Whether you're carving, decorating, or using this classic fall gourd for Halloween inspiration, our pumpkin ideas will excite you all season.

The old triangle-eyed pumpkin has its charm, but for a jack-o'-lantern unlike any other on the block, try our mix-and-match templates.

Chris Soria and Marc Evan of Maniac Pumpkins use pumpkins as blank canvases for intricate portraits, fantastical monsters, and tongue-in-cheek replicas of famous art. Chris and Marc suggest using linoleum cutters for etching, as in the haunted hosue pumpkin here.

Grouped together on the mantel, Drac-o'-lantern and tiny winged pals create a Transylvanian scene. Run-of-the-mill pushpins turn into devilish red eyes.

Chris Soria and Marc Evan of Maniac Pumpkins use pear-shaped clay loops for "skinning" the pumpkin, leaving the remaining pulp to sculpt into, as they did with this pirate skull pumpkin. Use knives -- paring, utility, craft -- for carving details.

You can carve just one frightful tombstone or enough gruesome grave-marker pumpkins to haunt an entire cemetery. The more, the scarier.

A ghostly pair pose in profile -- immortal souls captured in pumpkin flesh for eternity (or at least as long as the squash stays fresh). These pumpkins are carefully carved so that their curved stems stand in opposing arabesques.

Creating your own googly-eyed monsters has never been easier. Just don't get too close -- these guys look hungry.

Bumpy, lumpy, and greenish gray, these Hubbard squashes have the perfect complexions for making warty witch jack-o'-lanterns.

See Our Halloween Pumpkin Templates

Don't be shy: Show off your top-notch collection of bodiless heads by placing them atop pedestals. You can put the display next to a stair railing or adjacent to a walkway outdoors -- in fact, anywhere you think a leering head would be a nice decorative touch. Draw faces you like, or print our templates.

Legend has it that the luckless souls who hear the Three Squashes' song of woe shall vanish into the nearest vegetable patch, never to be seen or heard from again. Since narrow squashes are easier to hollow out if you work from both ends, these guys had the tops of their heads cut off. 

Carve a screwy face into a pumpkin, and make him wink using socket kits and small appliance bulbs.

Being trapped in a candy dish is vexing, to be sure. The mini pumpkin on the right had his stem sliced off, then he was placed in the bowl. His eyes and nose were penciled in; he was removed, carved, and cruelly confined again. The one at left was carved, then balanced on a teapot.

See our Expressive Pumpkin Face Templates

In case its startling greeting didn't scare you, this pumpkin also projects a leering visage onto the wall behind it.

Even though they're always disdainfully wrinkling their noses at you, this nosy family are smart to have around: They can smell danger from miles away. When carving, hollow them out from a hole in the bottom, and position their features (see page 2 of this template) on top so the stems can serve as noses.

These jack-o'-lanterns take a walk on the wild side when you wreathe rubber snakes through them.

For an intricate and unique jack-o'-lantern, try carving Celtic knots, complete loops with no end or beginning, into a pumpkin.

You don't need a fairy godmother to turn a pumpkin into an ice bucket.

These playful cats have halved miniature pumpkins for paws. The curved stem of a large, oval pumpkin makes a good tail.

Use big pumpkins for the porcupines' bodies, and attach the heads with toothpicks. To create quills, push white holiday lights through drilled holes that are slightly smaller than the lights.

What would Halloween be without a macabre evocation of the denizens of the night? These multilegged creatures rise up from the damp earth and moss to skitter across cold stones.

Delicately carved floral filigree bands evoke lace on these pale pumpkins.

If you don't have time to carve a complete face, a carrot will add some character to your jack-o-'lantern.

No need to worry that these mushrooms are poisonous. They're made from crown pumpkins and butternut, delicata, and carnival squashes.

Rooms go fast in these cozy, critter-filled pumpkins, which offer a shudder-inspiring alternative to traditional carving motifs.

Slow but sneaky, the snail uses his squash-stem antennae to lead him to a snack. His body is a squat pumpkin turned on its side; his head is a round, spotted gourd.

The alligator is on the hunt for unsuspecting prey. He's constructed of four large, oblong pumpkins. 

An ink-coated silhouette is a sophisticated variation on pumpkin carving.

These reader-favorite decorations bring sparkle to tables and serving areas -- and they last far longer than jack-o'-lanterns.

These puckish pumpkins, with paint-blackened rinds and orange-gold interiors, thumb their carved noses at traditional jack-o'-lanterns.

Warmly lit hearts, luminous stars, glowing clovers, and twinkling diamonds -- try carving any or all of these shapes onto this year's pumpkin lantern using cookie cutters.

The designs used on these pumpkins, which were carved freehand, mimic the lacelike openwork of 18th-century pierced creamware dishes and turn any pumpkin (especially a pale Lumina) into an intricately patterned lamp.

Assemble a row of pumpkins that mimic the twists of a slithering snake.

Behold, the count and countess of Birdbath, and their three little countlings. They redid this abandoned two-story bath, carpeting it with Spanish moss, dead leaves, and branches. The gourds were carved from the bottom to keep stems intact.

This sideboard tableau intersperses luminous pumpkins with a decanter of wine, a stand with fruit, and other objects evocative of Edgar Allan Poe and his tales of horror. To render the glowing silhouettes, we used two techniques: The bright candelabrum and goblet are cut through the pumpkins' walls, while the textured quill and skull are pared gently from the outer shells. Pumpkins of different hues, including white Lumina, a green-gray Jarrahdale, and burnt-orange cheese pumpkins, add tonal variety.

A bell-shaped squash serves as a vertical canvas for a moth-to-flame carving.

A rickety picket fence unites a row of pumpkins in a depiction of a farmer's field.

A front door tempts trick-or-treaters with a collection of eerie spiderwebs and a tarantula shining brightly.

Leaves seem to swirl and tumble in a chilly wind as a raven watches beneath a baleful, moonlit sky. Glowing along a stone wall or presented indoors on a deep mantel, this moody vignette can encompass as many pumpkins as space permits. It's also an opportunity to use fruits of various sizes in the same arrangement. (Keep in mind that smaller pumpkins are harder to work with.) We paired three basketball-style pumpkins with a small, smooth-skinned pie pumpkin.

Halloween custom calls for a fiercely lit, glowering jack-o'-lantern, but you might also consider the more subtle glow of an elegant monogram, playful spirals, or a whimsical harlequin pattern.

Soften and alter the stark light of a jack-o'-lantern's candle or bulb, or enhance unusual gourds and squashes by using sheets of colored wax paper to create a stained glass-o'-lantern.

Overflowing with bright blossoms, these chubby-cheeked planters are sure to elicit grins.

A jack-o'-lantern trying to ward off pranksters from ground level will often come up short. Give him a boost -- and a body -- by setting him atop a stack of pumpkins, squashes, or other winter gourds. Use small wood screws to hold the parts in place.

When cold weather arrives, gourds, winter squashes, Indian corn, and small pumpkins can fill the planters that once overflowed with flowering annuals. Tuck colorful leaves into any gaps for a great way to capture the spirit of the fall harvest season.

Small birds, such as finches and pine siskins, will appreciate the protection from predators that this feeder offers. Dried gourds can be purchased from gourd farms.

John Keats called autumn the season of mellow fruitfulness, a sentiment evoked by this string of warm-colored gourds.

Set the stage -- and the table -- for Halloween with these strange creatures: half bat, half pumpkin.

Silhouetted in an open door, a pumpkin spiked with orange- and chocolate-flavored lollipops resembles a folk-art Sputnik.

Transform your pumpkins into glowing light fixtures.

Small sugar pumpkins make delightful lanterns for a Halloween table.

Fill a pumpkin with dry ice for a smoldering display, or use it to serve punch.

Turn a lopsided pumpkin into a basket for a spooky bouquet.

Pumpkins made into temporary light fixtures can spread a charming glow over your autumn celebration or create an eerie but sophisticated welcome for Halloween callers.

Treat feathered friends to an autumn delight by turning a pumpkin into a bird feeder.

Transform a few pumpkins into candy holders with looks that could chill -- they can play a crucial role as keepers of treats.

The base of a Cinderella pumpkin makes a perfect face for a jack-o'-clock.

Create ghoulish Halloween faces with a variety of candy pieces.

Use a pumpkin incense burner to suggest the cozy scent of pie just out of the oven.

Your next jack-o'-lantern may come with a bonus: a one-of-a-kind tureen lid. For a proper fit, measure the diameter of a tureen, and choose an appropriate-size pumpkin with a firm stem. Using a keyhole saw, cut off the top third of the pumpkin, and scrape the interior clean. Cut a small semicircle along the edge to accommodate a ladle. For an added fall accent at the table, arrange a vine or other foliage around the serving bowl's base.

Pumpkins need not be ghoulish. The deep-twilight hues of Australian heirlooms 'Jarrahdale' and 'Queensland Blue' form a poetic display, but they also serve a practical purpose, offering richly veined cheeses, crudites, and more. Stack them for an extra-elegant effect.

Because it involves no carving, this elegant but easy-to-create ode to autumn can last from early October until Thanksgiving. Boughs of fall-yellow ginkgo leaves brighten a balanced array of similar-hued 'Nest Egg' and 'Warty Orange Hardhead' gourds, which are augmented with small 'White Ball' and 'Pawnee Orange' gourds. To add subtle sparkle and gleaming warmth, the pumpkins' stems are painted gold, and ocher glass vases and gilded votive candleholders are interspersed throughout.

Clearly, white can provoke fright. With the help of some tattered cloth, 'Lumina' pumpkins are easily transformed into fearsome ghosts that arise from an ancient graveyard on All Hallows' Eve.

Make a golden impression right at the front door with a pumpkin overflowing with vivid chrysanthemums, subdued thistles, and seeded eucalyptus, all embellished with branches of Chinese lantern that have been colored gold with floral spray. A few golden pumpkins are strewn amid an array of naturally colorful ones to add even more shimmer and sheen to the welcoming tableau.

Blue is not traditionally associated with the season, but highlight it with small touches of gold, as in these spray-painted miniature pumpkins and a place card written in gold ink, and the color can become a happy participant in holiday revels. A block-printed napkin and tablecloth and the marbleized plate add patterned richness, while a mix of mismatched contemporary glassware and classic flatware keep the feeling clean and modern.