As Halloween enthusiasts gear up with spooky decorations and final touches to costumes, one pumpkin carver reigns supreme.
Despite actually hating pumpkins, Alex Wer has made the seasonal vegetable work for him and bagged a staggering $1 million (£822K) from his pumpkin carving skills.
Featuring the likes of Pennywise the Clown, Batman, the Mandalorian, Eddie from Stranger Things, Harry Potter, and more, this pumpkin carver’s designers are not only intricate but iconic.
In fact, Alex is so good at pumpkin carving that it was actually his full-time job for over a decade.
He’s even showcased his impressive talents at a whopping 25 Comic Con events across the USA every year.
Now the US sales manager for Fan Expo Comic-Con, he pursues pumpkin carving alongside his day job and has built up a fan base of almost 10K people on Instagram, where he posts his pumpkin carvings under the handle @ThePumpkinGeek.
Explaining why he got into pumpkin carving in the first place, Alex, who lives in Sacramento, California, USA, admitted: “I wanted to be the cool neighbour at Halloween and just started getting more detailed with my carving.
“When I was doing it full time, I averaged about 600 to 700 orders a year.
“Each carve takes about four to six hours, so I was working for 3,500 hours a year for 10 years.”
Alex was making about $100K (£82K) a year, after expenses, with his creative crafts and claimed his favourite design was one for the Hobbit movie.
He added: “I won an award in Hollywood for it!”
Alex, who admitted that he hates the taste of pumpkins, said the key to getting seriously skilled at carving them is simple – practice.
He emphasised: “PRACTICE!!! I advise getting the carving patterns at the stores
“Be patient… It takes a while. And look online for carving ideas.”
Alex’s designs offer some Halloween inspiration to fulfil your creative passions this spooky season and proves that you can turn a seasonal hobby into a million-dollar craft.