Whereas Christmas is like the silver Cadillac of holidays, Halloween is like a jacked up Camaro with flames on the side.

You can have some fun with it, you can get a little wild, you can take some chances, and that’s why it’s a good time.

In the food and drink biz, Halloween always offers the opportunity to come up with creative and delicious new menu specials, and this season, Blue Cat Brew Pub, 113 18th St., Rock Island, has jumped headfirst into that haunted forest of foodstuffs with a cauldron full of specials you’ll truly … grave. (Sorry, Crypt Keeper, you’ve got someone CUTTING a head of you in terms of bloody good puns.)

To start, I went with their holiday drink, Vecna’s Halloween Ale. If you’re into thicker, sweeter ales, you’ll find it eerily good, with sweet notes of honey and berries and a heart-y finish.

Tearing down the table next was the special app for the month, the Terror Tots, which I really enjoyed. Can you blame Napoleon Dynamite for jonesing for the tots? And these are revved up and ramped up, with a creative style — knife dripping with ketchup — and a great taste — reminiscent of jalapeno poppers. With cheese, seasoned beef, queso, tots and awesome fried tempura jalapenos (easily my favorite part; love the jalapenos), the Terror Tots won’t scare your taste buds.

The Halloween-themed Spellbound Salad had a devilish kick to it, with tasty sriracha pulled pork, onion strings, and cheese curds over a bed of greens.

We capped things off with a Halloween-themed burger, the Monster Mash, a thick beef patty with two kinds of cheese — cheddar and pepperjack — bacon, pickle, lettuce and a slightly spicy sauce.

If you’re looking for some fun Halloween-themed foods for the season, I’d definitely recommend checking them out. Both adults and kids should dig the visuals and the tastes of each of the new Blue Cat specials.

Except for the Vecna’s Ale. Might want to keep that away from the kids, no matter how much they like “Stranger Things.”

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Sean Leary Director of Digital Media

Sean Leary is an author, director, artist, musician, producer and entrepreneur who has been writing professionally since debuting at age 11 in the pages of the Comics Buyers Guide. An honors graduate of the University of Southern California masters program, he has written over 50 books including the best-sellers The Arimathean, Every Number is Lucky to Someone and We Are All Characters.