Halloween Wars brings back familiar champions as the search for the best pumpkin, cake, and sugar artists takes the spotlight in the 2024 edition of the reality series.
Season 14 of Food Network's hit baking competition series features eight teams each led by a former Halloween Wars champion. Hosted by Jonathan Bennett, Halloween Wars also highlights the return of judges Aarti Sequeira and Shinmin Li.
The winner will earn the championship title and the grand prize of $25,000. Halloween Wars Season 14 premiered on Food Network on September 22.
Every Contestant, Judge, & Host of Halloween Wars Season 14
Host:
Jonathan Bennett
Instagram: @jonathandbennett
Jonathan Bennett is back as the host of Halloween Wars Season 14. He first joined the baking competition series in 2016 when he took over hosting duties from former host Jonathan Rhodes.
Bennett took a break after Season 10 but resumed his hosting duties in Season 13 in 2023.
As an actor, Bennett's most recognizable role is playing Aaron Samuels in 2004's Mean Girls. His other acting credits include Smallville, A Trip to the Dentist, and Veronica Mars.
Judges:
Aarti Sequeira
Instagram: @aartiaartipics
Aarti Sequeira returns as a judge in Halloween Wars Season 14. She was the grand winner of The Next Food Network Star Season 6 in 2010.
The 46-year-old Indian American cook also had previous hosting stints, such as her show, Aarti Party, and Cooking Channel's Taste in Translation and Drop 5lbs with Good Housekeeping.
Sequeira is also a cookbook author and a former news producer at CNN.
Shinmin Li
Instagram: @shinminli
Shinmin Li is one of the notable pastry chefs on Food Network and her expertise proves vital in her return to the world of Halloween Wars Season 14.
She has been a mainstay judge of Halloween Wars as well as its Christmas counterpart, Holiday Wars.
Aside from her impressive small-screen resume, Li also owns a bakery in San Francisco called I Dream of Cake.
Contestants:
Monique Hawk
Instagram: @arthawkcreations
Halloween Wars Season 12 champion Monique Hawk is back to lead her team, Creepin' It Real, and try and win it all in the brand new edition of the baking competition.
Monique, who is a full-time police officer, loves pumpkin carving and she uses it as her outlet for stress.
She is also a proud owner of her business, Arthawk Creations, where she accepts commissions to create sculptures, drawings, and paintings for clients.
Romel Toney
Instagram: @rome_tattoo_artist
Romel Toney serves as Creepin' It Real's cake artist in Halloween Wars: All-Stars.
Outside of his stint on Food Network, Toney is busy spearheading a bakery cafe on a 100-acre farm in Ohio.
Calia Pacle
Instagram: @bakedby_c_
Calia Pacle, a pastry chef, is Creepin' It Real's sugar artist.
She works as a baker at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg and one of her dreams is to become a teacher for Pastry Arts someday.
Al Dibartolo
Instagram: @aldibartolo
Al Dibartolo, a cake artist, is the winner of Halloween Wars Season 6 and serves as the leader of Death by Deco.
Speaking with Courier Post, Dibartolo reflected on his return to Season 14, noting that it is a special moment for him since the series decided to bring back past champions:
"I normally don’t go back to a show that I’ve already done before but this one seemed kind of special because the only thing they’re doing different in Season 14 is they’re asking a former past champion to come back and lead a new team. When I was approached, I was like, 'Yeah, this is really exciting.' I had such a wonderful experience on the show and I loved it and I love Halloween. I was extremely excited and honored to be called back."
Dibartolo's team, Sugar Psychos, bagged the ultimate Halloween Wars prize in 2016 after making a cake infused with bloody wedding elements.
Matt Throup
Instagram: @the_redbeard
Matt Throup is Death by Deco's Pumpkin Carver in Halloween Wars Season 14.
This season is Throup's first stint in reality TV and he hopes to use this experience as motivation to appear in more reality shows in the future.
Aside from pumpkin carving, Throup is also a character artist at Epic Games.
Rebecca Wortman
Instagram: @wortmanbecky
Rebecca Wortman appears as Death By Deco's sugar artist. She is a private chef and a sculptor in the real world.
Kristina Patenaude
Instagram: @kmpatenaudestudio
Fresh off her win in last year's edition of Halloween Wars (Season 13), Kristina Patenaude returns to try and nab the ultimate prize once again as she leads her team, Shriek Squad, as a pumpkin carver in the 2024 edition of Food Network's reality series.
Patenaude, who hails from Temple, Texas, also competed in Outrageous Pumpkins.
Jamie Louks
Instagram: @sugarnova_cakes
Joining Shriek Squad as its cake artist is Jamie Louks. This is not her first rodeo in Halloween Wars since she was one of the finalists in Season 12.
The pastry chef and custom cake designer is the proud owner of her business, Sugarnova Cakes. She hopes to redeem herself by trying to win it all in Season 14.
Jonathan Elias
Instagram: @pastryguru
Jonathan Elias is part of Shriek Squad as the team's sugar artist.
He is the self-proclaimed "pastry guru" from Detroit, Michigan who makes a name for himself by creating elegant and delicious cakes.
Teresa Shurilla
Instagram: @pastrychefcheech
Teresa Shurilla, a sugar artist, was a member of Kristina Patenaude's winning team in Season 13 and now they are on opposite sides as they try to outdo one another in Halloween Wars: All-Stars.
Shurilla is a pastry chef instructor at the University of Hawaii Maui College. She leads her team named Killer Instincts in the new season.
In a previous interview with University of Hawaii News in November 2019, Shurilla admitted that she loves the thrills of competing, saying that "it makes [her] better:"
"It’s good for me personally, because it just pushes me to a limit that I don’t think I would do normally. So competition is always good. It makes you better."
Gina Montesino
Instagram: @theplayfulcake
Gina Montesino joins Teresa Shurilla's Killer Instincts as its cake artist.
She has a plethora of experience in the world of baking and one notable achievement is being named as the first edible cake artist to be featured in Art Basel Miami in 2022.
Mike Craghead
Instagram: @mikecraghead
Mike Craghead is Killer Instinct's Pumpkin Carver in Halloween Wars Season 14. He also appeared in Season 7 of Food Network's reality series.
Aside from his expertise in all things pumpkin, Craghead also wrote a book called Pumpkin Skulls and Other Silly Things which talked about his passion for Pumpkin Carving and several guides on how to improve the craft whether the reader is a beginner or not.
Reva Alexander
Instagram: @mercicakes
Reva Alexander is a sugar artist who is part of the winning group of Halloween Wars Season 9. She is now the leader of her team called Bone Battalion.
Alexander is the owner of her cake and pastry business, Merci Beaucoup, and she has built a solid reputation due to her incredible and elegant high-end cake designs.
Lincoln Bias
Instagram: @creativecarving
Lincoln Bias is part of Bone Battalion as its pumpkin carver who is ready to risk it all to ultimately win the grand prize of $25,000.
Daphne Ho
Daphne Ho is a cake artist and home baker who is out to prove herself that she has the experience and the knowledge to help Bone Battalion reach the top in Halloween Wars Season 14.
Kyle Miller
Kyle Miller is part of the winning team of Halloween Wars Season 4 and he returns to try and lead the Scream of the Crop to victory in the brand-new season.
Sarah Blostein
Instagram: @ahead.of.the.carve
Sarah Blostein serves as Scream of the Crop's Pumpkin Carver in Season 14.
In one of her Instagram posts, Blostein admitted that one of the challenges in the new season pushed her to the limit since it was the first time that she made a "full creature out of several pumpkin pieces."
Sarah Arnold
Instagram: @baking_with_sarah_
Sarah Arnold is Scream of the Crop's sugar artist. She is an assistant pastry chef at The Sanctuary at Kiawah in Charleston City.
In an interview with the Charleston City Paper, Arnold shared her favorite part of joining the competition, pointing out that making valuable connections with the rest of the contestants is important:
"My favorite part about participating in a competition like this is the connections I make with the other contestants. It’s not often that you find yourself surrounded by like-minded individuals who share your passion."
Shellane Brown
Instagram: @shellanebrown
Halloween Wars Season 11 winner and cake artist Shellane Brown returns to lead her team, 2 Ghouls and a Butcher.
She says in her confessional that she believes that having a storyline within the design is one of the keys to winning the competition and it is not all about execution.
Outside the competition, Brown is the owner of Woodstone Bakery & Cafe in south metro Atlanta, Georgia.
Alan Silva
Instagram: @theartsylefty
Joining 2 Ghouls and a Butcher as its pumpkin carver is Alan Silva.
Silva is a muralist, photographer, and teacher whose expertise is tested in the brand-new season of Halloween Wars.
Emerlie Ann Miller
Instagram: @emerlieannmiller
Emerlie Ann Miller appears as 2 Ghouls and a Butcher's sugar artist in Season 14.
Miller has her own online confectionary arts school called Neo Sugar Rush where she shares expert tips and a behind-the-scenes look at her life and in the world of baking.
Briea Lowe
Instagram: @briealowe
Briea Lowe, a sugar artist, reunites with her fellow Season 4 winning team member Kyle Miller in Halloween Wars Season 14.
However, they are not on the same team since Lowe serves as the leader of her group, the Delectable Demons.
She is the owner of Glaze Confections. In Season 4, she had a memorable performance in the finale by beating the odds and winning it all after she suffered from strep throat.
Shannon Mayes
Instagram: @sweetartcakecompany
Shannon Mayes appears as Delectable Demons' cake artist in Halloween Wars: All-Stars.
Mayes has vast experience in the world of cake creation, considering that she is the proud owner of SweetArt Cake Company.
She is also a mainstay instructor in the online cake-decorating school, Sugar Geek University.
Eric Jones
Instagram: @ericjonesstudios
Rounding out the Delectable Demon's crew is its pumpkin carver, Eric Jones.
Jones returns in Halloween Wars after becoming one of the finalists in the 2020 edition of the series. He is also a caricature artist and the winner of Outrageous Pumpkins in 2022.
New episodes of Halloween Wars season 14 premiere on Food Network on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET.
Read more about other baking shows:
Halloween Baking Championship 2024 Cast: Contestants, Judges & Host In Season 10 (Photos)
Blue Ribbon Baking Championship Cast: Every Contestant, Judge & Host (Photos)
Spring Baking Championship 2024 Cast: Every Contestant, Judge & Host In Season 10
