Similar to This
View all stencils →About this stencil
Two drooping, hooked eyes sag toward a small nose and an enormous lopsided open mouth, giving this face a wailing, ghostly howl. Every feature is pierced through, and the curled inner tips of the eyes are what sell the melting expression. This is a harder carve because the eye hooks and the long mouth curve leave narrow bridges of pumpkin, so cut those thin sections last and support the wall with your free hand. This design is rated Advanced and takes most carvers around 150 minutes from trace to glow. Multi-layer cuts with skin-peel shading. Plan your cuts first.
Pumpkin size guide
- 🎃 Small (5–7") — print at 80%
- 🎃 Medium (7–10") — print at 100% (recommended)
- 🎃 Large (11–13") — print at 130%
- 🎃 Giant (14"+) — print at 150% on tabloid paper
Frequently asked questions
Can I resize this stencil?▾
Yes. The PDF is vector so it scales cleanly. Print at 100% for a 7–10 inch pumpkin, 130% for 11–13 inch, or 150% for a giant. Use your printer's "Fit to page" or "Custom scale" setting.
What kind of paper works best?▾
Standard 20 lb letter or A4 printer paper is fine. Heavier paper is harder to bend around the pumpkin curve. If your printer supports it, set the quality to 'best' so the lines are crisp.
How long will the carved pumpkin last?▾
Usually 5–10 days. Coat all cut surfaces with petroleum jelly and store the pumpkin somewhere cool overnight. Avoid direct sun. Battery LED pumpkin lights produce no heat and double the lifespan.
Can I sell pumpkins carved with this stencil?▾
Yes, the carved pumpkin you make is yours. The license covers personal and small-scale commercial carving (selling carved pumpkins, photographing them, posting on social). You may not resell the PDF file itself.
What if my printer doesn't print the whole stencil?▾
Set 'Page scaling' to 'Fit' in the print dialog and uncheck 'Auto-rotate'. If it still cuts off, the design includes 0.25" of safe-area margin so a small crop won't ruin it.
How to carve this stencil
This is a cut-through stencil: the dark numbered regions on the printable pattern are the pieces you remove, and everything white stays attached. The numbers give you the safest carving order, and the steps below walk through them one by one. Plan on about 90-130 minutes from print to candle.
Set up first. Print the PDF at 100% scale on letter or A4 paper. Cut the lid at an angle, scoop the pumpkin clean, and thin the carving wall to about 1 inch where the design will sit. Tape the pattern on (snip small darts in the paper so it hugs the curve) and transfer every outline by poking dots along the lines, about one every 1/8 inch. Peel the paper away and carve dot to dot with short, straight strokes.
Carving order
- Start with the notched nose. Cut region 1 around its pointed upper curve and lower center notch. Keep the white notch joined to the face below.
- Open the long drooping eyes. Cut both eyes marked 2, preserving their unequal lengths and outward-sweeping lower ends. Support each long plug and finish the narrow upper ends with short strokes.
- Carve the laughing mouth. Cut region 3 including the small curled upper-left corner. Preserve the broad white area on its left and the white band below the chin. Support the long plug while releasing the lower tip.
- Finish brows and cheek curls. Cut the two brows, two cheek accents and lower chin curl marked 4. Keep all white separators intact. Use short strokes around narrow curls and support each small plug before its last cut.
Clear loose fibers out of each opening as you go, and never twist or pry the blade against the shell; back it out and recut instead. When every region is open, wipe the cut edges dry and drop in a battery LED puck.
Tools you'll need
For a advanced carve like this you'll want a linoleum cutter set, x-acto knife, peel tool, and pin transfer wheel. Here's the kit we reach for — start with whatever you already own.
Elmchee Pumpkin Carving Kit
13-piece kit with carrying case
Saws for the larger cutouts, plus a scoop for hollowing. Covers both jobs in one kit.
View on Amazon ↗
HOME MOST LED Pumpkin Lights
4-pack, battery operated, with remote + timer
Orange glow made for jack-o'-lanterns. The remote and timer light the pumpkin every evening without reaching inside.
View on Amazon ↗
Speedball 4131 Lino Cutter Set
Handle + 5 interchangeable cutters
Interchangeable cutters for peeling and shading the face. Useful for the finer details.
View on Amazon ↗
Community Pumpkin Carving Ideas
Carving ideas that use stencils like this one.
Related stencils
Carvers who liked this one also downloaded these.
IntermediateAngry Eyes and Five Mouth Gaps
A grumpy jack-o'-lantern scowls with slanted, brow-slit eyes, a small triangle nose, angled cheek slashes, and a downturned mouth broken into square gaps. Every element is cut through, with the mouth's rind bridges creating the clenched, gritted-teeth effect. The thin brow and cheek slits earn the medium rating: make each slit with two close parallel cuts and pop the sliver out from inside the pumpkin, since pushing from outside can crack the narrow channel wider.
IntermediateUnequal Eyes and Crooked Teeth
This lovably lopsided face pairs one round eye with one droopy crescent eye, a triangle nose, and a huge crooked grin full of uneven square teeth, plus a pair of dot dimples on each cheek. The eyes, nose, mouth, and dots are pierced while the mismatched tooth bars stay attached. It suits odd-shaped pumpkins perfectly; cut the tooth gaps in random sizes and the wonkier it looks, the better.
AdvancedWide-Eyed Hairy Monster
A wide-eyed shaggy monster stares out with round googly eyes, a snub nose, and a jagged fanged smirk, all framed by tufts of wild fur around the edges. The face and fur spikes are cut through in many separate openings, which is where the hard rating comes from. Carve the small fur tufts and eye rings before the large mouth, and leave the skin bridges between shapes untouched so the face holds together.
IntermediateOne Eye and Two Upper Teeth
A goofy one-eyed jack-o'-lantern with a huge round eye topped by a dark pupil circle, a small triangle nose, and a wide smile broken by two chunky upper teeth. The big eye, nose, and mouth are cut through, while the pupil area keeps a disc of skin attached at the top for contrast. Support the teeth by cutting away from their narrow roots, since those two tabs carry the whole grin.
AdvancedDouble Zigzag Flame Face
Jagged flame-shaped eyes glare above a huge zigzag grin packed with two rows of interlocking pointed teeth. Every eye, brow flick, and tooth gap is pierced clean through, leaving thin orange spikes of rind that read as fangs when the candle is lit. Those narrow tooth points are fragile, so cut them last, work from the tips inward, and support each spike with your free hand as you finish.
AdvancedSnarling Split-Mouth Face
This snarling jack-o'-lantern glares through slanted, angry eyes above a flared triangular nose and a huge split mouth bristling with long fangs and jagged lower teeth. The eyes, nose, and mouth are all cut through, while thin skin bridges hold each fang in place against the glow. Rated hard because of those narrow tooth bridges; carve the fangs last with a fine saw and leave extra width until the final pass.