PALMER TWP., Pa. — Growing up, Ian Fetterman always carved into the flesh of a real, grown-from-the-ground pumpkin, meticulously revealing the jack-o'-lantern waiting beneath its skin.
“It was always just a real fun time, and I enjoyed it — and I was getting better,” said Fetterman, 44. “But you know what happened to them? They rot after a couple days. And I put all that time and effort into them.”
At the suggestion of his father, also an artist, Fetterman went to a craft store, searching for a pumpkin that wouldn’t decay after carving, and he found them — standing 10 inches by 13 inches and made of foam. More than a decade and thousands of pumpkins later, Fetterman has built his own business, Ian’s Pumpkin Carvings, with customers all over the U.S.
While still working a full-time day job here in the Lehigh Valley, Fetterman has taken his passion for Halloween — and the horror movies that are hallmarks of the season — and combined it with his artistic talents, carving out his own niche.
“There's no bashing. It's just that we all have different styles of it. And, we're successful in our own way. We lift each other up.”Ian Fetterman
“The funny thing is, when I started, there were only the two of us that were doing this, and now there's quite a bit of us now,” Fetterman said. “It became a thing, and we all know each other, we support each other.
“There's no bashing. It's just that we all have different styles of it. And, we're successful in our own way. We lift each other up.”
‘Proving them wrong’
As a child, Fetterman quickly discovered he had a love for all things slasher and horror. “Halloween,” the 1978 movie, and its main character, Michael Myers, became his favorite — even though it frightened him when he was little.
Over the years, he’s become a self-described “horror nut,” and went on to study graphic design at Northampton Community College.
After posting photos of his pumpkin carvings on Instagram and Facebook, something not-so-scary happened — people responded positively. Soon, Fetterman was taking his carvings to horror conventions across the country. He even managed to get some signatures from the celebrities who portrayed the characters he carved.
And then he got a phone call — a 15-disc Halloween franchise box was in the works, and they wanted Fetterman’s pumpkins in the background of the special features added to the set.
The request “blew my mind,” Fetterman said.
The only problem? The call came in on a Thursday afternoon. The pumpkins were needed the following Tuesday. Fetterman had less than a week to carve and ship three pumpkins all the way to California.
“I did it — shipped them overnight on Monday,” he said. “He got them, and I got credits, and it's my favorite franchise in the world.
“That's pretty much how everything got started — just doing conventions. And then I started vending them. And then I met other artists, and I would reach out to the artist to ask for permission to do their artwork on the pumpkins.”
Now, he gets orders “constantly” through his social media accounts, he said.
“You know, people say you can't really make it in fine arts, but I'm kind of proving them wrong a little bit."Ian Fetterman
But not all the pumpkins leave the Valley — Fetterman’s carvings have been displayed at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs’ Jack-O-Lantern Festival, as well as the Jack-O-Lantern Lane at the Da Vinci Science Center.
“You know, people say you can't really make it in fine arts, but I'm kind of proving them wrong a little bit,” Fetterman said.
‘This full time job I would love’
For Fetterman, Halloween isn’t the season from late summer through Oct. 31 — it’s all year round.
And when he’s not at conventions, he’s fulfilling orders from his township home. Each pumpkin starts at about $170 to $200, and comes with an LED bulb and cord.
“I had this woman reach out to me in April, and she wanted 15 for her wedding coming up — in actually 10 days she's getting married,” he said. “She ordered 15 of them. I always tell people, reach out in April [or] May, if you want a pumpkin, or if you want a huge order, because if you do it now it's kind of too late.
“Because I just don't have time, because people don't realize I have a full time job on top of this full time job I would love.”
While the pumpkins are all the same size, it takes a different amount of time to complete each one, depending on the characters or scenes he’s carving.
“Some can take me six hours. Some can take me eight hours,” he said. “A real intricate design can take me two or three days, depending on how long my hand and back can hold up.
“It is tedious work.”
And each one is done by hand, using a Dremel and an X-acto knife.
“Everyone thinks it's hand-printed on,” he said. “I'm like, ‘No, this is all carved by my right hand.’ I have a steady hand for it, and an eye.”
When he’s vending, Fetterman will sometimes notice an eyeroll or two from passersby. It’s then he reminds himself that he didn’t get good at carving overnight.
“It's years of hard work and practicing,” he said. “There's been pumpkins I've messed up and destroyed. And that's the thing — once I mess it up, I can't fix it. It’s a lost pumpkin. It's not like I have an eraser.”
Over the years, his art has brought him closer to those involved in his favorite franchise — Fetterman has met everyone still alive who had a hand in “Halloween,” from producers to star Jamie Lee Curtis and director John Carpenter.
He's also met Robert Englund, known for playing the villain Freddy Krueger in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, as well as Sid Haig, an actor known for his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses,” among others.
“If you would have told 5-year-old Ian, that of my favorite movies, I'd be friends with someone in this franchise, I'd be blown away,” he said. “ … But you got to play cool with the celebrities. You just treat them like they're just like you and they respect that.”
Asked how many pumpkins he displays year-round, he answered quickly — 15.
“I have ‘Halloween’ posters hung. I have huge Michael Myers figures,” Fetterman said. “I'm a collector — tons and tons of Blu-rays, DVDs, 4Ks. I'm a physical media guy; I get that from my parents. I like owning things. I'm not a digital person.
“Because I always tell people, you know, Netflix, Hulu, that movie can be off [the platform], but can't find it. I can go in my walk-in closet and pull out my disc and watch the movie.”
This way, Fetterman can celebrate Halloween all year — no need to wait for TV specials or movie marathons.
And even the pumpkins stay glowing, refusing to rot.
