These Pumpkin Carving Ideas Are Simple Yet Spooky

One of my absolute favorite seasonal traditions is carving pumpkins, but more often than not, I tend to pick projects that are somewhat beyond my creative abilities. My jack-o-lanterns never turn out how I envisioned, which usually leads to utter disappointment. Booo.

However, if you're looking for something simultaneously spooky and simple, here are five easy (yet scary!) pumpkin carving ideas. And trust me — they're seriously doable, even for the least artistic people out there (holla!).

These easy pumpkin carving ideas are scary good:

Select a typical "Halloween" word (think: "Beware," "Keep Out," "trick or treat," or "BOO!"). Then, write it on your pumpkin in permanent marker. Proceed to scoop out the inside of your pumpkin (important for any project) before carefully whittling out the selected word with basic carving tools. 

You'll impeccably get into the spirit of the holiday without putting in too much effort... and if you ask me, that's my kind of pumpkin carving project.

Everyone loves a classic jack-o-lantern, and one with a sinister face is simultaneously simple and effectively creepy. 

Start out by scooping out the inside of your pumpkin, and carving some angry triangular or wide ovular eyes. Then add jagged triangular or spookily square teeth, before adding any additional characteristics. Any big shape is really, really easy to carve, and a simple face requires mostly big carving movements... which is seriously essential for any simple carving project.

If you're superstitious or simply prone to bad luck, a black cat is probably the last thing you want to run into on Halloween night. However, a feline jack-o-lantern is incredibly simple to carve (and let's be real: it's also kind of cute).

With two circular eyes, a triangle nose, triangle ears, a mysterious curved line for a smile, and straight lines for whiskers, hacking out a cat is really, really easy. And the best part is that having one of these in your presence won't come with bad luck.

Everyone knows that ghosts are a pivotal part of Halloween spookiness, whether they're friendly like Casper, or evil Conjuring-esque spirits. And you'll be happy to know that they, too, are easy to carve.

With a round head, two round arms, and a swirly bottom half, there really isn't much to it, and for this one, you can get a little creative. Unless, of course, you're attempting to carve out the ghost of Nearly Headless Nick. He's a far more complex spirit than any other ghost out there.

Bats never fail to be seriously haunting, whether they're about to transform into a vampire, or if it's simply sucking your blood for the hell of it. Luckily, though, they're pretty easy to draw with a marker, and carve by yourself. As long as you capture the essence of wings and a head, you're good to go.

Pumpkin carving isn't always easy, but whittling out some spooky (yet simple) designs is totally possible. I have faith in you, friends... let's get artistic.