Countdown to Halloween Day 8 -- Tricks With Treats: A Review of "Halloween Wars"

I'll admit it:  I'm a sucker for Reality TV competition shows, especially the type that focus around contestants with a particular skill set, whether it's the chefs of Top Chef, the designers of Project Runway, the song writers of Platinum Hit:  if your competition shows creative people being constantly challenged to reach higher points of creativity week after week, I'll probably be watching it. That's why I was looking forward to the return of Food Network's Halloween Wars last night.

Working with a limited number of episodes due to its seasonal nature, Halloween Wars features 5 teams of 3 who compete against each other to create Halloween themed set-pieces; and, since this is a Food Network show, you know those set-pieces have to be edible.  Yes, each team is made up of a pumpkin carver, a candy maker, and a cake decorator, who work together to create some tasty, yet terrifying, works of art; at the end of each episode, one losing team gets sent home.  During the first season I was always impressed with the crazy creations they were able to come up with, like this cake devil riding a pumpkin cyclops with wings of spun sugar

So, although the show's abbreviated episode run forced it to focus exclusively on the competition itself, forgoing any type of "people stuck living together for weeks/months until they drive each other crazy" drama, the sheer talent and creativity involved in each episode made it well worth my time.

Due to a heavy Sunday line-up,  I had to set my DVR to tape a late night re-run of the premiere of the new season, which promised to have lots of set-pieces inspired by crazy killer clowns; unfortunately, the air-time coincided with a power-outage in my apartment complex, so I'm going to have to catch a re-run later this week.  But if you're also a fan of Reality TV competitions and can stomach some mild horror-themes -- this is Food Network after all, so nothing too stomach turning -- then I'd suggest you seek it out and give it a try.