City Native Stencils His Halloween
Man makes monsters his business when it comes to carving that pumpkin
Record-Journal - Meriden, CT
By Steven Scarpa
October 31, 2006

Ryan Wickstrand, a Meriden native, runs a Web site that sells pumpkin carving stencils of his own designs of typical Hollywood monsters, but also creates characters and designs based on people's requests.

For as much as Meriden native Ryan Wickstrand loves Halloween, it isn't likely he is going to be able to celebrate too much today.

He might give himself a couple of hours off, but he will be taking care of some last minute customer service for his Web site, www.zombiepumpkins.com, a site with a 1950's monster movie flair. "But, I like to make it a little more whimsical," he said.

Wickstrand, a 28-year-old graphic designer, makes specially designed stencils to be used for pumpkin carving and this is, obviously, his busiest time of year.

He started the Web site in 2003 at the request of a few friends who enjoyed his pumpkin designs. "I was surprised at the traffic it was getting. There seemed to be an audience for this kind of thing," said Wickstrand, a 1996 Platt High School graduate and alumnus of Syracuse University.

Over time, interest in his intricately designed stencils increased, and now Wickstrand gets customers from all over the country, as well as a total of more than 2,000 subscribers from England, Canada and Australia. He described the forums on his Web site where members share their pumpkin pictures and stories as like going to a Halloween party all over the world. "As the pumpkin project gets bigger and bigger every year, there is so much more involved in keeping it going," he said. "But I always want to be like a hobby. I don't want to get so big that I lose the personal touch."

Wickstrand is, according to his Web site, "stencil designer, Web master, content writer, customer support technician, shipping department manager, forum administrator, and general mischief maker." All that takes place in a small office in his West Haven apartment, right next to the kitchen in his nicely appointed quarters.

While many of his stencils, which he draws on his computer using special graphics software, are of fairly typical movie monsters, Wickstrand does get the occasional unusual request. People have asked him to stencil their children's faces or an image of their dog. His strangest request of this holiday season was a stencil of American Idol winner Taylor Hicks. "I am sure that person feels passionately about him," he said.

It is one thing to think an image is cool or interesting, but it is quite another to be able to carve that image into a pumpkin. "There is a certain method to making the stencils work," he said.

For example, cartoon characters are often difficult to carve. There are too many thin lines and not enough shading, Wickstrand said. "They are not structurally sound for a carving," he said.

Monsters, with their fur, wrinkles and scars, work best when carved. Wickstrand puts out a new design almost every day in October, many of which are his own creations. "As far as I can remember, I was encouraged to draw. At an early age, I was told I was an artist and that is what I always wanted to be," he said.

His mother, Joby Wickstrand, remembers a picture 2-year-old Ryan drew of a bi-plane. She still has that picture. "He made his mother proud and he makes a lot of people happy," she said. At first, Joby Wickstrand, a Meriden resident, didn't much like the name of the Web site, but she has grown to see the pleasure her son gives and receives from his artwork. "A lot of my girlfriends want their sons to be doctors or lawyers. My son is the pumpkin doctor," she said.

Each year, she hosts a party with all her friends and they have Ryan lead the carving, a source of great joy for him. Ryan Wickstrand said he has many repeat patrons. His stencils have become part of many people's regular Halloween experience. "I feel like the drawings help make traditions for people," Wickstrand said.

As of tonight, Joby Wickstrand will have 15 glowing pumpkins on her lawn, all flashing her son's designs. "I don't think there is any stopping him now," she said.