McDonald’s Is Bringing Back Their Boo Buckets — and There’s a New Color This Halloween

McDonald’s Boo Buckets are back this season, giving Happy Meals a spooky twist.

The Halloween-themed pails, which can later be used for trick-or-treating, will make their official return on Oct. 17 at participating locations, the fast food chain announced.

The festive buckets, first introduced in 1986, returned in 2022 for the first time since 2016. 

The green, orange, and white buckets will all make a comeback this year — along with the purple Vampire character, launching for the first time since the original purple Boo Bucket. This year, the green pail is a monster, orange is a skeleton and white is a mummy.

“They’ll be gone faster than you can say ‘boo,’” according to McDonald’s, which notes they’ll be available while supplies last.

Burger King also has Halloween buckets for a limited time. In celebration of all that is spooky, on Friday the 13th, select Burger King restaurants will be offering limited-edition, glow-in-the-dark “Trick-or-Heat” buckets inspired by the restaurant’s ghost pepper menu additions. Customers in Nashville, Tennessee; Las Vegas, Nevada; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Atlanta, Georgia; can take home the bucket with any purchase for $1.

Boo Buckets aren’t the only nostalgic item making a comeback at McDonald’s.

Fans of the Golden Arches got another happy surprise last week, when McDonald’s announced the McRib sandwich will make its return in November at select locations.

The news comes after the sandwich, which features boneless pork covered with barbecue sauce and topped with slivered onions and dill pickles on a hoagie-style bun, went on a  “Farewell Tour” last October.

“It turns out not everyone was ready to say goodbye to the McRib after last year’s Farewell Tour,” McDonald’s said in a press release.

The brand noted that the limited edition menu item will only be available in select stores, saying, “while it won’t be available nationwide, some lucky fans may find their favorite elusive saucy sandwich at their local McDonald’s restaurants this November.”

The McRib first debuted in 1981 at a Kansas City McDonald’s. While it was initially overshadowed by the brand’s McNuggets launch, it had a resurgence in 1994 when McDonald’s brought it back in honor of the live action Flintstones movie. It remained on the permanent menu into the early-2000s, and has maintained a following through limited-edition runs.

Other recent launches at McDonald’s include the return of Spicy Chicken McNuggets and the introduction of two new sauces.

The sweet and spicy jam sauce, similar to a pepper jelly, and the barbecue-style mambo sauce are a pair of spicy new creations inspired by regional flavors. The chain began serving both on Monday, Oct. 9.