15 Strange Jack-o-Lanterns To Freak Out Your Neighborhood

Carving a Jack-o-lantern is a beloved Halloween activity. The tradition started in Ireland hundreds of years ago, and to keep a long story short, people created Jack-o-lanterns to scare away evil spirits.

Things have changed quite a bit since then. Think about the Jack-o-lanterns you’ve seen. Can you remember any that were actually scary? I know I can’t. Most people’s Jack-o-Lanterns are the classic gap-toothed grinning guy, or maybe a black cat. Any evil spirit in the area probably wouldn’t even notice your carved pumpkin on the way to steal your kids or whatever it is that evil spirits do. Like most of our modern Halloween traditions, Jack-o-lanterns are a pale imitation of a much scarier predecessor. They’re cute, not terrifying.

But as with anything, there are exceptions, and there are a few people out there still making Jack-o-lanterns that are downright scary. Or creepy. Or weird. Or NSFW. Or all of the above! I’m not sure if we should thank these people for keeping a tradition alive, or throw them in an asylum. Either way, here are 15 Jack-o-lanterns that will definitely freak out your entire neighborhood.

Note: many of these pumpkins come from Extreme Pumpkins, a website that lovingly documents people’s most insane Jack-o-lanterns. If you still can’t get enough pumpkin extremity, give ’em a click!