General Mills Details First New Monster Cereal Character in 35 Years

General Mills today confirmed rumors that this fall will see the introduction of Carmella Creeper, the first new Monster Cereal mascot introduced in over 30 years. The cereal itself is caramel apple-themed, and Carmella herself represents the first time there has been a girl character in the monster cereal universe. General Mills also confirmed that they will be rolling out a new version of their Monster Mash cereal, a flavor medley originally released as a 50th anniversary limited edition. The new Monster Mash will include Carmella along with Count Chocula, Franken Berry, Boo Berry, Fruit Brute, and Yummy Mummy.

According to General Mills, "Carmella Creeper is the long-lost cousin of Franken Berry as well as a zombie DJ with an edgy sound who is always the life of the party. Complete with a fierce attitude and looks to match, Carmella is ready to shake things up at the Monsters' haunted mansion with her limited-edition cereal featuring caramel-apple-flavored pieces with colored Monster marshmallows." Along with an official confirmation of rumors that emerged last week, General Mills provided ComicBook.com with a short comic that shows Carmella's introduction to the gang, as she crashes a video game party with Count Chocula, Boo Berry, and Franken Berry.

You can see the comic, which will run on the back of this year's Monsters Cereal boxes, below.

Count Chocula and Franken Berry launched in Marcy 1971, according to the General Mills website. George Karn, who designed the original Trix Rabbit in 1959, also designed Count Chocula. In 1972, Boo Berry joined the party. Those three cereals have remained on the market since then, although in 2009, the cereals became seasonal items that are available during the spooky season. It isn't just October when you can get them, though; in recent years, they have been showing up on store shelves in July or August.

In 1974, Fruit Brute debuted, then was retired in 1982. In 1988, they tried another new berry flavor with Yummy Mummy. That one lasted only four years before being retired in 1992. Both Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy returned in 2013, marking the first time all five cereals were on the shelf at once.

Over the years, the Monster cereals have had a number of highly visible (and usually thematically appropriate) crossover marketing pushes, including working with Scooby-Doo and introducing Casper-shaped marshmallows to promote Casper Meets Wendy. In 2014, comics artists Jim Lee, Dave Johnson, and Terry and Rachel Dodson redesigned the main three monster cereals, and they got another fresh look from special effects artist Karlee Morse in 2020.

General Mills recently rolled out "hidden dragon" cereal in its Lucky Charms boxes. The traditional charms will wash away in milk, revealing the limited-time dragons who we assume are the second-cousins to these monster mascots, even if they'll never meet. As yet, there is no official announcement from General Mills, so we won't find out until then whether and when fans can get their first taste of a new monster flavor.

This year's full Monsters Cereals line-up includes Carmella Creeper, Count Chocula, Franken Berry, Boo Berry and Monster Mash Remix Cereal for five different ways to enjoy their frightful deliciousness. Cereal lovers can snag Monsters Cereals at retailers nationwide for $3.99 (regular) and $4.93 (family size) beginning later this summer.