Good Gourd! Dead Presidents Pick Halloween Best

Some Halloween traditions stick to the tried-and-true. Others are just a sticky mess.

The Pumpkin Carving Contest at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing is a bit of both. It’s a scarily fun event that unearths the artistic talents (and perhaps questionable tastes) of faculty, staff, and students.

The cause is good: the annual United Way fund drive, which also brings us a chili cook-off, a tailgate party, and all manner of chances to give a little or a lot without even trying.

Anyway, Happy Halloween! Grab a fun-sized snack and head over to Pinkard for an in-person look at the pumpkins. The candy might settle your stomach (or better yet, put you in a good mood for judging) as you pass the more vividly imagined pumpkin dioramas.

Several of the pumpkins are pictured here. Some—mwah-ha-ha-ha!—need to be experienced to be believed. Gore for sure. (More images at the school’s Flickr site!)

Most dead presidents in the mummy jar—paper or coins—wins, so vote early and often. No trolls, please.

UPDATE: “The Pooping Baby” by the Dean’s Office is declared the winner. An incredibly intricate and thus hard to capture in photos “Lord of the Rings” pumpkin by Admissions earned the United Way People’s Choice Award (best image on Flickr).