Hotel Chocolat Halloween Bites Box (The H-Box)

Of all the many Halloween themed food products in the shops at the moment this Halloween Bites selection box from Hotel Chocolat has to be the best looking. Just for the pumpkin shaped chocolates alone this box is unbeatable.

Inside the box you get three Zombie Eye Truffles, four Praline Pumpkins, four Dark Soft Caramels, three Gianduja Bombs and one Crystal Skull. The chocolates all look thoroughly fantastic and live up to the description of "A hair-raising collection for spooky parties and nights behind the sofa".

The stars of the show are undoubtedly the Praline Pumpkins.They look first-rate with a superb shape and colour. Let's cut to the chase though because when it comes to adorable chocolate pumpkins it's the insides that count.

They look just as wonderful on the inside, revealing a delicious hazelnut praline. They taste fantastic and were my favourite out of the whole selection. Hazelnut and chocolate is a match made in heaven anyway but here it is done to perfection. It's a masterclass in chocolate hazelnut praline. I hope next year Hotel Chocolat does a box with these Pumpkin Pralines alone.

No gags please. Next up we have the Zombie Eye Truffles which also look brilliant. These red coloured eyeballs are described as being "white chocolate with blood curdingly tangy raspberry ganache". Enough description though, I know you just want to see the insides of a zombie's eyeballs.

The raspberry filling is extremely tangy bordering on sour. The white chocolate has a lovely sweetness to counterbalance the sour flavour of the ganache but I still found the overall flavour a bit too sharp. The fruity raspberry flavouring however is fantastic.

Next up we have the ones I like to call "The Other Two". They are a bit boring compared to the rest of the Halloween awesomeness going on in this selection box, but as we all know you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket, or in this case, all of your bestsellers in one box.

The Dark Soft Caramel lives up to it's plainly descriptive name. It delivers a strong dark chocolate and a sweet caramel oozy centre. Delicious for dark chocolate fans. The Gianduja Bomb is a smooth hazelnut praline wrapped in dark chocolate. The inner truffle is delicious but I found the dark chocolate had a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Last up we have the largest chocolate in the box, The Crystal Skull. He's a mightily ugly dude, and whereas the other Halloween themed chocolates in this box are still quite "cute", this skull is genuinely monstrous.

The Crystal Skull was my second favourite in taste, after the Praline Pumpkins. It has a deliciously sweet milk chocolate filled with cherry crystals. These crystals give a lovely fine crunchy texture to the chocolate but only the barest hint of cherry which was a bit disappointing. Overall the Crystal Skull was still absolutely divine and luckily it is big enough to break in half and share with your nearest and dearest.

Unfortunately this box of Halloween Bites is already sold out online but Hotel chocolate still has boxes of the Zombie Eyeballs and lots of other Halloween treats available.