Halloween Wars Season 11: Release Date, Judges, And More - What We Know So Far

It may be only August, but it's never too early to start getting excited about fall and Halloween. While Starbucks preps to bring back its pumpkin spice lattes and unofficially declare the start of fall with them, Food Network is doing its own bit to get everyone excited about the upcoming spooky season.

Food Network recently released a lineup of all the Halloween-themed shows that they will air starting September this year, adding that, "we're kicking off a spooktacular roster of all-new and returning Halloween competitions, featuring some of your favorite chefs and stars."

Viewers can expect the return of "Halloween Baking Championship," "Worst Cooks in America: Halloween Redemption 2," and a brand new season of "Halloween Wars." The Halloween-themed baking championship "Halloween Wars" sees five to six teams made of talented cake bakers, sugar artists, and pumpkin sculptors compete over a series of episodes till one team wins the show, and along with it, a cash prize of $50,000. So, what can viewers expect from the brand new seasons of "Halloween Wars"?

Considering its Halloween theme, Food Network airs "Halloween Wars" near the time of Halloween every year. Previous seasons have had four to five episodes, depending on the number of teams. Food Network usually airs the first episode well before Halloween, somewhere between the last week of September and the first week of October. Each weekly episode builds up to the day of Halloween and the finale is timed to hit the screens a few days before the big day.

As with every year, this year's season of "Halloween Wars" is going to air in September as well. Unlike previous seasons that have had five to six teams compete with each other, season 11 will have a total of eight teams, and chances are, there might be more episodes too. This is perhaps why the new season premiers a bit earlier than usual. The first episode of season 11 of "Halloween Wars" premieres on Sunday, September 19 this year at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network, and will be available to stream on discovery+ (via Food Network). The remaining episodes will air on the following Sundays at the same time, and it might be possible that this season's finale will air a couple of days before Halloween.

Fans can also watch "Road to Halloween Wars" at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday, September 19 to watch the 15 bakers and sugar artists who competed with each other for a chance to make it to the final teams who get to be on the show.

Since the very first season of "Halloween Wars," which aired way back in 2011, the series has had two permanent judges for each season, along with a special third judge that changes with each episode. Of the two permanent judges, award-winning cake decorator and founder of Kora Community Shinmin Li has been on the judging panel since the first season, and according to a press note released by Food Network, will be back on the panel for season 11 as well.

Joining Shinmin will be two more judges — former NFL star and current Food Network Star Eddie Jackson as well as host, author, and season six Food Network Star winner Aarti Sequeira. Food Network hasn't officially announced who the guest judges of season 11 will be, or if there will be any guest judges at all. However, previous seasons have seen an impressive array of guest judges, including horror novel expert R.L. Stine, Naomi Grossman ("American Horror Story"), Jackson Rathbone ("Twilight"), Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin, who plays the roles of Dustin and Lucas in "Stranger Things". If this is any indication, fans can expect an equally impressive star-studded guest judge lineup in season 11 of "Halloween Wars", too.

Although Food Network hasn't announced the host for season 11, there's no reason to believe that Jonathan Bennett, who has been hosting "Halloween Wars" since season 6, won't be returning for season 11 as well.

The entire reason why "Halloween Wars" is so popular is that it celebrates the gruesome and creepy aspects of Halloween, albeit in a sugary and sweet form. Each episode sees the teams compete in two different rounds — a 45 minute "Small Scare" round and then a five-hour-long "Spine Chiller" round wherein the teams are asked to showcase dessert version interpretations of spooky Halloween themes.

Previous seasons have seen judges ask the teams to create grand displays of monster parties, all with zombies and vampires and edible forms of creepy evil clowns, and bring to life in cake, sugar, and pumpkin what a scary nightmare looks like. Season 11 of "Halloween Wars" promises to bring the spook factor back, but on a much bigger scale.

In its press release, Food Network has announced that paranormal investigator and "Ghost Adventures" star Zak Bagans will be joining the new season of "Halloween Wars," to give viewers more chills than ever before. Bagans will set up challenges for new teams inspired by his own supernatural encounters in the real world, and contestants will be asked to create edible spooky creations inspired by his collection of dangerous artifacts from his Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.

Viewers can expect the teams to be put through more grueling challenges than ever before in the chilling new season of "Halloween Wars."