Halloween Wars is an American reality competition series from Super Delicious, the production company that also produces Cupcake Wars and Cake Wars. It premiered on October 2, 2011, on Food Network and it runs over the course of four weeks in October annually. The show pits five teams made up of cake sculptors, sugar artists, and pumpkin carvers against each other to produce the ultimate Halloween themed display. The winning team is awarded $50,000. For season 13 and 14, the winning team is awarded $25,000.
The series was hosted by Justin Willman (seasons 1–4), Rossi Morreale (season 5), Jonathan Bennett (seasons 6-10, 13-15), and for seasons 11 and 12, hosted by paranormal investigator Zak Bagans from Ghost Adventures.
Rounds Each episode has two rounds. The first round is the "Small Scare" where the teams of trios get 45 minutes to create their interpretation of a spooky theme (ex: "possessed electronics" or "zombie dolls"). The winners of the first round get an extra assistant for the second round (starting in season three, winners of the final episode "Small Scare" round get first pick of the pumpkins).
The second round is the "Spine Chiller" where the teams get five hours to create a large-scale, immersive sculpture based on a new theme. They must also serve a tasting element that usually have something to do with the theme. The themes for the second round relate to the title of each episode (such as "Zombies vs. Vampires", where the teams had to create a scene depicting a zombie battling a vampire using cake, candy, and pumpkin).
Judges There are three judges in the series, with two of them serving as permanent judges in seasons 1-10. Throughout the series award-winning cake artist Shinmin Li served as permanent judge. Hollywood conceptual artist Miles Teves was the second judge in season 1. Actor and award-winning special effects artist Tom Savini was the second judge in season 2. Emmy-nominated SFX make-up artist Brian Kinney was the second judge in seasons 3–5. Writer/director of Child's Play, Don Mancini joined Shinmin in season 6. Director and effects artist Todd Tucker was the male judge in seasons 7–10. Starting in season 11, Food Network Star winner Aarti Sequeira serves as permanent judges along with Shinmin. For Seasons 11-12, Eddie Jackson served as a co-host along with paranormal activity hunter Zak Bagans. In Season 13, Bennett returned to the show as the host.
In addition to the two regular judges throughout seasons 1-10, each episode had a third special guest judge that is involved in horror, whether as an actor, a writer, etc.
Episodes
SeasonSeason premiere dateSeason finale dateNo. of teams1October 2, 2011October 23, 20115Shinmin LiMiles TevesGuest Judges2October 7, 2012October 28, 20125Tom Savini3October 6, 2013October 27, 20135Brian Kinney4October 5, 2014October 26, 201455October 4, 2015October 25, 201556October 2, 2016October 30, 20166Don Mancini7October 1, 2017October 29, 20176Todd Tucker8September 30, 2018October 28, 201869September 29, 2019October 27, 2019610September 13, 2020October 11, 2020611September 19, 2021October 31, 20218Eddie Jackson12September 18, 2022October 30, 2022913September 17, 2023October 29, 20239Aarti Sequeira14September 22, 2024October 27, 20248
References
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