Every year I try to watch the Food Network Halloween shows, but sadly last year I wasn’t able to watch them until around Christmas time. My folks let episodes of Halloween Wars take up space on their DVR so we could watch it with them when we visited. This year though I am please to say Krista and I have cable, which means I can actually watch the Halloween Food Network shows in real time. Since they are something I enjoy every year, at least when I can watch them, I thought I would share what I love about my two favorites and new show that they have airing this year for Halloween.

The first of the three shows I am watching this year I want to highlight is the sort of OG show, Halloween Wars. This one I think has existed in various incarnations for probably almost as long as the movie Mean Girls has been out, this makes sense when you learn that the host of the more recent seasons is Jonathan Bennett, aka Aaron Samuels. The show focuses on elaborate cake, sugar, and pumpkin designs. There are two challenges in each episode, the first determines who gets an advantage in the next round and the second is an elimination round. In the first round the teams of three complete a Small Scare and have to make a smaller sculpture piece that can be anything from killer toys to alien invaders. The larger round involves assistants being brought in and with a theme, sometimes related to the first round, but not always. Teams must create a massive piece that uses pumpkin carving, cake work, sugar work, and also an edible item that ties into their piece. These always wow me because these people are able to use these items to create elaborate scenes and really draw you into a spooky world with just cake, sugar, and pumpkin. As the season progressives the builds get more and more intensive and by the finale the two pieces are always ridiculously cool. It makes for a fun and also family friendly watch if you are looking for something that folks of all ages can enjoy together.

Halloween Baking Championship has become one of my favorite Halloween shows and that is totally because of the judges, in particular Carla Hall. I was so excited to see that they have also made her the host of the show and it has made the show even better. She is such a fun person to have interacting with the contestants. This year they have changed the design of the show a bit with there only being one challenge for the entire episode, but a trick and a treat element get thrown in to try and trip up the contestants plans. A haunted house is the overarching them, with each episode focusing on one part of the house. The cellar has been my favorite so far, but that was because it involved vampire treats. Beyond the themed treats, the hosts also wind up in elaborate costumes that tie into what the contestants have to create. I look forward to this extra element every episode and try and think of just what the judges could be.

As a new addition for this year Food Network released a show hosted by Alyson Hannigan, which is one of the reasons I wanted to watch it. Outrageous Pumpkins is a show about just that. Each week contestants have to compete in two carving challenges, the first of which gives the winner some sort of advantage going into elimination. The smaller challenge is carving just one or two pumpkins based on a theme and then the second challenge involves a ton of pumpkins. In one episode they specifically mentioned that they would have to use at least 10 pumpkins, which seems like such a massive amount of pumpkins to have to use. If you have watch Food Network during Halloween for a while you will notice two sort of regular pumpkin carvers, one of whom won a version of Halloween Wars in the past. If you are more into carving and less into baked goods this is a show you can leisurely watch.

Let me know some of your favorite Halloween shows to check out every year below!