In October, 2018, I helped two friends of mine set the world record for Largest Jack O’Lantern. This was my first time working with Mike Brown (Halloween Wars), and my third time working with Brandy Davis (Halloween Wars, Villafane Studios).

From The Guinness World Records website: 

The largest jack o’lantern (weight) is 942.11 kg (2,077 lb), and was achieved by the Cosumnes Community Services District (USA) at the 24th annual Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival in Elk Grove, California, USA on 6 October 2018.

The pumpkin was grown by Josiah Brandt, and carved by Mike Brown, Deane Arnold and Brandy Davis. The Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival is an annual family event that celebrates the harvest season and all things pumpkin, attracting over 50,000 guests each year.

While the record only required a simple Jack O’Lantern (two eyes, nose, mouth, and a candle inside), we decided to create a larger scene. The display includes a gigantolantern who can’t quite figure out why he feels so lousy. The reason he feels rotten is because a bunch of smaller pumpkins have been digging inside of him to harvest his seeds in a complicated mining operation.

The team with the gigantolanternThe opening to the mine shaftThe gigantolantern’s faceInside the mineshaft, a tea candle lights the way for a seed minerA miner open a new lode of seeds with a pickaxeAnother miner enthusiastically leaps into his workA miner pushes a load of seeds in a mining cartA miner pulls a load of seeds in a mining cartA miner gathers up stray seeds in a bucket