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The country's top bakers battle it out to create Halloween's spookiest and most-irresistible treats. From spider cupcakes, cheesecake coffins and witch finger cookies to towering confections of terror, these bakers must prove their skills to the judges to land the $25,000 prize and the title of Halloween Baking Champion!
2015
The Halloween Baking Championship has come alive and seven of the country's best bakers compete in the sweetest trick or treat challenge. In the first challenge, the bakers battle it out over the best creepy cupcakes and then kick it up in the second challenge with classic costume desserts.
Down to six bakers and it's time for a big, bad, monster mash. The bakers spook the judges with their sculpted scary treats and then mash up flavors and themes to create devilishly delicious desserts! But one baker's creepy concoction doesn't cut it and gets the axe.
Five bakers remain, and the creepy, dangerous donuts they whip up in the first challenge are a sight to be seen. Then, for the main challenge, the bakers dig even deeper into their baking skills with graveyard pumpkin desserts that are to die for. But one baker won't make it out alive.
The final four bakers take on a haunted house cake battle for the title of Halloween Baking Champion and the $50,000 grand prize!
2017
Eight bakers show off their decorating skills by creating Halloween candy-filled cookies; for the main heat, it's oozy fun with sublime slime desserts where bakers can make any treat, but it must be filled with a gooey slime.
Seven remaining bakers must make witches' fingers and toes and create a sauce to dip them in; the witch theme goes a step further in the main heat when the bakers must create desserts that look like witches, complete with edible brooms.
Bakers work in teams and put their minds together to create the most outrageous and delicious left brain/right brain desserts; in the main heat, the bakers face their fears by using common phobias like insects and ghosts as inspirations for desserts.
Five remaining bakers take a light, sweet and utterly harmless dessert and head to the dark side; it's a main heat filled with frights as the bakers make scary mask desserts to spook the judges; one baker is eliminated at the end of the round.
Four remaining bakers attempt to make desserts that taste like their favorite candy bars; bakers face death by chocolate and must create a dessert that combines chocolate with odd ingredients; one baker is eliminated.
2016
Nothing says Halloween more than scary monsters, and in the pre-heat, the seven bakers must create creepy bite-sized monster treats. For the main heat, zombies attack as the bakers are faced with whipping up a zombie dessert that makes the judges hungry for a bite.
For the pre-heat, mummy's the word as the six remaining bakers are asked to make a Halloween mummy dessert using pre-made pie dough. Next, the bakers must create a candy-stuffed, wicked cake based on a Halloween icon.
Things are only getting spookier with just five bakers left in the competition, who must head to the haunted circus for the pre-heat and create a dozen scary clown cake pops. Then, the main heat moves to the freak show, as the bakers make frighteningly strange mash-up desserts.
The four remaining bakers connect with the other side, baking up a tomb dessert for the pre-heat. Next, the bakers make a dessert inspired by the colorful artistry and spirit of Mexico's Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in order to move on to the Halloween Baking Championship finale.
In the final pre-heat, the three remaining bakers must fill a haunted tree with decorated Halloween cookies. For the grand finale, the bakers have just six hours to construct a spooky "ginger dead" house. Special guest Duff Goldman stops by to put a fright into the bakers, then the most impressive house wins one baker the title of Halloween Baking Champion and $25,000!
2018
The competition begins with a deliciously difficult pre-heat as the eight Halloween bakers weave spider web desserts with creatures trapped inside. In the main heat, wily witch hunter John Henson challenges the bakers to create melting desserts that reveal a Halloween item inside.
2020
As their nightmare begins in the grand foyer, host Carla Hall encourages the 10 competitors to reveal their deepest fears by baking haunted house cakes. Then, the bakers compete in the dagger game for a reward that could be the difference between life and death in the competition judged by Carla, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
Host Carla Hall meets the nine remaining competitors on the frightening front porch, haunted by eternally disappointed trick or treaters. The bakers are challenged to create Halloween candy croquembouche with a stunningly sweet illusion to impress Carla and the other judges, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
2023
Host John Henson welcomes a dozen bakers to the Henson & Sons Carnival, where they're ready for the ride of their lives. First, they must layer a "tarot-misu" depicting the carnival's untimely demise. Then, the bakers scare up a new carnival mascot by designing creepy clown cakes for judges Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
Do-nut try to steal John Henson's dream job, or things might get bloody. The remaining bakers make bloody filled doughnuts to commemorate an unfortunate accident. Then it's a joyful bake for some and doomed one for others as the competitors take judges Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young round and round on the creepiest carousel ever.
2024
Ten bakers explore the Chemistry Laboratory at Henson Labs, where the safety rating is negative 35. Lately, the spirits who haunt the lab have been demolishing all the beakers and petri dishes, so host John Henson leans into this devastation and tasks the bakers with creating broken glass desserts that feature sugar glass. Then, there's been a horrible spill in the Chem Lab, so John has a little fun with it and asks the bakers to create sinister bubbling desserts inspired by the toxic mess. Judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell test their poison tolerance before sending one baker to the cryo-freeze.
In the Silence of the Yams pre-heat challenge, bakers make yam desserts that evoke classic scary movie cliches from chainsaws and hockey masks to bloody knives and creepy dolls. In the main heat, the bakers turn a pumpkin patch into a "bundtkin patch" by creating a pumpkin patch out of mini bundt cakes.
A monster has ransacked the kitchen and is on the loose! The bakers work together in the pre-heat challenge to create a 3-D suspect sketch out of pate a choux to help track him down. The sketch helps puts the monster behind bars but now he's hungry for the main heat challenge that involves monster-sized Halloween deserts like giant cupcakes, pies, cream puffs and more.
It's bridal season for Halloween lovers and since bridal showers often have petit fours, the bakers are creating "petit horrors" in the pre-heat challenge. In the main heat, it's time for a Halloween wedding! Each happy couple -- vampire and troll, werewolf and mummy, skeleton and robot, witch and goblin, zombie and ghost -- gets a unique Halloween wedding cake.
A group of talented bakers enter the fortune-telling tent at the Circus of Dread in the pre-heat challenge. The competitors are tasked with creating tarot card desserts featuring blood orange, fig or passion fruit. The bakers then enter the Creepy Clown Hall of Fame in the main heat where they create impressive desserts that will land one of them in the finale.
Inspired by a skull man, the bakers enter the graveyard to bring skull desserts to life in the pre-heat; for the main heat, the bakers must create a nightmare cake based on common nightmare themes; the bakers must face their fears to come out on top.
Descending into a spooky cellar is enough to make any baker's blood run cold, and blood is always on the menu for a vampire party. Host Carla Hall asks the eight remaining bakers to team up and create desserts for a vampire buffet to satisfy the bloodsuckers' appetites as well as Carla and the other judges, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
The seven remaining bakers continue their journey through the haunted house to the creepy nursery. Host Carla Hall challenges the competitors to bake 3-D demon doll cakes with a diabolically assigned flavor to be judged by Carla, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
In the devil's den, host Carla Hall challenges the six remaining bakers to conjure up a devilish dessert using unusual ingredients, such as sauerkraut, beets, tamarind paste and canned tomato soup. The competitors must get creative to avoid the fiery pit of elimination and impress Carla and the other judges, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
Host Carla Hall invites the five remaining bakers to a party in the haunted ballroom. For a spot in the finale, the competitors must create impressive costume cakes that will dazzle Carla and the other judges, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
The final four bakers reach the last leg of their haunted house journey in the mad doctor's surgical room, where they face off to make severed limb cakes. Then, host Carla Hall challenges the competitors to reach new heights with floating cakes to impress her and the other judges, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young. The most successful baker wins $25,000 and is named Halloween Baking Champion.
John Henson has a problem in the haunted Paranormal Research Lab, and he's hoping to summon the spirit of Beetlejuice to help broker a deal with the other spirits. To butter up the ghost with the most, John asks the bakers to make black and white desserts using black and white ingredients. Then, John challenges the bakers to create Shrinker desserts that feature a tiny desert on top and large dessert on the bottom. In the end, judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell banish one baker to the cyro-chamber.
Things keep turning into other things in the Research and Development Lab, and it's disturbingly delicious. John Henson pairs up the bakers into research teams, and they use exotic candy corn flavors as inspiration for lab specimen-stuffed desserts decorated with tongues, eyeballs, noses or toes. With elimination looming, the bakers serve judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell a mad menagerie of cutesy-to-creepy desserts by turning an adorable stuffy into a delicious, mutated monster.
Oh no! An ancient mummy is haunting the Fermentation Lab, munching on umami-filled ingredients like stinky cheese. This gives John Henson the idea for "umummy" desserts, and he tasks the bakers with creating sweet mummy treats that feature umami ingredients like red miso, aged parmesan, gochujang or soy sauce. Then, it's "bone appetit" for judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell as the bakers get inspired by the lab skeleton, Skelly, to create Skelly's forgotten desserts, where they must use Halloween mini chocolate bars to create skeletal desserts.
To celebrate 85 years of the wonderful Wizard of Oz, John Henson is in the lab's atmospheric chamber measuring the velocity of tornado desserts so that the bakers can honor Dorothy's rough trip to Oz. Then, the bakers visit the acid pit, where the spirits have been melting things. Inspired by those who have melted before, especially the Wicked Witch of the West, the bakers make melted witch desserts to appease the spirits, as well as judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell.
John Henson catches a spirit doing some imaging in the X-ray room! The films the spirits have been taking of themselves are monstrous, and John wants the bakers to use these X-rays as templates for build-a-spirit desserts. Then, the bakers enter the lab basement where the portal to the underworld is kept locked behind a secure heavy door, but lately ghouls have been letting all sorts of otherworldly creatures out! The bakers make a portal entremet that reveals an otherworldly creature to judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell.
The final bakers take on two very difficult challenges inspired by the past -- all leading up to a time-traveling monster mash! In the Dissection Lab, John Henson works on some gross anatomy, and he asks the bakers to create desserts with gummy hearts that will be "dissected" by judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell. Then in the Quantum Physics Lab, John hops into a time machine and journeys to the ancient past for inspirations like medieval vampires and early aliens for time travel cakes. The best baker heads into the future with the Halloween Baking Championship title and the $25,000 prize!
Things heat up when John Henson tells the tale of an Australian fire eater before asking the bakers to create charred and flambéed pavlovas. Then, a missing family member returns with extraterrestrial oddities that the bakers use to inspire alien head Charlotte royale cakes with enough ooze to gross out judges Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
John Henson tells the story of the ghost in the funhouse hall of mirrors as inspiration for the bakers' Bloody Mary bar desserts. Then, the magician known as the Fantastic Fondante puts on a show as the bakers work in teams to fuse two body parts together as Franken-cakes for judges Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
The bakers dig deep to make buried alive trifles honoring the carnival's escape artist who went to an early grave. Then, John Henson shows the bakers the carnival's wind chimes, which look eerily like some of the missing family members' heads, and asks them to make shrunken head pies for judges Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
The bakers make desserts designed to melt after hearing John Henson's torrid tale of one of the carnival's most enthralling sideshow attractions, the Human Ice Pop! Then, a miscommunication spells the end for the sword swallower as the bakers create a dessert that swallowed another dessert to impress judges Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
John Henson challenges the remaining bakers to create torta della nonnas that honor the matriarch of the Henson & Sons Carnival, the Tattooed Woman. Then, a mysterious swap smashes the Strong Man, which inspires the bakers to smash their desserts in front of judges Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young.
As John Henson lays a dead flower to commemorate the lost souls at Henson & Sons Carnival, he asks the finalists to make flourless desserts. Then, the bakers create cakescapes depicting new carnival attractions for the grand re-opening, where judges Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young will name the Halloween Baking Champion!
Project Runway
2004
2022
No body part is safe when host John Henson welcomes 12 Halloween hopefuls to check into Hotel Henson and asks them to do a little detective baking by creating faces out of pie. Then, it's "blood in blood out" as they try to impress judges Stephanie Boswell, Zac Young and Carla Hall with blood spatter cakes.
Host John Henson's best friend, Puss in Boots, checks into Hotel Henson for three cat-tastic challenges. First, the bakers will honor Puss by turning a croquembouche into "croquem-boots" before redesigning an old school dessert to represent a method of death. Finally, two bakers on dessert death row must create cat-sized cakes that display Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell's last wish desserts. Cats have nine lives, but one baker is about to get the boot.
John Henson asks the bakers to update the hotel's signature hedge maze by teaming up for a supersized challenge of hauntingly delicious maze cakes. If judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell can eat their way to the center, they'll be treated to a baked prize. A supersized challenge becomes a double elimination as two bakers are sent to the 13th floor.
The bakers face decay when host John Henson challenges them to make moldy desserts that incorporate fermented ingredients. Then, judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell smash desserts and dreams as they send one baker packing up to the 13th floor.
John Henson turns up the heat when he asks the seven remaining bakers to set their desserts on fire by reinventing flambé classics. Then, the bakers have judges Stephanie Bowell, Zac Young and Carla Hall in stitches with realistic open wound cakes, and one baker is gutted when they're eliminated from the competition.
John Henson turns the bakers' worlds upside down when he challenges them to make upside-down cakes without pineapple. Then, judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell are seeing double when the six remaining bakers team up to create twin cakes that look identical but taste completely different. One set of twins is separated as the least successful baker is sent to the 13th floor.
Bottom's up as John Henson asks the remaining five bakers to create lighting in a bottle by baking desserts based on classic cocktails. Then, the bakers must face their fears by frightening judges Stephanie Boswell, Zac Young and Carla Hall with sets of entremets that represent their worst nightmares.
For their final night, John Henson asks the bakers to create sweet and savory grazing boards in honor of a dearly departed couple; Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell and Zac Young judge black wedding cakes to determine the Halloween Baking Champion.
2021
John Henson hosts as 10 bakers pay tribute to 1980s classic slasher movies at Camp Devil's Food Lake. The competitors tackle "cereal killer" pies and mega cakes to impress judges Stephanie Boswell, Carla Hall and Zac Young.
Host John Henson welcomes some unexpected visitors at Camp Devil’s Food Lake to shake up the competition for the remaining eight bakers. Then, it's all about teamwork making the scream work as pairs tackle creepy cookies from home and a mother of a blind cake bake. They'll have to bake like their lives depend on it if they want to survive judges Stephanie Boswell, Carla Hall and Zac Young.
The competition is only getting tougher at Camp Devil's Food Lake as host John Henson challenges the bakers to make creepy cupcakes and a British classic that is completely batty. Judges Stephanie Boswell, Carla Hall and Zac Young will determine who survives another week at camp.
Host John Henson asks the seven remaining bakers to work their fingers to the bone reimagining a classic dessert. Then, the competitors tackle a trending cake design that must leave judges Stephanie Boswell, Carla Hall and Zac Young's blood running cold if they want to survive another week.
It's prom night at Camp Devil's Food Lake, and host John Henson puts the six remaining bakers in charge of the party snacks. As they learn more about the serial killer, a tsunami of terror will claim one more victim from the competition with help from judges Stephanie Boswell, Carla Hall and Zac Young.
Five talented bakers have survived the Camp Devil's Food Lake killer, and host John Henson challenges them to make patterned roll cakes and frightening fault line cakes. The competitors will have to kill the cake game to get past judges Stephanie Boswell, Carla Hall and Zac Young.
The four finalists face their fears when host John Henson challenges them to bake using a hated ingredient. The bakers must be brave, though, because the camp serial killer and judges Stephanie Boswell, Carla Hall and Zac Young will claim one more victim in a sudden death, leaving the final three to battle it out for $25,000 and the title of Halloween Baking Champion.
2019
John Henson kicks off the competition by revealing all the skeletons in his family's closet to inspire the eight bakers as they make scary skeleton desserts. The main heat is monster madness as the bakers conjure up monster-under-the-bed creations.
In the pre-heat challenge, the seven bakers create spine-chilling desserts guided by spirits, such as bourbon and rum. Then they use fresh flavors and colorful decorations to bring old desserts back to life in the Day of the Dead main heat.
The six remaining bakers team up to create desserts that pay tribute to the iconic Addams Family -- scary on the outside and sweet on the inside. During the main heat challenge, the wonderfully creepy family is honored with “dead velvet” cakes.
Host John Henson's "mummy" issues inspire the pre-heat challenge of crepe cakes. In the main heat, the five remaining bakers use classic fall ingredients to create jack-o'-lantern pies that are half scary and half sweet.
The remaining four bakers go digging to create terrifyingly tasty grave-robber desserts. Then for the main heat, it's a night at the cemetery as the competitors sculpt marbled tomb cakes.
The three remaining bakers construct a “Ghostembouche,” or ghostly version of a croquembouche tower. Then they face the final challenge of creating a bleeding zombie cake. When the bloodbath is over, the survivor is named Halloween Baking Champion!
2025
In this bloody terrifying premiere, host John Henson welcomes 10 bakers to the worst vacation rental of all time, a haunted mansion, with a gift basket of fruit ... that is dripping blood. For their first frightening challenge, the bakers must depict their number one Halloween fright and make it pump edible blood. Judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell determine which pulsing sweet treat wins $1,000. Then, the bottom three bakers must bake for their lives by creating witch symbol desserts designed to ward off evil spirits in the house. In the end, one baker is eliminated.
Host John Henson discovers a dead body in the refrigerator, and he turns out to be an organ donor. The bakers make organ donation desserts to honor the deceased, and one baker wins a cool $1,000. Then, the bottom three bakers take on demonic forces by making "when household items attack" desserts in the form of a possessed toaster, haunted handheld vacuum and demented old TV. In the end, judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell decide which baker is eliminated.
Host John Henson has a close encounter with a ghost that inspires ghostly transformation desserts, and one supernatural sweet scares up $1,000 after impressing judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell. But the bottom three bakers aren't so lucky, and they must dig into their personal histories and create a ghost dessert based on an actual ancestor. In the end, the judges are met with their toughest decision of the series yet.
Evil spirits are leaving creepy notes all over the manor, so host John Henson asks the bakers to channel the haunting energy of the entities by creating cryptic message desserts that reveal an eerie dispatch from the other side. For the first time this season, there is only one bake, which means everyone is baking for their lives. Judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell must decide who wins $1,000 for their mysterious missive and whose message now reads "exit."
A twisted tale of two souls unfolds as the bakers confront their most chilling challenge yet. The grotesque takes center stage in a nightmarish test of skill when host John Henson asks the bakers to craft a horrifying fusion of two beings into one monstrous spliced souls dessert. Judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell decide which baker best captures the terror of transformation. One baker will win $1,000 -- and one will be eliminated.
Welcome to Derry ... if you dare. The remaining bakers are one step from the finale, but first, they must survive a terrifying trip to the semifinals, guided by the ultimate horror icon: Pennywise the Clown. In honor of this nightmarish nemesis who preys on children's fears, host John Henson asks the bakers to conjure desserts inspired by the monster that haunted them as a child. Judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell decide which fear-fueled creation will win $1,000 -- and the bottom three will have to fight for their lives by creating deranged clown desserts. In the end, one baker will be eliminated.
It all comes down to this -- the season finale! Inspired by the eerie exterior of the mansion, host John Henson asks the final four bakers to make haunted grounds desserts that will set the stage for their ultimate showdown. The winner of this challenge claims a powerful advantage heading into the final bake. Then, in a truly chilling finale, the bakers face their darkest fears by creating a "most feared demise" cake in a haunting tribute to the way they dread going out. Judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell determine which terrifyingly tasty creation will earn its baker $25,000 and the title of Halloween Baking Champion!
