Halloween Candy Shop in Russian Hill: $25 Gummy Skull Bins

The Candy Store at 1507 Vallejo Street is the Halloween candy shop San Francisco locals send each other to when the supermarket aisle feels too generic. It is a single small room on the corner of Vallejo and Polk in Russian Hill, lined with old-fashioned glass jars, and in October the front shelves fill with candy corn, gummy skulls and chocolate ghosts that are all sold by weight.

Owner Diane Campbell runs the shop, and the stock reflects a very personal list. Time Out describes walls lined with jars of licorice, sours, chocolates and gummies, plus the retro things that rarely survive in chain stores: candy buttons, Pixy Stix, Necco wafers, Big League Chew and wax bottles. The store calls itself San Francisco's premier candy boutique, and the size makes that claim feel more like a curated pantry than a warehouse.

Campbell has a soft spot for Scandinavian and British sweets, so a whole section goes to Swedish licorice in shapes like herring, bears, Scottie dogs and coins, along with oddball imports from the UK. Gummies shaped like chicken feet are a known regular request. That mix of American nostalgia and European strangeness is exactly what makes a Halloween bag from here look different from the one sitting by every other front door on the block.

The shop publishes its Halloween list online with prices, and almost all of it is sold by the pound. Classic candy corn, which the store labels the original and the best, is $25 a pound. Gummi candy corn, Gummi Missing Body Parts, Gummy Skulls and Eyeballs, a Halloween Sweet-Tart Mix and Black Cherry and Tangerine Sours sit at the same $25 a pound, which keeps mixing simple.

Chocolate moves up a tier. Milk Chocolate Ghosts, Milk Chocolate Halloween Balls and Milk Crispy Halloween Balls are $35 a pound. If you want something already portioned, the Halloween Gummi Mix comes in a half-pound bag for $12.50 and the Halloween Chocolate Mix in a half-pound bag for $17.50. Those two bags are the easiest host gift on the list, and both fit in a coat pocket on the walk home.

The Halloween shelf already shares space with the next holiday. The store's Thanksgiving list includes dark and milk chocolate leaves at $35 a pound and one-ounce milk or dark chocolate turkeys at $4 each, with a solid six-ounce milk chocolate turkey for $12. If you are hosting both a costume night and a November dinner, one trip covers the two tables, and the small turkeys make tidy place-card favors.

The Swedish wall is quietly the best Halloween section in the room, even though it is stocked all year. Swedish Strawberry Skulls, Citrus Skulls, Pinky Skulls with a tropical flavor and Sour Watermelon Skulls are all $25 a pound, as are the sour S-Marke ovals in cola, raspberry, passionfruit and black currant. A scoop of mixed skulls looks festive without a single orange wrapper.

For adults at a costume party, a small bag of salty Scandinavian licorice is the conversation piece. People either love the double-salted kind or spit it out, and both reactions are entertaining at a party. Build a bag with one sour, one chocolate and one salty item and you will have covered most tastes for a group of six to eight.

The Candy Store keeps short hours, Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 5pm, so plan the visit rather than counting on an after-work stop. The room fits only a few shoppers comfortably, which means a Saturday afternoon line can spill toward the corner. Weekday late mornings are the quiet window, and the jars are fully stocked right after opening.

Since most candy is weighed, decide on a budget in pounds before you start pointing at jars. A quarter pound of four different gummies is easier on the wallet than a full pound of one. Tell the staff if you are building a party bowl so they can bag sours and chocolates separately; chocolate softens against sticky gummies on the walk up the hill. Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, and the shop closes at 5pm that day, so shop earlier in the week if the bowl matters.

Polk Street is the neighborhood's main strip, and heading north from Vallejo puts you among cafes, wine bars and small shops that dress their windows for October. Walk a few blocks west and uphill to reach Macondray Lane, a quiet pedestrian lane with wooden stairs and gardens that is said to have inspired the setting of Tales of the City, a good place to sample the first piece of candy.

Ina Coolbrith Park, on the slope near Vallejo and Taylor, gives one of the best free views of the Bay Bridge and North Beach, and its terraced paths are short enough for small children. If you still have energy, the winding block of Lombard Street is a manageable walk north. Swensen's, the ice cream parlor that has stood at Hyde and Union since 1948, makes an easy last stop for anyone who wants a cone after the candy.

The Candy Store, at 1507 Vallejo Street, San Francisco, CA, sits on the corner of Vallejo and Polk in Russian Hill. Hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm, and the shop is closed Sunday and Monday. The store's website lists its Halloween and seasonal candy with per-pound prices and also takes orders for shipping.

Muni buses along Polk Street and Van Ness Avenue stop within a few blocks, and the Hyde Street cable car runs a short climb to the west. Street parking on Russian Hill is tight and steep, so curb your wheels if you drive. Bring a sturdy bag, because the walk home almost always involves a hill. For more San Francisco Halloween ideas near Russian Hill, ask in the Karpo APP and get suggestions for costume shops, haunted bars and family events close by.