Some US candy brands are readily available in the UK, others are only available in shops that specialise in importing them. Candy Corn - practically a confectionery mascot for the Spooky Season in the USA - is unfamiliar here. I finally got to try some, and a few other Halloween sweets from across the pond.

This year there are quite a few sweets repackaged or adapted for the Halloween market. I bought some from Poundland, Marks & Spencer, B&M, the Co-op and TK Maxx.

Fancy a lunch as dark as your soul? Try some black pasta. It gets its colour from squid ink and is traditionally paired with or filled with seafood.

There's more to Halloween confectionery than fun size multipacks marketed for trick-or-treat. Some retailers make the effort to produce sweets that are far too nice to hand out to kids. One of my favourites is Hotel Chocolat.

Pumpkin Pie is a popular Thanksgiving treat in the USA, and making it is a good way to use the flesh from carved Halloween Jack-o'-lanterns. It's really easy to do, but it can be an incredibly sweet and calorific dessert. We used a basic no-frills recipe.

Retailers in the UK have started to treat Halloween as a special event, selling more themed products every year. Alongside decorations and costumes there is an ever-growing range of food marketed specifically for Halloween.