Ghost Pumpkin Carving Ideas
48 carving ideas to explore
Start with a friendly sheet ghost, spooky spirit or ghost scene. Character ghosts are grouped separately.
Ghost pumpkin carvings
Explore AI design concepts and community submissions. Open a design for details and save the ones you want to try.
Prefer a no-carve project? Explore ghost pumpkin painting ideas.
Ghost styles to try
Ghosts are the most forgiving Halloween carve. A wavy outline and two eyes is enough, and everything past that is personality.
Ghost with BOO
A ghost holding or peeking over the word BOO. The letters are block capitals, so cut them as straight-sided openings and leave the counters of the B and O attached with a small bridge at the top. The ghost sits behind or beside the word as a second, larger opening.
14 designs in the gallery
Gengar, Zero and other character ghosts
Ghost characters from games and films: Gengar's wide grin and spiky back, Zero the ghost dog with his glowing nose. These are recognizable from the outline alone, so trace carefully and keep the face details simple.
4 designs in the gallery
Wailing and spooky spirits
Long dripping shapes, jagged mouths, hollow eyes and hooded wraiths. These want tall openings that stretch down the pumpkin. Cut the mouth as a wide oval and let the drips run to a point so the light tapers with them.
6 designs in the gallery
Ghost groups and scenes
Two or three ghosts together, ghosts in a window, or a ghost in a graveyard. Space the ghosts so at least an inch of pumpkin separates each opening, and vary the sizes so the scene has a front and a back.
17 designs in the gallery
Friendly waving ghost
A round-topped ghost with a smile and one arm raised. Cut the whole ghost as an opening so it glows white, then leave the eyes and mouth as uncut pumpkin inside it. The raised arm should join the body with a wide shoulder so it does not sag.
7 designs in the gallery
Ghost stencils to download
Print, trace, carve. Every PDF is free and sized for 8.5×11.
Explore other categories
Not feeling ghost? Try one of these.
Ghost pumpkin carving FAQ
- What is the easiest ghost pumpkin to carve?
- A single friendly ghost: a rounded top, a wavy bottom edge, and two oval eyes left as uncut pumpkin inside the opening. It is one outline and two islands, and it glows brilliantly because the opening is so large.
- How do I keep the eyes from falling out of a ghost cutout?
- The eyes are islands of pumpkin inside a big opening, so they need a bridge. Either leave a thin strip connecting each eye to the edge, or carve the ghost as a scrape instead: peel the skin off the ghost shape and cut only the eyes through. The scraped version glows softer and never loses a piece.
- How do I make a ghost look like it is floating?
- Give it a wavy or tapering bottom edge and set it high on the pumpkin, above center. Adding a small moon or a couple of stars near the top makes the space above the ghost feel like sky.
- What light color works best for ghost pumpkins?
- White or cool blue. A plain white LED makes the ghost look like a sheet, and blue gives a spooky, cold glow. Avoid orange, which makes the ghost look like just another jack-o'-lantern.
- Are the ghost pumpkin stencils free?
- Yes. Enter your email on a linked stencil page to unlock its free printable PDF. Print on letter or A4 paper and adjust the scale to your pumpkin. Related stencils may differ from the inspiration images in this gallery.
How scary stacks up
Live rankings across all 12 categories, by unique visitors over the last 30 days. Updated as new carvings get submitted and viewed.