Start by carefully carving out the eye sockets in your button mushrooms to form spooky skulls. Halve each mushroom, ensuring you cut the eye sockets first to avoid splitting. Set the prepared mushroom skulls aside.

In a large pot, bring salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the squid ink spaghetti and cook according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve a cup of pasta water, then drain the squid ink spaghetti and return it to the pot.

In a large frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, place the mushroom skulls cut side down in the pan. Sauté for about 5-6 minutes or until nicely browned, then flip and cook for an additional minute.

In the same pan, add the remaining 0.5 tablespoons of butter and diced brown onion. Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes until soft and translucent, then add chopped bacon for another 2-3 minutes until crispy.

Stir in minced garlic and pour in the dry white wine, scraping up browned bits. Allow wine to reduce by half for about 2-3 minutes.

Pour in ½ cup of thickened cream and stir gently. Let the sauce simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes until it thickens. Add grated parmesan cheese and stir until melted.

Reduce the heat to low and add the drained squid ink spaghetti to the sauce, tossing to coat. Use reserved pasta water as needed to adjust consistency.

Gently toss in the sautéed mushroom skulls into the creamy pasta. Warm through for a minute.

Serve the Mushroom Skulls Spooky Pasta on plates, garnished with remaining parmesan cheese and fresh thyme sprigs.