‘Halloween Baking Championship’ Fans Can Expect Another Ghoulish Filming Location

Although it’s not quite Halloween time, Food Network has already kicked off its annual “Ghostober” programming. The network airs several frightening features throughout the autumn months, including Halloween Baking Championship. The cooking competition kicked off Season 8 in September 2022, with returning judges Carla Hall, Stephanie Boswell, and Zac Young.

In addition to the judges, host John Henson returned for another season, which will feature eight contestants competing for a prize of $25,000 at "Hotel Henson." But where exactly is this so-called hotel? Here's what we know about where Halloween Baking Championship is filmed.

On the show, John and Halloween Baking Championship’s judges gather at “Hotel Henson,” a “haunted hotel” where John acts as the caretaker. The hotel is the backdrop for twisty, terrifying surprises that occur during the competition, and is where past winners honed their spooky skills. However, John, who also hosted E!’s Talk Soup and ABC’s Wipeout, doesn’t run the hotel in real life.

The real Halloween Baking Championship filming location is the 14-acre Sunset Gower Studios in Los Angeles, California. Per The Cinemaholic, Halloween Baking Championship has filmed at the soundstage for several years, through the filming location briefly changed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2020, Food Network paused production of the holiday series until the following July. When the cast and crew returned to filming, they shot in ​​an outdoor kitchen area at Terranea Resort in California. In 2021, Food Network’s team reportedly used the same resort to film Spring Baking Championship.

Each week on Halloween Baking Championship, the competing chefs live in Hotel Henson until they’re eliminated and have to “check out” of the event. Once they leave, the hopefuls go back to their everyday lives and reportedly aren’t allowed to speak about the finale until it airs.

In September 2020, Food Network’s Duff Goldman explained to Insider that Halloween Baking Championship shoots its seasons in the summer instead of the fall months, as some fans would think. According to the baker, most holiday-themed cooking shows get filmed “anywhere from three to eight months" before the network releases the season.

Current Halloween Baking Championship judge Carla Hall said the lengthy production gap occurs because of the “​​extensive post-production schedule involved in taking the show from raw footage to finished product.” Nonetheless, fans are typically excited to see what the contestants cook up when the show finally airs.

During Season 8, the show’s judges will challenge the chefs to create horrific dishes that frighten and possibly disgust the viewers. Carla also praised the Halloween Baking Championship costume and makeup team, who clearly understood the assignment.

“We have a fantastic head of wardrobe, Susan Bourdeau,” Carla shared with TheWrap in September 2022. “And the makeup artist, Tammy Dube. What they can do with so very little. And the reason that we love it is because it gives people ideas of things that they can do without a lot of money because we don’t have a big budget.”