DIY Holiday

125 Creative Pumpkin Carving Ideas to Light Up Your Halloween

You can’t really say it’s Halloween until you’ve got at least one carved pumpkin glowing on the porch. It’s kinda like the unofficial badge of October—carve one face and suddenly your whole house feels in the spirit. And honestly, Halloween Pumpkin Carving never really gets old. Every year I tell myself I’ll just do one simple jack-o’-lantern, and then I end up scrolling through ideas at midnight, thinking “oh, maybe I’ll try a dragon this time.” Spoiler: it usually turns into a lopsided cat, but hey, that’s part of the fun.

Now, if you’re more into paints and brushes than knives, I actually put together a list of 110 Creative Halloween Pumpkin Painting Ideas, which might be a safer bet if your carving skills are anything like mine. But if you’re ready to scoop out some pumpkin guts and get those hands messy, this list of 125 Halloween pumpkin carving Ideas will keep you busy all season. From creepy and gory to totally cute, there’s something here for every kind of Halloween mood. Light a candle inside and trust me—your front yard’s about to look ten times cooler.

1. The Classic Jack-o’-Lantern

When people say halloween pumpkin carving, this is the picture that pops in your head. Triangle eyes, jagged grin, maybe a nose that looks like someone just stabbed the pumpkin at random. It’s the OG style, the one I made as a kid with those flimsy plastic carving kits that always snapped halfway through. Honestly, nothing beats that moment when you drop in a candle and—bam—it goes from “squash with holes” to full-on spooky porch guard. If you only do one pumpkin this year, this is still the king.

This is a perfect example of a classic pumpkin carving, with its friendly triangle eyes and wide smile.

This pumpkin looks like it’s trying to keep a secret, with its eyes and mouth sewn shut with thick string.

A pointy witch hat sits on top of this happy jack-o’-lantern, making it look ready for trick-or-treating.

This goofy-grinned pumpkin is wearing braces made out of soda can tabs and wire.

Two jack-o’-lanterns are glowing warmly in a pile of hay, a perfect autumn scene. This is such a cozy pumpkin carving display.

Three small, glowing pumpkins hang from hooks, looking like little lanterns lighting up the yard.

With their sharp, jagged teeth and angry eyes, these pumpkins glow with a spooky red light.

This tall stack of pumpkins creates a fun Halloween display by the front door, complete with a ghost and spiderwebs.

This funny group of pumpkins shows some creative pumpkin carving ideas, like one with a knife in its head and another with a can in its mouth.

What an inviting front porch! So many carved pumpkins line the steps leading up to a door with a “Happy Halloween 2025” sign.

2. The “I Went Overboard” Detailed Carving

So here’s the deal—I once tried to carve an entire haunted house scene into a pumpkin because I saw it on Pinterest. Thought it’d be cute. What I got instead looked like a cave collapse. These intricate pumpkin carving ideas are for people who have patience, steady hands, and maybe a magnifying glass. We’re talking layered designs, portraits, or even whole movie scenes. When they work, they look insane—like actual glowing art pieces.

Here we have a very detailed pumpkin carving of a witch stirring her cauldron, sitting next to a monster-faced jack-o’-lantern.

For a truly magical idea, a pumpkin has been transformed into a beautiful blue carriage, complete with wheels and sparkling gems.

With a power drill for the pixie dust, this clever pumpkin carving brings Tinkerbell to life in a swirl of light.

Looking like a cozy little house, this large pumpkin has been carved with multiple windows and a front door. Tiny leaves are stuck on for extra detail.

Proving that pumpkin carving can be truly elegant, this one features a beautifully etched design of a swirling tree.

Even Smokey Bear is getting into the Halloween spirit with this unique jack-o’-lantern design. His friend in the background is covered in spooky spiders.

Stacking three pumpkins is a great way to create a full skeleton for your porch decorations.

In a funny twist, this large, angry-looking pumpkin is carved to look like it’s eating a smaller, terrified one.

You could almost fit your head inside the giant, wide-open mouth of this huge carved pumpkin.

This incredible pumpkin carving showcases the Pokémon Charizard, breathing fire with its wings spread wide. The detailed etching makes the character glow.

A spooky ghost wearing a wizard hat seems to float in front of a full moon on this pumpkin.

Placed on a decorated shelf, this jack-o’-lantern features a classic silhouette of a witch flying on her broomstick.

It looks like the whole family got involved in this pumpkin carving session. Their porch is filled with several lit pumpkins, each showing a different fun design or character.

3. Cute & Whimsical Pumpkins

Not all carved pumpkins need to look scary. Some of the best ones I’ve seen were just plain adorable—smiley ghosts, goofy cats, or pumpkins turned into cartoon characters. My niece once glued googly eyes on hers and carved a wobbly grin. It was lopsided, but somehow still the star of the porch. These are perfect if you’ve got kids or you just don’t vibe with the whole gore thing.

D’oh! A very detailed carving of Homer Simpson’s head looks like it’s bursting right through the side of this pumpkin.

Against a beautiful sunset, this pumpkin tells a story with its carving of a witch and her cat stirring a cauldron.

For a dramatic look, this pumpkin was painted black, which makes the glowing bat and star cutouts stand out even more.

Fans of Disney will love this intricate etching of Minnie Mouse’s smiling face.

How creative is this? Two pumpkins have been turned into a car and a camper, using little gourds for wheels to complete the scene.

Look at this ghost! It’s carved into a pumpkin at night, and it looks like it’s dancing under a full moon.

A giant pumpkin with a wide-open, screaming mouth sits on a table, with several smaller pumpkins stuck to it like they’re being eaten. It’s a really creative pumpkin carving idea.

This pumpkin carving stacks three pumpkins on top of each other, with each one doing a different pose inspired by the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” monkeys. Skeleton hands are attached to the pumpkins to cover their eyes, ears, and mouth.

You can see two stacks of pumpkins sitting in a garden, with hand shapes carved into them. The light coming from inside makes the carved hand look like it’s glowing.

Someone made a pumpkin carving that looks like it’s throwing up pumpkin guts and seeds all over the ground. It’s a funny, messy Halloween decoration.

This pumpkin is sitting on a small stool, with a happy face carved into it and a head full of colorful lollipops. Next to it is a bowl filled with candy, ready for trick-or-treaters.

This spooky pumpkin carving is part of a Halloween decoration that looks like a headless person holding an axe. The carving is placed on top of the figure’s neck, with red “blood” dripping down.

A pumpkin with a big crack in it looks like it’s spilling long, blonde hair onto the autumn leaves. The hair also looks a lot like a mess of pumpkin guts.

These two pumpkins are designed to look like mummies, with horizontal slits carved across their bodies and bright, glowing eyes.

With black spiky hair and a shocked face, this pumpkin carving is a fun twist on a classic jack-o’-lantern. The light inside shines through the carved eyes and wide-open mouth.

This cute pumpkin carving looks like an owl, and it’s decorated with pumpkin seeds around the eyes to create a feathery effect.

4. Geometric & Modern Vibes

This is where Halloween meets modern art. Forget creepy faces—think clean geometric shapes, minimalist cutouts, or abstract designs that glow like some fancy lantern. I saw one with a honeycomb pattern that looked kinda like a sci-fi beehive when lit up. Another had sharp zigzags, almost tribal-looking. If you want your Halloween pumpkin carving to feel less “haunted house” and more “design magazine chic,” this is definitely the lane to try. Heads up though: you’ll probably spend half the time measuring and muttering “why did I start this?”—but when it works, it’s next-level.

This person clearly loves movies! It’s a pumpkin carved to look just like the classic Ghostbusters logo.

This collection of pumpkin carvings features several characters from the Avengers, including Hulk, Iron Man, and Captain America.

What a cool design! This pumpkin is carved with an intricate scene of bare trees from a spooky forest.

These pumpkins are decorated with a beach theme, with a lighthouse, a seashell, and a palm tree carved into their sides. It’s a unique take on pumpkin carving.

These aren’t your average jack-o’-lanterns—they are incredibly detailed pumpkin sculptures of the Statue of Liberty. You can see her face on one and her hand holding the torch on the other.

This pumpkin has a simple hexagonal shape carved into it. A green light gives it a cool, modern look.

For a Potterhead, these pumpkins are a perfect choice. They are carved with scenes and characters from the Harry Potter series, like Dobby, Hedwig, and the sorting hat.

This pumpkin isn’t carved with a face, but instead has dozens of tiny holes drilled into it to create a cool, starry light pattern.

This pumpkin carving is for the smart people out there. It has a detailed calculus equation carved into it, which looks quite impressive.

A large paw print is carved into this pumpkin, and a candle makes it glow warmly in the dark. It’s a great pumpkin carving for any dog or cat lover.

A spooky haunted house scene is intricately carved into this pumpkin. The light from inside highlights all the details, from the moon to the bats.

Look at this beautiful pumpkin carving! It has a complex floral and geometric pattern, proving that not all Halloween decor has to be scary.

Placed in a spooky graveyard, two stacks of pumpkins have carved hands reaching out. The glowing light from inside makes the hands look skeletal.

A swirling, artistic tree design is the main focus of this pumpkin carving. The light from within makes the carved lines really stand out.

Gamers will love this pumpkin carving featuring the Fortnite logo. It also includes some buildings and trees from the game.

Someone carved constellations into this green pumpkin, making it look like a celestial globe. The little dots of light glow like distant stars.

It’s easy to get a clean cutout with a cookie cutter and a hammer, just like the person in this photo is doing.

What an epic pumpkin carving! This large pumpkin shows a detailed scene from Star Wars, including spaceships and explosions.

For a fun idea, this person carved car dashboard warning lights into four pumpkins. They’re arranged on a set of stairs.

This incredibly detailed pumpkin carving looks just like a carousel, with horses lit up and spinning inside. The top of the pumpkin is a separate piece, acting as the ride’s roof.

5. Straight-Up Horror Pumpkins

Okay, now we’re talking nightmare fuel. These are the pumpkins that make little kids cross the street. Think bleeding mouths, zombie faces, pumpkins vomiting their own guts (yes, I mean seeds and pulp). One year, my buddy jammed plastic vampire teeth into his carving and dripped fake blood all over it—it looked like the pumpkin was mid-feast. It was so gross… and so good. If your idea of pumpkin carving is to terrify trick-or-treaters and maybe your mailman, this is the style for you. Just don’t be surprised if people refuse to ring your doorbell.

A skeleton hand holds this pumpkin’s face, revealing some huge, fake eyes inside.

Someone got creative and turned a pumpkin into a scary anglerfish. It has huge, pointy teeth and a small pumpkin carving dangling from its vine like a lure.

This smart pumpkin carving has a brain on top, made from a separate, lighter pumpkin piece.

Looking at this pumpkin, you can’t help but smile. It has a mouthful of big teeth and is playfully “eating” a fake human foot.

This might be the strangest pumpkin carving out there.

The pumpkin on top is painted to look like a creepy clown, complete with bright makeup and yellow hair. It’s much scarier than the simple jack-o’-lantern below.

This elegant pumpkin has a spiderweb carved into its side, with shiny rhinestones outlining the design.

What a crazy monster! This pumpkin carving has gourds for horns and a long pumpkin tongue sticking out from its big, toothy mouth.

A spooky scarecrow is carved into this pumpkin, looking like it’s reaching out from the darkness.

This pumpkin carving looks like a spooky creature is bursting out of the ground. It has carved, branch-like arms that hold its top half up, revealing a pair of creepy eyes inside.