- 2 days ago
Halloween Wars S15E02 (2025)
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Short filmTranscript
00:01Get ready for a spine-chilling showdown like no other.
00:07It's the only competition where the world's most talented cake and sugar artists...
00:12When in doubt, let's throw blood on it.
00:13I'm enjoying this more than I should be.
00:15...join forces with elite pumpkin carvers.
00:18She's the pumpkin queen.
00:20Couldn't have pipped around.
00:21Nope.
00:21...to create hair-raising, devilishly delicious Halloween masterpieces.
00:26It's delicious. It's creative.
00:28This dessert will haunt me for the rest of my life.
00:31This year, the competition's fiercer than ever.
00:35This is the one you gotta win.
00:36As first-time competitors fight to prove their worth...
00:39I cannot let my team down.
00:41Winning this would just set me apart from all of those other cake artists.
00:45While some familiar faces fight for redemption.
00:48Last year, I got real close.
00:51This year, we're gonna do it.
00:52Tonight...
00:53We have a lot to prove.
00:55I feel like we might be the underdogs.
00:57Three new teams battle it out in our last qualifying round.
01:01I'm back with a burning passion.
01:03I spent the last few years of my life training just for this moment.
01:06And I'm not about to let it go to waste.
01:08To get one step closer to the title of Halloween Wars champions and $25,000.
01:15I have been sent home before on the first week, and I am not doing that again.
01:18This is just a nightmare.
01:20I'm not gonna give up.
01:21Halloween Wars starts right now.
01:30From keepers, terrifying trio, and wicked sculptors.
01:35If you want to escape today's battle alive and move one step closer to $25,000, you need to win over our judges.
01:44Award-winning cake artist, Shin Minley.
01:47Hi, guys.
01:47And chef and author, Artie Sequeira.
01:50Hi, everybody.
01:50In this first challenge, we want you to take a stab at a Halloween-style true crime.
01:59You'll each find a case file back at your stations.
02:02It contains assignments for your detective character, your victim, and a spooky location.
02:08Use your imagination to connect the dots and create a one-of-a-kind creature crime scene.
02:18Each display must have at least two fully realized distinct characters.
02:24For your tasting element, you're each getting the same assigned ingredients.
02:29Coffee and donuts.
02:30Yes!
02:31So excited!
02:33So it's up to you to make sure yours stands out.
02:37And a crack investigative team needs as much help as they can get.
02:41So you're each getting one baking assistant.
02:43In true crime, the first 48 hours are all that matters.
02:48Here, you get seven.
02:51And that time starts now.
02:55Let's take a look at our file.
02:57Okay, so ghost is the victim.
02:58So the Frankenstein must be the detective then.
03:01That's right.
03:01Yeah.
03:01Okay.
03:02Graveyard.
03:02Oh, that'll be so fun.
03:05All right, so we got zombie detective alien victim at the mall.
03:10I like the mall.
03:11Mall's kind of cool.
03:12I don't like the mall.
03:13You know, the perfume department, that always, like, weirded me out as a kid,
03:17just with the scents and everything.
03:19That's doable.
03:20We are the Crumb Creepers.
03:22My name is Anthony Pater.
03:23I am 22 years old, and I'm an animator, and I love carving pumpkins.
03:28Vanna is our wicked cake artist, but also served in the military.
03:32And Jen is our lovely sugar artist.
03:34She works in tech, but she's a self-taught artist.
03:37She is precise.
03:39She is calculated.
03:40And she's ready to kill.
03:41Maybe it's corrosive.
03:43Maybe the alien is trying to, and it, like, burns her flesh.
03:47Our display is going to be a zombie detective trying to figure out why people have been dying at the local mall.
03:52And he learns from a dead alien victim that it's the perfume that's killing people.
03:58Okay, so we got a witch, and we have the clown.
04:02Oh, and a birthday party.
04:03And where else would you have a birthday party?
04:05Okay.
04:06Um, at a park?
04:07Yeah.
04:08Yeah.
04:08Okay.
04:09Our team is the Wicked Sculptors.
04:12I'm Emery Leanne Miller.
04:13I'm a sugar artist.
04:14This is my third time coming back for Halloween Wars.
04:18Our cake artist is Serena, and our pumpkin carver is Rebecca.
04:22She's a woodworker.
04:23She's a tattoo artist.
04:24She can do just about anything.
04:26And the witch.
04:28All right, witch, what's she doing?
04:29I see, like, film noir witch with, like, the purple trench coat.
04:34For our display, we want to have a clown at a birthday party that has fallen victim to another rival clown.
04:41And the witch is looking around at all the different clues that point to the perpetrator in the back.
04:47Yeah.
04:47Okay, she's crouched over.
04:49Okay, perfect.
04:50So, how is the ghost killed?
04:54It's like, um, like a ghosticide or something?
04:57Our detective is Frankenstein.
05:00The victim is the ghost, and the location is a graveyard.
05:03Maybe there's, like, a groundskeeper on the graveyard that...
05:06Oh, that would make sense.
05:07It is, like, no hauntings allowed.
05:10Our team is the terrifying trio.
05:12My name is Kylie Holt, and I am the cake artist.
05:16My nickname is Smiley Kylie because I'm always smiling.
05:19Kelly Shivery is our sugar artist, and she has been a paralegal for 30 years, but she also runs her own custom cake business.
05:27Michael Valoroso is a helicopter mechanic from Canada, and he is our pumpkin carver.
05:33I think I could probably do a ghost out of sugar.
05:35You think so?
05:36We decide to have the groundskeeper, a hunchback.
05:39He's got his ghost-be-gone spray, and he sees a ghost, and he sprays it.
05:44And Detective Frank N. Stein witnesses the whole thing, and we'll have fog everywhere.
05:51We should grab our materials.
05:52All right, yeah, let's go.
05:53Let's go get your pumpkin.
05:53All right, let's go, let's go, let's go.
05:55Oh.
05:57Pumpkin, pumpkin.
05:59Talk to me, baby.
06:00If it's heavier than it looks like it should be, it's a good one.
06:04Light.
06:04Oh, yeah, that's not perfect.
06:08Take this one.
06:10All right, judges, we are meeting three new teams today.
06:14We've got high expectations, and I am so excited for this challenge because I am a true crime junkie.
06:21I think this is cool because, you know, when it comes to Halloween, we think about being scared and monsters and being surprised.
06:28Yeah.
06:28But there's also a sense of mystery to Halloween, and I don't think that that's an aspect of this holiday that we think about enough.
06:35So the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to prep this butternut squash for carving.
06:39I'm working on my zombie head.
06:41Two and a half years ago was my first time on the show, and I wasn't ready.
06:45I definitely think I had a lot to learn technically, artistically.
06:49I was on season 12 of Halloween Wars, and we got eliminated three rounds in.
06:53I'm back with a burning passion.
06:55I want to kill it.
06:56I want to prove that I'm an even better sculptor.
06:58I trained for this very specific moment.
07:00I sharpened my skills.
07:01I took classes.
07:02I traveled places.
07:03I spent the last few years of my life just for this moment, and I'm not about to let it go to waste.
07:10Our cake artist, Vanna, gets to work on the tile floor.
07:13It's a bit of ivory modeling chocolate mixed with some brown, and it looks like I'm all setting.
07:18I am excited to do Halloween Wars because I do like art that's more on the dark side, the blood, the guts, and stuff.
07:25So it comes natural to me to make it.
07:27Vanna served in the military.
07:29She started baking for her daughter, and she made a business out of it.
07:33She is driven.
07:34She's motivated.
07:35She is a natural-born leader, and she never steps down from a challenge.
07:38So, Anthony, I'm hoping to do the air-casted bottles.
07:42All right.
07:43Sounds good.
07:44These bottles are like champagne color.
07:46It's so pretty.
07:47Mm.
07:48Very French.
07:49Oh, ho, ho.
07:50Jen's got a big job ahead of her.
07:51She has to create all the perfume bottles on the shelves.
07:55Being here on Halloween Wars is awesome because my day job, I'm a programmer.
08:01I don't get to use my art.
08:02So being able to do this and use my art is amazing.
08:06I went to school for art, and I don't use it.
08:08My mom's probably really upset about that.
08:11But I probably made more money than I did as an artist.
08:14Jen works in tech full-time, and she even went to school to study graphic design so that she could combine her two passions, science and art.
08:22She's self-taught.
08:24She's passionate.
08:25Jen is here because she absolutely wants to prove that she can slay the competition.
08:29Okay.
08:31Let's try this.
08:32I'm starting my sugar work.
08:34Because our setting is a birthday party, I want to do a blown sugar balloon animal.
08:38I have done this before several times, so I am coming back as a very experienced person, but I've never won.
08:45I'm not taking this lightly at all because Halloween Wars, in my opinion, is the ultimate competition that you can do ever.
08:53And to be able to hold that champion title, that is insane, and I really, really want that title.
09:01I'm hoping third time's a charm.
09:03The balloon animal is done, you guys.
09:05Yay!
09:06It's so cute!
09:09I'm working on the witch's head.
09:12Our cake artist, Serena, is starting on the detective witch.
09:16I am a first-generation Cambodian-American.
09:20I was actually born in a refugee camp there, but I basically grew up in the United States.
09:25I am completely self-taught.
09:26I've always dabbled in the fine arts.
09:28I didn't really went far with it as she studied history and did pre-law because I thought I'd be a lawyer.
09:33So I've always had a form of imposter syndrome, but I believe that, you know, this art is something you can refine and work on and actually get good at to even compete in this sort of arena.
09:50The actual bounce house is going to be constructed of this white pumpkin that needs to have the bouncing children playing.
09:58I'm an artist by trade.
09:59I'm a woodworker professionally and a tattoo artist, but I'm now pumpkin carve as well, which has been a lot of fun because it just fits right in with many of the other mediums that I use already on a regular basis.
10:13I use a lot of excessively sharp woodworking tools.
10:17They come in really handy when you're doing stuff like this because they slice through the pumpkins as though they were butter.
10:23I want this tree to have a lot of gnarly texture and be like super bumpy and old and rickety and just full of character.
10:36I start making a beautiful textured modeling chocolate tree popping out of that backdrop.
10:42I have never been on Halloween Wars.
10:43I've done lots of competitions before.
10:45I won best in show in the Cake Artists of Utah competition.
10:50I've also had my work printed in several magazines.
10:53But Halloween Wars has been a bucket list show ever since I started watching it.
10:58This is just something special.
11:00And winning this would just set me apart from all of those other cake artists.
11:04What I'm doing right now is activating the yeast for our yeast dough.
11:08Kelly starts on the tasting element.
11:10We've decided on a yeast doughnut because when you think of doughnut, yeast doughnut is what most people think of.
11:16Our tasting element will be a raised yeast doughnut with an espresso coffee pastry cream and a raspberry dipping sauce.
11:25Proofing is when you have the dough, you have to let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in size.
11:31We know that this is a little risky choosing this yeast raised doughnut.
11:35But we have to stand out against the competition and make ours the best doughnut out there.
11:41Go big or go home.
11:43Wow, you're really moving there, Michael.
11:45Yeah.
11:46He's cruising.
11:46I'm trying to...
11:47We actually decide to push the envelope and do three fully realized characters.
11:53I'm going to do Frankenstein out of Cake.
11:55Kelly is going to do the ghost out of Isomalt.
11:58And Michael jumps right into carving the hunchback's head.
12:01I'm using this dough that I fabricated out of a ball from a transmission of helicopter.
12:07By the way, I'm a full-time helicopter mechanic and pumpkin carving is my hobby.
12:12I saw TV shows like Halloween Wars and then tried to teach myself.
12:17And for me, Halloween Wars is the Olympic for pumpkin carvers and cake artists.
12:22Kelly and Michael have never done a competition like this.
12:25So we're kind of newbies together and I feel like we might be the underdogs.
12:29So that means we have a lot to prove.
12:31I am a little nervous because here with Terrifying Trio, each one of them is taking a character.
12:36There will be a pumpkin character, a sugar character, and a cake character.
12:40It feels like everybody go to your corner and do your work and then we'll meet up at the end.
12:44And in our experience, that doesn't usually work out well.
12:48Right.
12:48Unless you're very communicative.
12:50What was that, Artie?
12:51What was that?
12:51I'm in my corner.
12:52I'm in my corner.
12:55Oh, I love it.
12:56Six hours.
12:57You have six hours left.
12:58Oh, six hours.
12:59Six hours.
13:00Dang.
13:03Anthony?
13:04Yeah.
13:04Our second leg and arm is done.
13:07While I'm carving, Vanna is working on the zombie body.
13:10It's fantastic to hear.
13:11I'm still on the head.
13:13After this, I can move on to a foot if you'd like.
13:15So that way we can just get that over with.
13:16Focus on the head.
13:17We'll figure it out.
13:17I was going to say, right now, I'm very early in blocking.
13:19Oh, he looks so good.
13:20Is this looking okay for size?
13:21Um, well, you know we're 20-something inches tall, and so we might need to go bigger.
13:31A little bigger?
13:32Yeah.
13:32I don't know.
13:33I can add on.
13:34So...
13:34No, don't.
13:35What about the flesh?
13:37That'll make him look bigger.
13:38Yeah, I can't add on to the squash, though.
13:40I was decently into the sculpt, and I'm thinking, what am I going to do now?
13:46Oh, I hate that we can't use them.
13:49Oh.
13:52We scaled everything.
13:53We realized this head, too small.
13:56And if it's too small, it won't be in proportion with the rest of the body.
14:00And I got to start over.
14:02I got to start all over.
14:04I'm so sorry, but you did that so fast.
14:06I know you can do it again.
14:07As the time moves forward, and we're racing against the clock, we can't have this.
14:11I was so frustrated because I felt that my carving was off to a great start.
14:17Let me see what magic I can pull.
14:21What I'm doing now is I'm making sure that the eye sockets are properly receding to make
14:26a strong profile.
14:28I'm an animator by trade, and that comes with a lot of advantages.
14:32I have a great sense of movement.
14:34I have the ability to personify, to bring things to life that no one else can even visualize.
14:40You want our zombie head?
14:43Vena, check this out.
14:44That is so good.
14:48Once I finish the head, I work on the feet of the zombie.
14:51I'm the youngest here, and it's so weird because I remember seeing some of my fellow competitors
14:56on TV when I was a kid.
14:58Being a young competitor, the advantage is I've got a fresh perspective on creativity,
15:04on artistry.
15:05I don't follow traditions, so to bring my own game is what sets me apart from everyone else.
15:11Toes are just another piece of butternut squash.
15:14Yeah, this is looking like a foot.
15:15We're going to solve the crime in five hours.
15:18Five hours left.
15:19Let's go faster.
15:19Let's go faster.
15:21Now I'm modeling Frankenstein's head out of rice cereal treat.
15:25For our display, Frankenstein is spying on the groundskeeper Hunchback from behind a gravestone.
15:32I'm actually not a born baker.
15:34Like a lot of bakers say, I was baking when I was a little girl in the kitchen.
15:39That was not me.
15:40I was a dancer all my life, and I also actually wanted to be an astronaut.
15:46And so I went to college to become an astronaut and pursue that dream, but I was miserable.
15:52And so I came home to be a stay-at-home mom.
15:55That's when I started baking, mostly for my kids.
15:59And I just fell in love with art that you can actually eat.
16:02And it's really nice that I get to use that background in math and science from trying to become an astronaut in my cake design.
16:11I like the kneeling Frank, though.
16:12He looks like he's about ready to propose to the future Mrs. Frankenstein.
16:16Will you marry me?
16:17How are you doing?
16:21I'm just working on final details for the expression because I want her to really be focused on the magnifying glass.
16:29I'm watching Serena work on this witch for now three hours, and I'm not seeing much progress happen.
16:34So we need to let her know that it's time to stop with the fine details.
16:38Hey, Serena.
16:39Yes.
16:39Is it possible for us to hold off on painting for a while just because we don't have the body made all the way?
16:46Serena was going to do the torso of both of our characters, and I'm really getting worried that she's not going to be able to move on.
16:53Don't think about this as something that you need to be perfect on either.
16:57Yeah, I know.
16:57Like, it looks amazing as is already.
17:00I'm an A-type personality perfectionist, so it's really hard for me to step away from a piece,
17:04and especially when details matter at the core of the piece itself.
17:09I still have a lot of work to do on the body, but once this is set, this will go by a lot faster.
17:13Watch out for flying pumpkin.
17:17Our clown head is pumpkin.
17:19I'm not a pumpkin carver by trade.
17:21I've only been at it about three years, but I do feel like I need to kind of prove myself
17:26and show that I can, like, run with the big dogs and make a name for myself in the pumpkin carving world.
17:32So that's kind of the goal by being here.
17:35So this is my first time airbrushing pumpkin.
17:38It's really important to be careful while you're doing this, because once the color's down, there's really no coming back from it.
17:48So we have a body that's done.
17:50That is absolutely what I want to hear.
17:52Vanna begins work on the zombie detective trying to solve the mystery at the local mall.
17:58I am making pants legs, and I'm using modeling chocolate because it holds its form easier than fondant.
18:05I am tearing up the zombie's clothes because he's a zombie and everything about him is decaying.
18:12Vanna completes the zombie body, and she's getting to work on the alien now.
18:15I would say my artistic style, my strength is in sculpting.
18:19I cannot draw.
18:21I never could draw.
18:22I was failing art class.
18:24Somehow, I just kind of figured it out, and I like color and shading because that helps to add depth and dimension.
18:32This team is in great shape.
18:34In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they are in the best shape of all the teams at this moment.
18:40That's not even out.
18:41That's, like, for sure.
18:42I'm so scared to say it because I don't want to jinx them, but I see two characters almost fully realized on their display, and that is huge right now.
18:54Hurry up.
18:55You've only got four hours left.
18:57Four hours.
18:58Oh, my gosh.
18:59Okay, okay, four hours.
18:59Come on, come on.
19:01So right now, I'm deconstructing the pumpkin that I took to make the hunchback buddy.
19:08After finishing the hunchback's head, Michael jumps right to carving the hunchback.
19:11Michael has built an armature, and he is putting large chunks of pumpkin on the structure.
19:18So right now, I'm having a problem on how I'm going to stick all this pumpkin on my structure.
19:24The pumpkin Michael used is just too thin, and there are big gaps all over the body.
19:30We came up with a solution.
19:31I'm going to use modeling chocolate and glue it together on the pumpkin, and hopefully this will solve my entire problem right here.
19:43Yeah, this is the first time I've been doing modeling chocolate.
19:45Michael, he's carved this beautiful pumpkin head, but he didn't realize that modeling chocolate doesn't stick to pumpkin.
19:54Pumpkin is about 75% water.
19:56You know, he's experimenting for the first time on this competition, and I'm really scared for him.
20:00Kelly, I'm going to redo this character.
20:02Okay.
20:02I agree.
20:03It looks really messy.
20:05Exactly.
20:05I'm just going to get one pumpkin and try it again.
20:08Okay.
20:08So now he scraps the pumpkin and starts from scratch.
20:13But at this point, I'm a little bit nervous about what's going to happen in the competition.
20:18Not going to give up.
20:20They've had a really terrifying time, honestly.
20:23They have.
20:23I feel really bad for them.
20:25Yeah, I think of all three teams, the terrifying trio is probably the most behind.
20:29It's not coming together?
20:34The pumpkin that I get, still tending.
20:37It's okay.
20:38I'll think of something else.
20:41This is not going to work.
20:43We do not have any more time to do things a third time.
20:48This is just a nightmare.
20:52Okay.
20:53Goodness.
20:54Right now, I'm still in trouble of making his entire body.
20:59Out of pumpkin.
21:01So now I have my last result, which is using rice, Celio, aluminum foil, and modeling chocolate.
21:09I have to make it work.
21:11I am feeling a little bit disappointed that we had to scrap the pumpkin because I was really
21:17looking forward to having that pumpkin piece on our display.
21:21But we've created a story that has to have that hunchback in there.
21:26We just need to make sure we get a character done.
21:28I feel a little bit confident compared to the two that I just tried a while ago and use
21:33this one as our piece.
21:35Three hours on the clock.
21:36Three hours.
21:36Three hours.
21:36Oh, my gosh, guys.
21:38I am making my pate-a-shoe dough, which is basically the same process as a cruller.
21:45I'm really feeling the pressure to make our tasting element stand out from all the others
21:50because we all have coffee and donuts.
21:52Gotta let that cook on the outside first.
21:54We are at a birthday party outdoors, and we have a picnic table.
21:59So I'm thinking of making a hamburger.
22:02I'm making a curl brew burger.
22:05We have a pate-a-shoe bun.
22:07Our patty is a sea-salted caramel espresso ganache.
22:10And for the cheese, we have a fried wonton wrapper dipped in cinnamon sugar.
22:16So I am making one of my favorite recipes, which is a sea-salted caramel chocolate ganache.
22:21I think chocolate and coffee is amazing together.
22:24Once I've brought my ganache together, I start adding coffee concentrate to really incorporate
22:29that flavor.
22:30Oh, I can smell the coffee.
22:32I also want to dip my pate-a-shoe in a coffee glaze.
22:38Okay, let's assemble some boigos.
22:41This is my hamburger bun made out of pate-a-shoe.
22:44I am filling it with a sea-salted caramel espresso ganache.
22:48Emily's really going for it.
22:49Then she's going to use wonton wrappers that she deep-fries to look like cheese that's
22:54on the inside of it.
22:55That's something we've never seen on Halloween Wars.
22:57That's going to be some serious crunch, too.
22:59I need these burgers to come to life just a little bit more, so I want to add a little
23:04razzle-dazzle, some sesame seeds right on top.
23:08And there we have it, burgers.
23:11The tombstone needs to be fairly thick.
23:12Oh, yeah.
23:13Kelly is working on the giant tombstone that Frankenstein will be hiding behind.
23:19And our third character, the ghost.
23:21I don't do this full-time as a living.
23:23I've been a paralegal for almost 30 years.
23:25I love being a paralegal, but sugar is my passion.
23:31And I want to prove that I can hang with everybody else who is a professional.
23:35So I feel like I need to go above and beyond to show that.
23:42It's really important that I show them that I have some versatility in the different kinds
23:48of techniques I can use and the different kinds of pieces I can make.
23:52Look at that.
23:53I'm getting molded a little bit.
23:55That looks awesome.
23:56Kelly, you're doing great.
23:57Hey, Serena, how's your witch coming?
24:02Witch is good.
24:03I just need to add a few more details.
24:08Serena is working on the witch right now.
24:11We'll tell you, Serena gives good face.
24:13Like the face on that witch is amazing, but that's all that's done right now.
24:18She really needs to start working on the other elements.
24:21She needs to finish the body on the witch and she needs to create the other clown.
24:25We definitely need both the witch and the clown on our board or else the story doesn't make any sense.
24:30And we could go home for that.
24:32Two hours left.
24:34What do you need help with, Serena?
24:35I am a little bit behind on her details on the head so I can use some help on the torso.
24:41If you can help me just finish the bottom portion of the witch, it'd be awesome.
24:47I have been sent home before on the first week and I am not doing that again.
24:50We're going to be a team.
24:51I can help you out.
24:52I can do some cake.
24:54Thank you so much.
24:55Of course.
24:56Thank goodness the team rallied together and they tag team both characters.
25:00I'm not going to fault the witch for her taking so much time because I love the chin
25:04and I am a sucker for a good jawline.
25:07That witch has a fantastic jawline.
25:08So sorry guys.
25:10Don't be sorry.
25:10No, you're fine.
25:11You're good.
25:12You're good.
25:13You're great.
25:14The witch body is almost done.
25:17Look, the clown, he's going to have a nice little pot belly.
25:20So he's going to be pretty easy to put together.
25:22We'll have two bodies to go with the faces.
25:25Emerly turned around and said, how can I help?
25:27That's really great.
25:28Emerly has been here several times before.
25:31She knows what teamwork involves.
25:33This is something if they get through, obviously, Serena cannot repeat this
25:37because they got lucky this time.
25:40They may not be so lucky the next time.
25:42Because clown shoes are already kind of shaped like butternut squash anyways,
25:45to just kind of cut one at a diagonal, leaving the larger section of the butternut squash
25:51and like just shaving down the rest of it.
25:53And then took a little piece of pumpkin for the sole.
25:56And now I've got clown shoes on my guy.
25:59So coffee and donuts, you know, that's what we're doing.
26:01So I'm going to start on our donut batter.
26:03I'll do our filling later.
26:04Coffee and donuts is just a perfect combination.
26:08But how do we set ourselves apart?
26:10I'm making the crumb for our crumb cake right now, and it's a very messy job.
26:14For our tasting element, we have landed on a New York-style coffee crumb cake.
26:19We're going to have a coffee-infused dipping cream in there as well.
26:22Cake is in the oven.
26:24We're building chocolate boxes to put our tasting in, and they're going to be perfume boxes.
26:28So we're going to have stacks of those on the display as well.
26:31So you pour chocolate in and kind of make sure it's up the sides and then dip it out.
26:35And you just have to go and repeat a couple times to get a nice coating on it.
26:40The really cool thing is that if the judges want more of a ganache that comes with it,
26:44they have to dip it in the pus of the melting alien.
26:48So Jen is making the dipping cream with coffee extract as well as espresso powder.
26:56Uh-uh.
26:57Too strong.
26:58It's a little too strong.
27:00See, I like it.
27:01It's, it's too, it's, it's so pungent.
27:08Um, I don't think I wouldn't risk it.
27:11To start all over?
27:13Mm-hmm.
27:18We need to come up with a solution ASAP, because if we don't do anything about it right now,
27:24we're going home.
27:25I think I taste the coffee.
27:29It's not all the power, the whole dessert.
27:31She wants me to redo it.
27:34We don't agree on the flavor.
27:35She thinks it's too strong.
27:36I think it's okay, so.
27:38No, I don't think it tastes good.
27:39There's a bit of back and forth about how to proceed with the tasting elements.
27:45Do you think it's coffee strong enough?
27:46Actually, I toned it down with powdered sugar and, um, I don't taste it as much.
27:52So whatever you gotta do, do it, and you're gonna be great at it, Jen.
27:56We need to get more cream cheese.
27:58So that last one didn't taste like we wanted it.
28:01I hope that Vanna is right, because Jen is going to start over completely.
28:06We may not need the extract.
28:08I don't know if that's it or it was just too much, but I would taste it every step of the way,
28:12because you can put it in, but we can't take it out.
28:16I didn't.
28:20Oh, it's good.
28:21Okay, wait.
28:21I can't taste it.
28:22We're getting close.
28:23Okay.
28:23I feel like if we use actual brewed coffee, we could get it.
28:29So we put regular coffee in, and so that's going to give us our coffee flavor now,
28:33instead of the extract, which was a little too strong.
28:36I love it.
28:37That's the one.
28:37We finally got that coffee flavor.
28:39We want it.
28:41That was a good idea.
28:42Our coffee filling is going in our perfume boxes and in our pus on the alien.
28:47You want more green, or is that good enough for you?
28:49That works.
28:49Okay.
28:50Okay, thank you so much.
28:52This is pus.
28:54I am creating a blister using modeling chocolate that will be poppable.
28:59So right now, I am layering our tasting element.
29:04So I first put in the toasted hazelnut.
29:07And then I'm cutting up the little rectangles of the coffee cake.
29:13In one hour, we will find out who done it.
29:15Come on.
29:16Oh my God, we can't.
29:17Really?
29:17Seriously?
29:18Oh my gosh.
29:19One hour, one hour, one hour, one hour, guys.
29:20No, no, no, no, no.
29:22I'm putting Frankenstein on the board.
29:23Okay.
29:24Michael, I think we're ready for the hunchback.
29:26Hunchback?
29:26Okay.
29:29So I'm starting on the pastry cream now for the doughnut filling.
29:33I'm going to pour this espresso into the pastry cream.
29:36Kelly is working on our tasting element.
29:39A raised yeast doughnut filled with an espresso pastry cream.
29:43And the tasting element is the cobblestone path through the graveyard.
29:47The proofing turned out great, so I'm ready to go.
29:50I want the doughnuts to be as fresh as possible.
29:52And it is considerable risk to make a yeast doughnut because of the time involved.
29:57Kelly, how can I help with the tasting element?
29:59Then we need to fill the doughnuts.
30:02Fill the doughnuts?
30:03Okay, filling the doughnuts.
30:04I'm getting a little bit nervous.
30:06It's crucial to get them right the first time because we don't have time to restart.
30:10So I'm going to do a chocolate glaze in one bowl of vanilla glaze in the other.
30:15And then I'm just going to marble.
30:17This marble is looking really cool.
30:19They look just like cobblestones.
30:21How are you feeling?
30:22I don't know.
30:24I'm like, I think we're going to go home.
30:26I don't know.
30:26No, look at the rest of our piece.
30:28I know.
30:29As I'm covering the witch, the fondant is drying a lot faster than I had expected.
30:33I wish I hadn't spent so much time on the face.
30:36I'm going to work on the fondant, if you don't mind, because this is really rough.
30:39Yeah.
30:40We're going to make a fondant paste.
30:41Okay.
30:41We're going to fill in the cracks with that paste.
30:43Okay.
30:44Our fondant that we use for the body, unfortunately, is very wrinkly.
30:49It has elephant skin, and that is not good.
30:52So we need to refine this piece a little bit more.
30:54So instead of peeling it off and trying again, what I'm doing instead is just making a fondant paste.
30:59So I'm taking leftover fondant, adding water to it until it's a nice paste consistency,
31:04and I am filling in the cracks with that.
31:07This is my third time on Halloween Wars, so I know a lot of what the judges are looking for.
31:12If we show this witch to the judges, then we're not going to make it to the next round.
31:17So I had to step in.
31:19You like that better?
31:19Yeah.
31:20Okay.
31:21It's better than what it was.
31:24That's good.
31:2510 minutes left.
31:26Wow.
31:27Kicking into high gear.
31:29Michael, ghost coming in.
31:30Okay.
31:32Kylie.
31:32What?
31:32Sorry, Sabian.
31:33I'm making the grass right now.
31:34Okay.
31:35I am coloring the grass to cover the graveyard ground out of shredded wheat.
31:40Yeah, and we got to put the cobblestones too.
31:42Very stressed.
31:43Obviously, we were very ambitious, too ambitious, but I think we're going to get everything on the board.
31:50Oh, yeah.
31:57Anthony, we got to speed that paint up.
31:59We're cooking.
32:01We're coming together.
32:02Here we go.
32:04Oh, look how cute.
32:05Oh, dude.
32:0710.
32:08Nine.
32:09Okay, where else do I need to clean up?
32:10Right here?
32:11Eight.
32:11Keep pushing.
32:12There we go.
32:13Seven.
32:13Fix his wrist.
32:14Six.
32:16Five.
32:17Four.
32:18Fabric in the hand.
32:19Three.
32:19Just shove it in.
32:20Two.
32:21Don't mess with it.
32:22One.
32:22Hands on display.
32:23Oh, my gosh, guys.
32:25Oh, my God, guys.
32:26Nice job.
32:27It's the most stress I've ever had in my entire life.
32:36From Creepers, describe your perfect true crime.
32:41Our dead detective Wargrave has been trying to crack the code as to why people have been mysteriously dying at the local mall.
32:49Upon investigation, he discovered that the local perfume department has its fragrances laced with a corrosive toxic acid.
32:57He's figured out the mystery, but unfortunately is too late for our alien from planet zero.
33:05No hesitation.
33:07I'm going to need a minute.
33:07That was so good.
33:08That was so good.
33:10So good.
33:11That was amazing.
33:13There are so many beautiful things to look at.
33:16You created like 150 perfume bottles back there made of sugar.
33:20They are all perfection.
33:22Jennifer, the closing on the detective Fana, I really love how you created a very perfect finish,
33:30but then went in there and gave us the tears and the tatters.
33:33Now, I feel like if had like a better finesse in the design, I think there's still a way to give us a more smooth appearance
33:44so that it's more believable that half of it has been like corroded with acid.
33:49Pay attention to your color.
33:51The floor looks a little bit like the unfinished wood board.
33:55I have to talk about your carving, Anthony.
33:57The face on that zombie is incredible.
34:01His feet are incredible.
34:04While I think that the story is very clear here, you need some dark.
34:08You need some shadow.
34:09You know, I could really go for some coffee and donuts.
34:12Why don't you tell us about your tasting element?
34:14So our tasting element is actually in the perfume boxes.
34:17We made you a coffee cake donut with some spice in it and then a cream cheese coffee filling.
34:24And also a little bit more for you to pick out of the alien to squeeze on your treat.
34:31Ew!
34:32Ew!
34:33Ew!
34:33Ew!
34:36In the pusses, we eat the puss?
34:38Yeah.
34:43Wow.
34:43It is so cheeky and grody that you would take something so elegant and so refined and then gross us out to the
34:52max by putting puss all over it. It's funny. It's cheeky. I love it. Beautiful spices in here.
34:58What I'm missing is the coffee.
35:05This cake, I can definitely taste the spices. I can definitely taste the
35:09roasty nuts that are in here. If you snuck more of that coffee puss in here,
35:14we would definitely get the coffee more. Because right now, I just do not taste any coffee.
35:20Oh my gosh.
35:21From Creepers, we don't want to contaminate the crime scene. Thank you very much. We're going to leave.
35:27Back up slowly, ladies.
35:29I wish my team came together just a little bit more and we could have found a compromise.
35:35We could have nailed that coffee flavor.
35:38Great. Terrifying trio, take us through this crime scene.
35:44We have our ghost here. Little did he know that our hunchback groundskeeper was ready with a can of
35:50Ghost Be Gone. Detective Frank Stein got a call to investigate a disturbance at the graveyard.
35:57I love this backdrop. I love the colors that you chose there. I also really love that you guys used
36:03this wheat cereal to create the grass. It looks so realistic. The butternut squash face and the hands,
36:12great job sculpting that, Michael. But I think that you struggled with the body, didn't you?
36:17That's right.
36:17I can see it's a little bit rough.
36:20I love this color palette. I think it's mysterious, which is what we really want when it's a true crime.
36:27When it comes to telling the story, there are a couple of things that I don't think are working.
36:30Here's the problem. You've got your two sort of secondary characters being way taller than your main
36:37character, the victim. The other thing I'll say is that in terms of the way that you guys work together,
36:41everybody went to their corners. One of the goals of Halloween Wars is that you guys are so
36:46simpatico and working so well together that we can't tell what's what.
36:52What'd you make for us today? The tasting element is our cobblestone path.
36:57We have a fried yeast donut filled with an espresso pastry cream and a marble glaze.
37:08I'm going to be up all night. The texture's completely spot on. Because you fried it,
37:14it's got a really nice crisp around the edge. It is pillowy soft on the inside. Maybe if you can add
37:20just a touch of salt to this, because it is quite sweet. Yeah, I mean, we asked for coffee and donuts
37:25and you gave us coffee and donuts. The fact that you took that risk of making yeast donuts in competition
37:31in seven hours, hats off to you, darling. Terrifying trio. Great job. Thank you.
37:36I loved your tasting element so much. Good job guys. Wicked sculptors, lay out your case.
37:44Well, a story as old as time, friends who become rivals. Jiggles up at the top, finds out that
37:51Giggles has been stealing his act and he seeks revenge, leaving clues along the way after the
37:58dastardly deed. Nothing scares me more than a bounce house. I'm always afraid to be trapped in one.
38:05Rebecca, I've got to tell you that it is a rare moment when a shoe steals the show. And for me,
38:12those shoes are everything. Thank you. There's beautiful carving here. Design-wise, it's so great
38:18how that leg is hanging off of the display. It's just a great little touch that really draws us in.
38:24So, well done. This is a very dynamic piece. Serena, I want to talk to you specifically
38:31because I get you. As an artist, when you are competing in a competition like this with your
38:37teammates, you have to check in. You have to look up and you have to see if everything is fitting well.
38:42And if you had done that, I think you would have seen that the coloring on the witch needed some shading.
38:49So, what are we eating? I made a pate of shoe, which is very similar to a cruller.
38:53So, I have a sea salted caramel espresso ganache. And we also have wafer paper that looks like the
39:00cheese and that has a little bit of cinnamon sugar on it. And then the top is a coffee glaze.
39:07I make cakes in the shape of other objects all the time, but this is getting to me. It is so cute.
39:13It really looks like a burger. I also love that you've added the wonton wrapper because it adds
39:19such a lovely crunch. I get the bitterness of the coffee. I get even the bitterness of that salted
39:26caramel, the chocolate. The only thing for me is that the pate of shoe itself is a little dried out.
39:32Right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's so good. Oh my gosh.
39:38We asked you all to imagine the ultimate Halloween Wars homicide. One team killed and the judges
39:49ended up murdering their coffee and donut treats. The winner of this challenge is
39:55Wicked Sculptors. Terrifying Trio and Crumb Creepers. Both of your crime scenes made great headlines.
40:15But unfortunately, neither one was the perfect crime. Terrifying Trio, we love how you fought to finish
40:22despite some early obstacles. And you were able to deliver a very full display. But the story isn't
40:29clear at first glance and your finishes are a bit rough. And Crumb Creepers. There are real
40:35spotlights of beauty on this display, but the color on the shelves and the floor made the overall display
40:41feel flat. And while beautiful, your coffee and donut treat was missing some caffeine. Unfortunately,
40:49the team going home today is Crumb Creepers.
41:01It's awful to go home so early, but any experience to use my artistry is an opportunity to grow,
41:08to learn and to nurture my skills.
41:12Wicked Sculptors and Terrifying Trio. Congratulations. You both survived. We'll see you soon.
41:20This season on Halloween Wars. If we don't get the cake character on,
41:24we're going home. This stuff is all craziness. With $25,000 at stake,
41:29the surviving teams will have to push the limits of cake. Sugar. I need to show them I can get some
41:36sugar done. And carved pumpkin. Pumpkin all day. Pumpkin all day, every day. All the way to the breaking
41:42point. Something this big sounded really good on paper. But at this point,
41:46come on. I'm not so sure it was a good idea. Who will carve out a win? I cannot let my team down.
41:51And who will be haunted by defeat? Oh my god. Oh no. The wizard fell.
41:58I cannot let you.
42:01I cannot let you destroy.
42:02After all the years.
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