Left 4 Dead Pumpkins-Reunited at last!

I was really excited to carve some L4D zombies this year, but was bummed when no one opted for my Tank stencil. But bummed no more! Thanks to Evan, I got to see my L4D Tank in action! I have to say, great job man! It looks pretty abominable-as anything with the Tank's gruesome visage should be! So, at long last, the Special Infected are reunited in pumpkin form! (except for the boomer-but really, if you imagine the special infected throwing a party, do you really think they're gonna invite the boomer? Yeah, I wouldn't either.) Thanks for making this happen Evan!

Now I just have to figure out what next year's batch of pumpkins are gonna be... any satisfactorily geeky ideas?

More Geekanerdy Pumpkins: BONUS L4D Stencils Included!

This year saw an amazing batch (or should is say patch? no I shouldn't) of Jack-o-Lanterns-some geekanerdy, some halloweeny, and some...thing else too. I may have been up all night working on stencils, but it was worth it! Everyone really pulled out all the stops and carved some crazy pumpkins. Also, the pumpkin squares and mulled cider were pretty tasty.


Here are the two Left 4 Dead pumpkins we did-I worked on the Hunter pair and Christine did the Smoker (in loving tribute of fellow G'Nerd Bishop-who was stuck in stinky old California... like some other G'Nerd editors I know...) Generally, I don't support anything that could be construed as zombie-hugging-lest we forget that they are unholy abominations-but the lure of violating these perfect orange gourds with the foul silhouettes of the special infected could not be denied! Plus, added bonus of seeing them deteriorate into shriveled messes! Take that filthy zombie kind! Hit the jump to see details, more pumpkins, PLUS BONUS Left 4 Dead stencils so you can make your own!




Some Detail shots of the two L4D pumpkins. I also designed a Tank stencil, but no one chose to carve it. Alas.


Mad props to Dave T, who masterfully carved this challenging Larry David Pumpkin I designed for him. I think he did a Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good job.

Now, I'm sure none of you would care, but my lovely wife wanted to do a pumpkin of our dog, Leo McGarry. How can you say no to such an adorable proposition? I think it turned out nearly as cute as the real thing:



Lastly, you'll find two of the four L4D stencils (we haven't finished stencil-fying the 2 Hunters). Since we didn't get a chance to do the Tank ourselves, I'd love for one of you to take a stab at it-send us a pic when you're done! I'm dying to know how it looks on a pumpkin!

Ponyo, Ponyo, Pumpkin in the Sea

Last year's Best Geek Jack-o-Lantern post is getting a lot of attention this season (why are Stumblers always so late to the party?), and it inspired me to try my hand at pumpkin carving. My muse? My favorite movie of the year...
PONYO! Yes she's a weird superdeformed fish/bug/fairy thing, but she's so freakin cute!

I'm really pleased with how this came out, especially since it's my first attempt at pumpkin carving since grade school. I was nervous about cutting away the background, but it turns out that pumpkin hide is thick enough to anchor the entire design on Ponyo's thin little fish fins.

Here's what it looked like without the negative space backdrop...
Eh, maybe it looked better this way? Shaddup.

Are you carving a pumpkin inspired by a nerd icon this year? Send us a pic! We'll include it in this year's Geek Jack-o-Lantern post, and you too can have your work seen by thousands of people...one year later, on stumbleupon.

Best Geek Jack-o-Lanterns of 2008!

Sure, it's one thing to invest hundreds on an elaborate costume honoring your favorite icon of geekdom... but it's a whole 'nother deal when you're elbow-deep in pumpkin innards carefully carving that same icon into a decaying gourd. Here we honor the 2008 masters of negative space with the top geek pumpkins of this past Halloween!


UPDATE 2009! Here and here are a new crop of pumpkins designed by your own Gnerd editors, including Left 4 Dead zombies, Larry David, and Ponyo!


First of course, the most popular costume... ALSO one of the most popular pumpkins!

Image Courtesy of CraigG144

Now if only I had found this costume, I would have won Bingo!

Image courtesy of sage_82

Star Wars, Portal, Cylons, and so much more after the jump...


Another Wall-E... much simpler, but its simplicity adds to the cuteness of the character

Image courtesy of mrboma

An awesome Wario and Boo
Images courtesy of grantsewell

Some one's got Secret Invasion on the brain...

Image courtesy of lensbs

Of course it wouldn't be a geek Halloween without Star Wars!

Image courtesy of pixelelated

Image courtesy of Metal Chris

Image courtesy of Simon Davison

Image courtesy of garcher84

Here's The Adorable Gizmo and his pal Batman (my favorite Batman RIP title so far)

Image courtesy of ktsaltishok

Here's an impressive combination of the latest in LED and pumpkin technology

Image courtesy of MAKE

This is a simple pumpkin, sure... but the connotations of this image are far more terrifying to any geek than anything else Halloween has to offer...

Image courtesy of penner42

If you weren't aware of Geekanerd's obsession with all things Portal, then you've been under a rock for a year (or you haven't visited this blog... either or)

Image courtesy of wickerman

Image courtesy of prettypinkninja

This one's for AHR

Image courtesy of bluedot11

And lastly (and probably leastly), here was my pumpkin... It was a design I did in high school during a major Bond phase... unfortunately I didn't have time to flesh out my own Joker design this year-so I went back to this oldie... but it turned out pretty well. Unfortunately this photo is at a bit of an angle, but you get the idea.