McDonald's Is Back in the Spooky Spirit With Four New Halloween Buckets

The Gist:

• McDonald's Halloween buckets are back in 2023 with four new designs.
• You can purchase them at participating locations beginning on Oct. 17, 2023, while supplies last.
• The buckets were originally released in 1986 before going on hiatus after 2016; they returned again in 2022 with OG designs.

Spooky season is approaching faster than the Sanderson Sisters on broomsticks — so naturally we all want to know if McDonald's is celebrating the best time of the year by bringing back its iconic Halloween "Boo Buckets."

Yes! McDonald's said in a statement on its website that beginning on Oct. 17, 2023, fans can purchase four new buckets at participating locations while supplies last.

The new buckets are:

• Monster
• Skeleton
• Mummy
• Vampire

The company notes that the purple Vampire bucket is "launching for the first time since the OG purple Boo Bucket."

Back in 1986, McDonald's released its fun Halloween buckets for customers.

Per Nightmare Nostalgia, the first three bucket offerings were the McPunk'n (an orange pumpkin pail with the classic jack-o'-lantern face), the McBoo (an orange pumpkin pail with a ghostly face), and finally the McGoblin (the orange pumpkin pail with the traditionally spooky face).

The last time McDonald's released a version of its Halloween buckets before going on hiatus for several years was back in 2016. The buckets that year were tributes to an iconic Halloween special — It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

However, it was the late '80s and early '90s McDonald's Halloween buckets that had everyone in their nostalgia feels about the return of the Halloween buckets when they were reintroduced in 2022 — with the OG designs.

As Nightmare Nostalgia notes in its history of the McDonald's Halloween buckets, the company changed the look of the buckets multiple times over the years. Different looks included a glow-in-the-dark McBoo ghost bucket, several takes on a McWitch bucket, buckets featuring McDonald's characters in Halloween scenes, a Mr. Potato Head Halloween bucket, and more.

When the beloved buckets were reintroduced in 2022 with the original designs, many millennial McDonald's lovers celebrated the idea of being able to purchase an OG Halloween bucket for their own children.

"We heard you loud and clear… if spooky SZN doesn’t include McDonald’s Halloween Pails, then you don't want it," McDonald's announced in an Oct. 6, 2022, statement. "That's why we’re bringing back the most iconic Halloween trio – McBoo, McPunk’n and McGoblin – that first came on the scene back in 1986."

We don't know about you, but we'll certainly be heading to the Happy Meal line ASAP to check out the four new buckets being offered this year.

So, are you going to buy a 2023 McDonald's Halloween bucket?