Aldi’s Halloween cheeses return September 30th, and the naming committee is once again earning its paycheck. The grocer’s Emporium Selection line is bringing back four seasonal cheeses, all $4.29 each, and all leaning fully into the spooky theme.

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If you shop Aldi, you already know these show up every autumn alongside pumpkin everything and the middle-aisle Halloween crockery. They’re a small tradition at this point, and part of the appeal is that the names are always a little unhinged while the cheese inside is usually pretty sensible.

Meet The Cheeses

Death by Garlic is the headliner, and despite the name, it’s a cheddar blended with black garlic―the mellow, fermented, slightly sweet kind rather than the sharp raw stuff. So less vampire deterrent, more genuinely nice addition to a board. The dramatic name is doing a lot of work for what is, underneath, a fairly grown-up cheese.

Scary Pumpkin Spice is a Wensleydale with nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. This is the one that sounds like pumpkin spice going a step too far, but it makes more sense than you’d think. Wensleydale is mild and crumbly and takes to warm spices well―it’s the same logic as the Wensleydale-and-cranberry everyone happily eats at Christmas, just wearing a different seasonal costume.

Freaky Franken is a sage Derby, which is a real, long-standing cheese with green marbling that comes from the sage. So the “Franken” bit is about the slightly ghoulish look rather than any mad-science gimmick, which makes it one of the more honest names in the lineup.

And rounding things out is Bat Knit Crazy Cheddar, which is a cheddar. That’s the whole thing. The name is the product and it’s a good enough pun to justify itself.

Why It Works

The names are the fun part, but the cheeses underneath are real styles―black garlic cheddar, spiced Wensleydale, sage Derby. None of them need a Halloween label to be worth eating. The label just makes them more fun to put in your basket. And at $4.29, it’s an easy yes.

When to Grab Them

The cheeses land in stores on September 30th, which is cutting it slightly fine if you’re planning a Halloween spread and want to try a few before the night itself. Aldi’s seasonal finds also have a habit of disappearing once shoppers catch on, so this is more of a see-it-grab-it situation than a “I’ll come back next week” one.

Four cheeses, four ridiculous names, one reasonable price. Whether you’re building an actual board or just want Death by Garlic sitting in your fridge, Aldi has you covered for the season.