When Halloween rolls around, most people prefer to watch the classics: Halloweentown, Hocus Pocus, The Addams Family, and basically any other thriller. This year, I was in the midst of binge-watching every single episode of Chopped, so it was ideal to celebrate Halloween as well with a Halloween Chopped edition. 

The first Halloween episode I watched was quite the doozy. The first basket included chicken feet. I'm sorry, but anything that has claws and talons still intact will not be coming anywhere near me on a plate. Of course, one of the contestants left the talons on... rookie mistake.

A photo posted by Ted Allen (@thetedallen) on

Next up for the "trick" ingredients in the entree round was Halloween candy with some delicious frog legs. Number 1: Halloween candy has no place in any other category besides dessert. Number 2: chicken feet THEN frog legs?! How the F are you supposed to know what to do with that. Props to the contestants for holding on.

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The next episode I watched had the best contestant of all time. Her response to coagulated pig blood: "We don't have this in the projects." My response to coagulated pig blood: *types into google because I am extremely disturbed.*
So apparently, coagulated pig blood isn't enough, and eel also needed to be included in the basket ingredients. Important note: if you don't take the vein and the skin off, the eel is poisonous. One contestant thought that leaving it RAW would put his dish ahead of the other contestants. Sorry dude, that got you the boot for almost killing the judges. As for the next special edition, the contestants started out the appetizer round with a giant, green, gummy skull. When I say giant, I mean the size of a human head. Once again, I question how these ingredients loaded with sweetness can be included in an appetizer round. 

The one contestant made a mediterranean hash and threw in part of the gummy skull... not sure what she was thinking but all I can say is that the judges (shoutout to Chris Santos) were not feeling her vibes. 

As for the dessert round, the contestants were given Pate Sucre and Dehydrated Ant Weaver Eggs. For the Pate Sucre, I had to look that one up. Basically it is the French term for a pastry crust used to make tarts. Not bad! But, for the Dehydrated Ant Weaver Eggs, I was left speechless and I think the contestants were too.

The takeaway from my marathon of Halloween Chopped episodes is that if you think the regular version of Chopped is insane, this takes it to the next level. I wouldn't have wanted to get in the spirit for Halloween any other way then laughing at how ridiculous but amazing this show truly is.