It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? This is the start of my journey into the way-back machine to review all of the foods I ate in 2018 and never actually wrote up. Some of these will inevitably be one-offs, while other items may return in the future, and prove to be useful posts. First up, because we may as well return with the bizarre, is Burger King’s Nightmare King. The Nightmare King was a Halloween-themed chicken sandwich/burger variant. I’m not really sure if there was some food trend which I missed that they were hopping on, or if this was entirely their creation, but I can say it was definitely unique when I think back on special items. With regards to Burger King’s tendency to create new menu choices by slapping some new toppings on a Whopper, this is certainly the most unique offering I’ve come across.

The Nightmare King contains a burger patty, a white meat fried chicken patty, bacon, cheese, mayonnaise and onions on a green sesame bun. Most important, Burger King claimed a study they conducted showed that people who ate the sandwich were more likely to have a nightmare. The cost was $6.49 for the sandwich and $8.59 for a standard meal. I went to eat it within a few days of its release, and the worker at the counter had a hard time finding it on the register. When the order was finally input, I was only given the burger itself and not the full meal that I had ordered (I ordered something else and didn’t notice the price discrepancy until I received my food and saw the receipt).

Before I can even begin to discuss the sandwich itself, we need to address the optics of that bun. They really could have leaned into the Halloween/spooky/weird theme and given us a bright green bun, something which looks radioactive and really provides a contrast with other burgers. Instead, Burger King provided this pale green/brown thing, which looked more like a piece of old bread than something scary. It was honestly off-putting when I opened the wrapper, and not in the way they likely intended.

The next most obvious feature was the greasiness of the burger. I’m not sure if the off-colored bun made it shine more, but the sandwich looked extremely greasy and felt greasy as I picked it up. I should also note that the sandwich was heavy. The $6.49 price tag is nothing to sneeze at, but the heft of the sandwich at least gives the impression that you’re getting a real sandwich and will be full after finishing it.

So the Nightmare King looked terrible, but how did it taste? It seemed like onions and mayo were the only toppings because they were so prevalent. Regular readers of this blog will know that combo is the biggest possible turn-off for me as those are my most despised sandwich spread and condiment. I can at least say that my first bite wasn’t that bad. The chicken patty was super-juicy and the toppings complemented the chicken. There was a ton of raw onion, which had a sharp taste and shone through the other flavors. I’m not sure if the sandwich was meant to hold this much onion or if I received an over-enthusiastic preparation of the sandwich, but if you enjoy the taste of raw white onion, this will be right up your alley.

Continuing my thoughts on the Nightmare King’s preparation, it seemed as if the toppings were evenly added, and I was getting a taste of everything in my most of my bites. Burger King bacon has a nice smoky taste and adds a little bite to the sandwich texture. The chicken patty itself got worse as I continued eating. As I mentioned above, at first bite it was crispy and super juicy. However, as I continued eating, it lost that crispiness. Also, I think they changed their chicken patty since the last time I ate it, as this was not the patty from the Original Chicken sandwich, nor was it TenderCrisp form the last time I ate it.

One thing I didn’t taste was that green bun. Unfortunately, I can’t find any existing ad copy, but I think it was just supposed to a bun which was dyed green and not like matcha flavor. I understand that maybe it’d hard to do anything too crazy with the flavor, but the lack of effort with the bun was disappointing, between the drab coloring and lack of flavor.

I complain about mayo, but the sandwich did need some sort of spread. I normally like ketchup and mustard with burgers, but I think with everything on the Nightmare King, those would have clashed with the flavors and been too much. A ranch-type dressing would be interesting with chicken, but maybe doesn’t work with the burger, so mayo works as a neutral spread to give moisture.

Lastly, I guess I should address the burger patty. With everything going on in this sandwich, the burger patty really isn’t doing much. It serves as a base for everything else and definitely makes the sandwich more substantial. The patty needs to be there to add to the Frankenstein-ness of this (since I’m guessing using a fish patty wouldn’t quite sell as much), but I didn’t really taste the beef patty.

As I mentioned above, I ate this sandwich in a 2018 release and I haven’t noticed any comeback in the subsequent two Halloweens. There’s a reason for that. I wouldn’t say the sandwich was bad. It honestly started out as an interesting, weird experience. I’d even venture to call the Nightmare King good. However, eating it was not particularly enjoyable. There was so much sandwich, that I started slowing down pretty quickly, which created the soft chicken issue. I really could have used a beverage during the meal, but as I mentioned there was a mistake in my ordering and I didn’t get one. By the end, I just gave up on the sandwich and couldn’t finish, which rarely happens. If this came out again, I think I’d be willing to split it with someone else, while having some fries or a small sandwich on the side, but I would not order this for a solo meal. It’s too much and I didn’t feel great after eating it.