The Cool Kid's Guide To Pumpkin-Carving

In case you haven't noticed, a certain squash plant has taken over planet Earth for the month of October. Its name? The mighty pumpkin. It's in your latte, on your front door, and has even made its way into your skin-care products.

Then there's pumpkin carving — arguably a competitive sport. The jack-o'-lantern you grew up carving just no longer cuts it: There are now meticulously carved, pop culture-inspired creations that wouldn't look out of place at the Met's sculpture garden.

As Halloween quickly approaches, we've rounded up 31 orange gems that are so high on artistic merit, they will get your own creative juices flowing. Click through to see how some clever crafters are taking to their X-Acto knives like Michelangelo to a paintbrush.