It’s arduous to know what to carve yearly! Positive, you possibly can simply put some spooky eyes and enamel in your jack-o’-lantern and name it a day, however this 12 months we determined to be a bit extra formidable and manage a themed pumpkin carving session. The immediate? “Spooky online game monsters.” Did we succeed? Choose accordingly, and you should definitely learn the artist statements beneath 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 12 months, I tried a design impressed by certainly one of my favourite D&D beasties: the Owlbear. However because the Owlbear is sort of massive, and scaling stuff to suit on a 20-pound gourd is tough, I form of simply ended up with a little bit beaky fella with an perspective. Simply think about them saying, “With shiny garments, I’m robust,” and also you’ll get the concept.

Future’s Pageant of the Misplaced, by Alice Jonavée

Whereas I haven’t participated in Future’s Pageant of the Misplaced occasion in a number of years, I at all times 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 might lurk at nighttime and appeared to lurk behind each nook. Quite than making an attempt 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 value 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 really arduous 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 enamel, which helped rather a lot. I then used a small rasp to wash up and reshape a number of the openings for max legibility. Then dropped in certainly one of these remote-operated lights to get the inexperienced coloration excellent, 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 particular person 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, certainly one 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 making an attempt to carve particular person Gengar enamel 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 after 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 selection. However to do justice to all of the moon’s grotesque options — piercing eyes, gnashing enamel, flaring nostrils — I noticed rapidly {that a} easy carve wouldn’t do the trick. Numerous YouTube movies supported my concept: 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 acquired means too invested within the particulars of the enamel and depth of the moon’s sinuses, all in hopes of getting a specific shadowy glow from the tip 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 through the carving course of, which is why its eyes look so sloppy as a result of by the point I acquired 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 fantastic now. And it is kinda cute — and I’m not simply saying that as a result of I can hear it whispering to me behind 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 advocate that individuals 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 potential? 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 arduous to imagine there was a time when having this little yellow dude chasing you round a labyrinth was actually scary.