18 Literary Pumpkins For A Bookish Halloween

Celebrate Halloween and literature at the same time!

1. Edgar Allan Poe

tumblr.com / Via geyserofawesome.com

What's a list about books and the spookiest time of year without a little Edgar Allan Poe? (carved by redditor r0cketballs)

2. Poe's Raven

Photo/ Tom Hundley / Via Flickr: tomhauburn

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

3. Cthulhu

flickr.com / Via Flickr: coldways

Master horror wordsmith H.P. Lovecraft's Elder Gods and Great Old Ones are also seasonally appropriate guests. (Carved by Kevin Meehan)

4. The Headless Horseman

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Sleepy Hollow's infamous spectral horseman rode out of the pages of a short story long ago and has since inspired a nightmare or two, not to mention a bunch of other popular media.

5. Sherlock Holmes

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A literary figure whose identity is easy to deduce from his silhouette alone. (Carved by Norbini)

6. Oedipus and the Sphinx

fc07.deviantart.net / Via snerk.deviantart.com

Speaking of classic lit figures, heroes and beasts from Classical Mythology make fun pumpkin decor. You already have the perfect orange backdrop. (Carved by snerk)

7. A Princess of Mars

th08.deviantart.net / Via crasio.deviantart.com

Star Wars jack o'lanterns are mighty popular, but this sci-fi pumpkin is actually a tribute to Frank Frazetta's artwork for the science fantasy novel A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burrough. (Carved by Crasio)

8. Barad-dûr and the Eye of Sauron

fantasypumpkins.com / Via fantasypumpkins.com

Classic high fantasy readers shouldn't have a hard time finding impressive Lord of the Rings-themed jack o'lanterns, especially given the success of the movies. But here's one gorgeously detailed example. (Carved by Noel at Fantasy Pumpkins)

9. Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons

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Or if grittier epic fantasy is more your thing, there are also quite a few A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones pumpkins to be found too. Here's another stunning carving from Noel at Fantasy Pumpkins.

10. The Hunger Games

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Given the success of The Hunger Games books and first movie, I wouldn't be surprised to see more pumpkins like this in the future. (Carved by Pikko)

11. Harry Potter

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I'd be remiss to not mention the Harry Potter books when it comes to successful kidlit franchises that spawn creative fan-work like this double pumpkin carving. (Designed and Carved by Dorothy Phillips)

12. Alice in Wonderland

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Wonderland is a rich source of whimsical and potentially creepy things for great pumpkin carvings. (Carved by saeco1)

13. Where the Wild Things Are

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Another 2-part jack o'lantern of a beloved children's book. (Carved by Maniac Pumpkin Carvers)

14. Coraline

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Sometimes the scariest stories can be found in kidlit. Don't be fooled by the cute art. (Carved by Noel at Fantasy Pumpkins)

15. Brisingr

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Really, the beautiful covers of many kidlit and YA lit books these days could make eye-catching and fun jack o'lanterns. For example there's this depiction of Brisingr from the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. (Carved by Noel at Fantasy Pumpkins)

16. Mistborn

th05.deviantart.net / Via johwee.deviantart.com

From perhaps a lesser known series, Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, this is a carving of the Survivor of the Flames. (Carved by johwee)

17. The Raven Boys

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Not Poe's raven, but the raven on the cover of Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys. (Carved by Kate Hart)

18. Matched

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Another pretty YA cover translated to pumpkin: the cover of Ally Condie's MATCHED. (Carved by Laura)