We Tasted Every General Mills Monster Cereal, And Only One Put Us In The Halloween Spirit

If you're a kooky, spooky person like me, then you love the novelty of items like a monster-inspired cereal. In 2025, General Mills rereleased three options, as opposed to the five it had created in the past. The three cereals celebrate a trio of monster icons that have been around since the 1970s: Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry — if you're seeking a touch of nostalgia, you may want to try these to see if they live up to your memories. In the past, the company has created other fun concepts like the "Friends"-themed cereal, so there's always something interesting to munch on. 

To get in the creepy spirit, I pitted the frightful ghouls against each other to find out which is the best cereal of the bunch. I tried them with milk and without — call me strange, but I almost always prefer dry cereal — but both methods were highly important factors in the decision-making. I considered the overall flavor profile and delivery of the advertised flavor as the biggest factor. Texture plays its part, but they all had similar consistency with and without milk. I may mention aroma and color, but this is simply for a description. Let's find out which left me bewitched and which we can leave behind.

The Franken Berry cereal is a vibrant pink-hued cereal that is supposed to be a strawberry frosted cereal with monster marshmallows. There's a barely there fruit scent on the nose, which correlates with the overall flavor profile. Unfortunately, there isn't much flavor except corn. I like corn flakes and would simply pick that up if I wanted corn-flavored cereal. No need for the absurdly bright monster version. The marshmallows are nice, though, offering sweetness that the cereal itself doesn't have. 

With the addition of milk, the corniness isn't as prominent because you get a bit of richness from the dairy. But still, there's nothing too notable or compelling in the taste of the cereal. It's mainly milk, corn, and marshmallow. The milk has an extremely light shade of pink after sitting in the cereal, which is fun.

When dry, the cereal is quite crunchy, while the marshmallows have a mild initial crispness that quickly dissipates. Once you add dairy (or your favorite plant milk), the cereal softens slightly but still offers a crunch. The marshmallows, on the other hand, soften and attain an almost slimy exterior (not in a bad way, that just how I'd describe it), while the inside still has the slight bite — this texture is the same for all three cereals, so I won't mention it again.

Overall, there's not much to taste in the Franken Berry cereal. I wanted more fruitiness and more strawberry, but it did not deliver.

On the box, the Boo Berry is described as a berry flavor cereal. The dark purple is a bit easier on the eyes, and it almost looks like brown from afar. The fruity smell is a tad stronger than Franken Berry, and upon the first bite, I pick up a promising hint of berry that reminds me of Trix cereal if it had half the flavor. The fruit-like taste is more prominent than the previous option, but it's still not too strong. However, this could certainly be a plus if you don't want an overwhelming artificial fruit flavor in your mouth. There's still that hint of corn, but at least the berry edges it out. 

With milk, the fruitiness gets toned down ever so slightly, but it still offers more intrigue on the advertised flavor than Franken Berry. While not a knock-out cereal, it is the better and more flavorsome of the two. The marshmallows, again, bring a hint of sweetness into the mix. This time, they also offer brightness to the dark cereal. On the plus side, I like how this isn't a sugar bomb. I'm not sure how it would stack up in a fruity cereal ranking, but likely in the middle because it holds up in milk, and it isn't too sweet, but it doesn't have an artificial sweetener to mess up the flavor either.

There is no comparison: Count Chocula is the clear winner of this monster cereal taste test. This is described as a "chocolatey" cereal on the box, and I can confirm that upon the first whiff when opening the box. It had a cocoa scent comparable to other cocoa cereals out there. The first crunchy bite of dry cereal yields a chocolate taste with no hint of corn. The cocoa essence is prominent and scrumptious. The brown cereal also has brown and white marshmallows, as opposed to the colorful ones in the previous two boxes.

In milk, Count Chocula still provides plentiful flavor that lasts after several minutes in the liquid. The milk turns a delightful shade of light brown that tastes like chocolate milk, which only enhances the overall profile — essentially doubling the cocoa goodness. You could even purposely use the milk to jazz up your cup of coffee or revamp tres leches cake, which is a fun way to get different uses out of the cereal.

I will note that while all three cereals had a level of dust, Count Chocula is ultra-powdery. A lot of residual cereal dust gathers at the bottom of the bag and then makes its way in as you pour your cereal. But that doesn't impact the rating. This is my top choice because it's tasty alone and just as good (if not better) with milk; it presents the promised flavors with ease. I'd like to see how this stacks up in the chocolaty cereal ranking! 

I tried all three cereals in one day, one after another, to get a taste of each. I first tried them dry (without milk) to gather information on the flavors and textures, then I ate them again with milk. I tried a few bites of each right away and then let them sit for three minutes (I set a timer) to see how they fared when slightly softened. Flavor was the most important deciding factor for this ranking — did I pick up the notes of the advertised flavor, and what did it taste like by itself and with milk? Did the milk impact the flavor positively or negatively? I like my cereal to taste like it says it's going to taste. Texture is a minor factor, as the texture of all three was the same.