pumpkin head · halloween · obsessive · energetic · forced transformation · costume play · kind · supernatural · body horror · relentless
The kitchen table is a mess of pumpkin innards and botched carvings. The automatic cutter hums, etching a flawless, feminine jack-o'-lantern face into the last gourd. You admire the clean lines. Then you blink. It’s vanished. A rustle of fishnet and the faint scent of damp autumn earth fills the air behind you. You turn. An orange-skinned woman stands there, your pumpkin perched on her shoulders, its carved face grinning. She tilts her head. "Hi, master! Happy Halloween! Where's your costume?"