a Skittle’s crisp outer coating, the candy’s fruity essence flows into my taste buds. But, as fast the flavor burst hits me, it disappears. So I pick out another to achieve that savory experience once more. And then another. And another. When you ask a friend to give you a Skittle, do you ever stop at just one? That’s how good Skittles are by themselves, but they also prove delicious when combined with other treats. One of my favorite memories while camping is making Skittles pancakes. Just drop Skittles into the pan while the while the pancake batter is cooking, and voilà: rainbow awesomeness for dessert.

3. Twix

Batman and Robin. Spongebob and Patrick. Chocolate and Caramel. Perfect duos are hard to come by, but when they emerge, almost nothing can stop them. Twix utilizes that last pair excellently, combining the two to send me to a whole new dimension of sweetness. What sets Twix apart from the rest of the chocolate covered caramel frauds is the ratio of caramel to chocolate. The golden ratio, I might say. The shortbread base ups the crunch factor as well, creating a mix of crackly yet warm textures in my mouth. If you didn’t know, Twix comes in pairs, and the left Twix actually differs from the right one. If you prefer more caramel and less crunch, go with the left, and if your prefer that soothing chomping experience with less sweetness, pick the right. This creative nuance just adds to Twix’s charm.

2. M&M’s

Ah, the classic. In kindergarten, we learned how to count with M&M’s. In middle school, we used them to demonstrate natural selection. Even now, we use them for statistics activities. While their functionality itself is enough for M&M’s to place a respectable second place, it certainly doesn’t slack off in the tastiness category either. From a flavor standpoint, the quality of the chocolate is out of this world. There’s nothing like the feeling of cracking through the thin candy layer of an M&M shell before meeting pure semi-sweet chocolate filling. M&M’s also make good companions for pancakes, a fantastic substitute to chocolate chip pancakes (as you can probably tell, I’m sort of a pancake connoisseur). M&M’s vs Skittles has been a topic of debate for decades, but chocolate beats fruit anyday.

1. Candy Corn

White (ghosts), Orange (pumpkins), and Yellow (corn). The patriotic colors of Halloween all come together in the form of candy corn, a king among its peers. Well, maybe not yellow, but you get the idea. Candy corn resides at the top of my controversial Halloween candy ranking. When I proudly mentioned this to my Period 4 Journalism class, I faced an outcry of retching and jeers, mocking my pick without remorse. Frankly, it was a bit demoralizing. Yet, I will not back down. I will add that the public hate for candy corn is part of the reason why I am such a staunch supporter of it. After all, everyone needs someone to love them. Candy corn utilizes a blend of marshmallow and vanilla extracts to create its flavor: a simple idea, but effective. It’s no surprise that a combination of two powerhouse treats yields such great results. Aside from its unique taste, you can even use candy corn to prevent the onset of boredom. Matching up the colors of multiple candy corn side by side to form a perfect circle provides an engaging mental exercise. Hey, don’t judge, I find it fun. Everyone has personal tastes, but I implore you to give candy corn another chance. Stop sleeping on candy corn and approach it with an open mind. You might just find your new Halloween candy staple.