» Giving the Devil His Due

Did you know hamsters make pumpkins?

It’s true. Each Halloween, tiny orange and green hamsters toil away in a pumpkin factory straight out of the Willy Wonkosphere, crafting plump orange gourds from unassuming seeds.

It’s also worth noting that an intricately carved, Chinese dragon–themed pumpkin can provide adequate light for nighttime reading. That smoke, mirrors, and rock n’ roll is not as superficial as it sounds—at least when interpreted with an eye towards the Halloween.  That an Internet meme about full-body stiffness can be even more entertaining when that stiff body is a pumpkin. And that a deceptively simple carving of a longhorn can bring legions of appreciators out of the online woodwork.

These are the things we learned as one of our most impressive pumpkin carving contests to date came to a close. A spooky congratulations and a tip of the witch’s hat to:

Internal/On-site Winners 

#1 Krazy Boyz (Manuel Frausto)
#2 The Dragon Lamp (Cong Zhang)
#3 Plankin’ (Holly Olson)

Online Winners

#1 The Longhorn (Mark Williams)
#2 The Dragon Lamp (Cong Zhang)
#3 The Pumpkin Factory (Amal Adi)

View them all at Batcetera.com!