We have so few trick-or-treaters on my quiet street. We fill a bowl with candy and we’re lucky if the doorbell rings twice. This year, I’ll be waiting for the little gremlins and goblins while enjoying my own candy: a fat slice of Red Witch and a bottle of Dead Guy. This Swiss raw-milk cheese may sound like a gimmick, but it’s made by a master and it’s hauntingly good.

Christian Oberli runs the creamery his family started in 1918 in St. Gallen. He makes traditional Swiss cheeses like Raclette, but with Red Witch he is having some fun. The paprika-dusted cheese debuted about a decade ago, after a customer suggested that Oberli create a celebratory wheel for Carnevale, the spring festival before Lent. That’s when Swiss people don masks and wizard costumes and get a little crazy in the streets. (Hard to imagine, but so I’m told.)

The two of them brainstormed over dinner and hatched the idea of the red-pepper rind and the demonic label. Underneath is flawless Appenzeller-like cheese, firm, sweet and silky, with aromas of peanuts and hazelnuts, brown butter and bacon. Aged five to six months, Red Witch develops some of those crunchy protein crystals that emerge over time.

Importer Caroline Hostettler tells me that this cheese has an elder sibling, Old Witch, made without the paprika and matured three months longer. “It is amazing how creamy and lush it becomes,” says Hostettler. Keep an eye out for it.

Red Witch languished in the U.S. until Hostettler, who is Swiss, thought to link it with Halloween. I’m happy to encounter it at any time, but you’re more likely to find merchants showcasing it now. Snap it up and enjoy it with a pumpkin ale or a malty maibock like Rogue Dead Guy. An Alsatian Pinot Gris or Riesling also appeals to me as a match, and Madeira or Oloroso sherry would be a slam dunk.

Look for Red Witch at these retailers.