NATCHEZ — The smell of zombeans, toes-in-a-blanket and severed heart cake was enough to lure in even the faint of heart.

And once inside the Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Natchez campus Monster Bash, eaters brave enough to try the sometimes disgusting looking dishes enjoyed more treats than tricks.

The annual Taste of Co-Lin, combined with side dishes of a pumpkin carving contest and costume contests, served up plenty of fright and plenty of fun.

The Halloween-themed cook-off, Taste of Co-Lin, pitted student groups against each other, all hoping to take home the coveted Silver Spatula Award.

The N-Sights staff and Film Club members offered diners a tasty sampling of two-squash casserole, chicken rotini and Italian crme cookies, as they sought to make it two in a row after winning last year’s battle.

Team member Derrick Garrity was confident in the food on the table, but said if competition was stiff, he might be willing to resort to other methods to secure the victory.

“Sabotage,” he joked. “I’m not above sabotage like putting extra ingredients in other people food or messing with table legs. This is serious.”

Garrity’s team had serious competition from the Student Government Association, Trailblazers student recruitment group, Skills USA class and other groups.

Chelsea Cox, from SGA, said her team’s plan to take home a win was to stick close to the Halloween theme. The group served up zombeans, spider egg cupcakes, ectoplasmic casserole and offered up cups of blood juice to wash it all down with.

“With a Halloween theme, we just wanted to go all out,” said Cox of Natchez. “We hope that helps us win because I don’t think SGA has ever won.”

SGA’s competition had good plans for taking home the win, too.

The Trailblazers were hoping to just overwhelm eaters with selection and sweets.

“I think we have the most food to eat,” Trailblazer Dwight Williams, of Natchez, said looking down the table filled with chips and dip, cupcakes, meat pies, toes-in-a-blanket and more.

But ultimately it was up to the voters, and diners La’Joshua White and William Mathis, both from Natchez, said it was more about loyalty than it was the food.

“Everything I tasted was good,” White said.

“But the food at my table was the best,” he said of the chili and cornbread offered up by the Skills USA team

Mathis said the carné adavada and paella prepared by the Spanish club was tasty, but not tasty enough to steal his vote from the Skills USA team.

“I have to go where my loyalty is,” he said. “The other food is good, but I’m loyal to Skills USA.”