Which McDonald’s Halloween Buckets are available this year and how do they differ from the originals?

Spooky season is in full swing and McDonald’s is appealing to all the ’80s and ’90s kids’ sense of nostalgia for the most frightening time of the year. The company is bringing back its popular Boo Bucket happy meals to create gleefully spooky memories for Generation Alpha kids and their Millennial parents.

The buckets — which double as a candy pail as well as a burger and fries container — have been one of the most iconic happy meal packagings of the fast food company since they were introduced in 1986. They’ve been Halloween staples for late-Gen X kids and Millennials and look to be continuing their pop culture hold well into the newest generation. Here’s a little about the buckets’ history and what we can expect for the newest editions.

The buckets first appeared in 1986 in their first-level forms – a trio of Jack O’Lanterns. They were all identical pumpkin orange and were only told apart by their “faces.” Each bucket had a name to match their expressions. McPunk’n had a traditional grin, McBoo had a frightened face; and McGoblin — arguably the scariest of the bunch — sported a slightly sinister smirk.

The OG buckets stuck around for a few years and then went on hiatus in 1988, returning the next year with a completely overhauled look.

The new Boos had been even further delineated (and likely made more collectible) with different names and colors. McBoo the pumpkin was still around but his fellow gourds had been replaced by a “ghost” (it was the same shape as McBoo but ghostly white instead of orange), and a green witch complete with a pointy “hat” lid. And the ghost bucket was also glow-in-the-dark – the perfect trick-or-treating accessory.

In 1992 the Happy Meals appeared again, this time not only overhauled but featuring a new special feature — an integrated Halloween cookie cutter built into the lid. This also let kids open the bucket to get treats without having to take off the carrying handle as well – helpful to kids looking to sweep the neighborhood of treats before hordes of scavenging bigger kids showed up for tricks.

The buckets shuffled off the coil for another hiatus year in 1993 but returned with yet another re-design in 1994. The graphics on the meals had again changed and grown a little more frenetic, likely in an attempt to meet the ’90s styles of the time. The effort wasn’t exactly a rousing success – although at least the ghost got a pair of drawn-on arms. The witch also went from the traditional Wizard of Oz green to a vibrant purple. The pumpkin’s look was a little lopsided as if somebody had poured bourbon into him instead of candy corn and fun-sized Snickers.

Unfortunately, the lackluster new designs were a sign of the Buckets’ bad times to come.

The 2000s were pretty lean years for the Boo Buckets. In the early aughts, they disappeared altogether, to be replaced with Happy Meal Halloween “Pails” which bore little resemblance to the original pumpkin designs and were more likely than not some sort of IP tie-in to Scooby-Doo or other franchises (including Mr. Potato Head for some reason). @011 at least celebrated Frankenstein’s monster and had a neat bat-shaped handle but the classic design seemed like it was consigned to the years of dunkaroos and the TGIF Friday night lineup.

But like all great Halloween franchises, you can’t keep a good ghost down. McDonald’s has announced that this October will feature the return of the classic ’90s-era design featuring the Jack O’Lantern, Witch, and Ghost buckets to your nearest McDonald’s drive-through. The buckets will arrive at participating stores on Oct. 18, with plenty of time for the whole fam to grab their favorite design.

It’s not known if the buckets themselves will feature any extras. promotional images seem to indicate that the classic lids will be offered without the integrated cookie-cutter top. McBoo the Ghost and McPunk’n the Jack O’Lantern will feature pumpkin-shaped tops while McGoblin will feature her distinctive green witch’s hat.

One scary fact though: consumer hype for the buckets is up — so don’t be surprised if supplies run out if you sleep on the deal. Also, don’t get mad when you don’t get your traditional toy with your happy meal. The bucket itself is the toy so that’s all you get. If you get the meal for your kids (and not just for your own inner child) make sure they understand that — or be prepared to hit the Target toy aisle after lunch to make up for the lack.

Happy Halloween!