This Halloween season, noodle company Nissin has brought its latest limited edition idea to store shelves, and they boast it’s “great for Trick-or-Treating.”  It’s their Cup Noodles brand Vampire Noodles, a hot garlic chicken noodle practically guaranteed to ward off vampires.  The garlic aroma is so intense it probably should be called Anti-Vampire Noodles.  Yet its spicy garlic flavor is actually quite subtle compared to its violent color.  That’s right, these noodles, when water is added, become blood red, the color made from natural vegetable coloring.  As a kid my scout group had a haunted house at the school and part of the frights for kids was a guy dressed as a mad scientist putting your hands in gross-out foods made to look like gory body parts.  Someone used noodles for intestines and olives for eyes mixed with a bright red sauce to replicate “guts” for kids to reach into… or run away from.  The color of Vampire Noodles and its effect with the noodles is equally ghastly.  And yet, they also will hit the spot on a cold Halloween night.

In fact I tried a cup when I had a sore throat and it was the perfect thing.  If you can ignore that disturbing color, the flavor is only the latest limited Nissin product that should be added to their regular line of products.

Ward off vampires?  Check.

Tasty garlic chicken?  Check.

Disturbing presentation?  Check.

But it gets stranger.  For this Halloween promotion Nissin has partnered with a coffin company to give away a $4,000 actual coffin, designed with Vampire Noodles in mind.  How weird is that?  You enter a sweepstakes through the Cup Noodles Instagram for a chance to win the custom casket.  Yes, it’s a “Dead Giveaway.”  That’s quite the collaboration.

Vampire Noodles are a fun and flavorful follow-up to this summer’s Kansas City BBQ and Texas BBQ, last year’s Thanksgiving themed Turkey Dinner and Pumpkin Pie, and the previous year’s Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese and Maple Syrup, Pancakes, Sausage, and Egg Breakfast.

For anyone who’s ever been on a budget (and who isn’t in 2026?), you’ve probably found your way to microwavable ramen noodles one time or another.  A cup o’ noodles?  Why not?  Who says you can’t get lunch for a little more than a dollar?

A good treat before or after your Halloween adventure, grab some Vampire Noodles now, only available at WalMart for a limited time.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg