It’s laborious to know what to carve yearly! Certain, you’ll be able to simply put some spooky eyes and tooth in your jack-o’-lantern and name it a day, however this yr we determined to be a bit extra bold and arrange a themed pumpkin carving session. The immediate? “Spooky online game monsters.” Did we succeed? Choose accordingly, and be sure you learn the artist statements under every providing.

Can’t get sufficient jack-o’-lanterns? Journey again in time to our 2020 version (how has it been 4 years?) the place we paid tribute to ghosts, specifically.

Owlbear, by Alice Jonavée

For Halloween this yr, I tried a design impressed by one in every of my favourite D&D beasties: the Owlbear. However for the reason that Owlbear is kind of giant, and scaling stuff to suit on a 20-pound gourd is troublesome, I sort of simply ended up with somewhat beaky fella with an perspective. Simply think about them saying, “With shiny garments, I’m sturdy,” and also you’ll get the thought.

Future’s Competition of the Misplaced, by Alice Jonavée

Whereas I haven’t participated in Future’s Competition of the Misplaced occasion in a number of years, I all the time discovered it endearing that the characters of Bungie’s live-service shooter share an appreciation for the spooky season. I’m unsure in the event that they nonetheless do that, however Bungie has shared some enjoyable Future-themed jack-o’-lantern stencils, with this one specifically impressed by the three-eyed Hive enemies that inhabit the moon.

Outer Wilds – Echoes of the Eye’s Stranger monsters, by Chelsea Stark

I actually hated the elk-owl hybrid monsters in Outer Wilds’ Echoes of the Eye DLC. They may lurk at nighttime and appeared to lurk behind each nook. Slightly than attempting to carve their extremely detailed faces, I went for the extra lurking idea with glowing eyes. This was additionally my first time scraping down a pumpkin to glow, and all the trouble was price it.

Freddy Fozbear, by Chris Grant

With apologies to the readers, that is the one picture captured of this Freddy Fazbear pumpkin earlier than it collapsed in on itself only a week later. In fact the picture was taken in a darkish room, on the behest of my 6-year-old boss (pictured subsequent to my his creation) so it’s truly laborious to inform that it’s a pumpkin in any respect… however I pinky promise that it’s!

I discovered the stencil on-line, traced it utilizing a push pin, and spent a number of hours carving it out. I used energy instruments — particularly drill bits — for the small areas, just like the tooth, which helped so much. I then used a small rasp to wash up and reshape among the openings for max legibility. Then dropped in one in every of these remote-operated lights to get the inexperienced shade good, one other exacting request from the boss.

What cuter online game monster is there than the candy little Metroid? Technically this child may kill us all.
I used to be initially anxious about carving this due to all of the curved traces however it ended up being fairly easy. It’s based mostly on a stencil by an artist who goes by Longquang — many due to that individual for serving to me make this pumpkin look so cool.

Gengar (Junji Ito’s model), by Michael McWhertor

When the temporary of “spooky online game monsters” got here up, one in every of my first ideas was Gengar, the life-stealing, child-haunting, shadow-dwelling, heat-absorbing Pokémon. The spookiest model of Gengar is manga artist Junji Ito’s tackle the character, which I attempted to seize in jack-o-lantern kind by carving out an enormous, Venom-esque tongue. Subsequent time, I’ll suppose twice about attempting to carve particular person Gengar tooth out of a gourd.

Majora’s Masks Moon, by Matt Patches

I’ve been haunted by the moon from Majora’s Masks for almost 25 years. So once I got down to discover a creepy online game monster who may double as a generic creepy jack-o’-lantern, the celestial scourge of Termina was a logical alternative. However to do justice to all of the moon’s grotesque options — piercing eyes, gnashing tooth, flaring nostrils — I spotted rapidly {that a} easy carve wouldn’t do the trick. Numerous YouTube movies supported my principle: I must sculpt the moon out of the face of the pumpkin utilizing wooden etching instruments. This took 3 times so long as simply stabbing the pumpkin within the face with a knife, and I obtained method too invested within the particulars of the tooth and depth of the moon’s sinuses, all in hopes of getting a selected shadowy glow from the top product. However you realize what, it kinda labored! Nice job by me. (Apologies to the household I ignored to perform it.)

Chain Chomp, by Petrana Radulovic

This little man feasted on my blood twice throughout the carving course of, which is why its eyes look so sloppy as a result of by the point I obtained to them, I used to be afraid of it. So it’s much less of a cute Chain Chomp and extra of a possessed Chain Chomp. However! I really feel completely nice now. And it is kinda cute — and I’m not simply saying that as a result of I can hear it whispering to me at the back of my thoughts, haha! ̵̢́̋?w̸̺̍i̵͐͐?͉l̸̢̲͠ḻ̴́͝ ̵̦̘̑f̷̟̹̎̆e̸͖̓â̵̛̗s̸̼̈́̿͜t̶̛͙̯͂ ̶̰̝̌̀u̴̹̪̐p̵͙͔̄ŏ̷̠͙n̵̰͚̊ ̵͎̃t̵?̘̩ḧ̷̞̓e̶̺̠̋ ̴̤̽͗b̶̠̩̌l̷͕̿ȏ̷̞̠̕o̶̤̼͋̕ď̵͔̠ ̴̢̡̏o̶͔̍̔f̵͔͗̾ ̴͔̠̇m̴͋͝?ȳ̴̱ ̶͔̃ē̶͖n̷͙̮̒̏e̶̻͖̾m̸͚̄͝î̴̲ḙ̶̟́s̴͔̤̾͑ ̸̢͈̔̓ä̴̬̪͐n̶̰̹̉͝d̵̳̎̆ ̷̢͉̾̒g̵̣̀̋r̵̀͠?o̴̧͗w̴̮̺͒̃ ̷͖̄s̴͚̆̊t̶͕̖͂ṛ̸̼̓̉ȍ̷̼͚̾n̵̤̙̍̐g̷̣͕̒é̷͓́r̷̳̍ ̴̱̻̉w̶̭̎͐i̴̮͠?t̸͈̒̉h̴͙̄́ ̵̡̇̈́e̶̪̾͗ã̷͎͝c̸̜͉͝h̶?̪̽ ̶̻̙̎d̴̫̀̕r̶?͜ö̶̯͠p̷̻̳̐̚

Dragon Yorgle from Atari Journey, by Tasha Robinson

I actually don’t suggest that folks make their first-ever foray into pixel artwork within the medium of Pumpkin. However when you’re going to, why not go as OG along with your online game monsters as doable? Right here we see Yorgle, the scariest of the unique Atari Journey dragons, within the precise act of swallowing a participant. Be aware that he’s roaring in triumph. It’s laborious to imagine there was a time when having this little yellow dude chasing you round a labyrinth was actually scary.