5 Jack-O'-Lantern Spinoffs in the Great Pumpkin Shortage

Paging Linus! The Great Pumpkin is in serious trouble this year, because as you may have heard, there’s apparently a pumpkin shortage looming over the East Coast! What does this mean for Halloween décor? What if there aren’t enough jack-o’-lanterns to go around? Will Jack Pumpkinhead have to spend this season as the Headless Horseman?

The short answer is: No! All sorts of other items can be pressed into service. I went to my local Safeway and bought up everything that looked carve-worthy, and so can you! Of course, you already thought of acorn squash and dried apple dolls, right? So I took it a step further.

Now, I live in California, where we have pumpkins aplenty and a wider assortment of local winter fruit ... so this is a little unfair. But maybe I can inspire you. Or make you jealous. Or make you laugh! Either way, feast your eyes on the spoooookiest fruits you can carve faces into this Halloween.  

My husband loathes pineapple, so the above would be truly terrifying unto him. Well, really only if it were hiding in his fruit salad, but it could happen.

Eeek! The frightening face of the heirloom tomato! Bring it up to the Whole Foods cash register, and scream at the price tag! FIIIIIIIVE DOOOOOLLLARS!!!

Sure, he looks friendly and green. But leave this avocado out for five minutes and he becomes a sickening shade of brown! NOOOOO! NOT IN MY SAAALAD!!! ALSO TOO MANY OMEGA-3S!!!!

Listeria wears a smile. A deadly, deadly smile. Oh wait, this is watermelon, not cantaloupe. So that's a little better, at least in terms of the most recent outbreak. Whew.

The rhythm is gonna get you. Barring that, the mango is also gonna get you.

When all else fails, you can still have a pumpkin jack-o'-lantern. Of sorts.

What will you be carving your jack-o'-lantern out of during the terrible pumpkin shortage of '11?