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Pumpkin heads return after viral Halloween hit

Isabella Boneham,West Midlandsand
Lorna Bailey,BBC CWR presenter
Andrew Phimister-Double Two people sit on a park bench wearing carved pumpkin shells over their heads in a Halloween-themed photo. One pumpkin has triangular eyes and a jagged smile, while the other has a circular eye hole and a cross-shaped cut-out. The bench is set in front of a wooden fence and autumn hedgerow, with fallen leaves scattered on the ground.Andrew Phimister-Double
Andrew Phimister-Double was surprised by the attention after snapping pumpkin-head pictures on a bench in Abbey Fields, Kenilworth

A hairdresser has created 30 bespoke papier-mache pumpkin heads for people to wear in a Halloween photoshoot.

Andrew Phimister-Double said he "had a good laugh" when he carved out a real pumpkin and posed for photos on a bench in Abbey Fields, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, around Halloween 2025 - joining in on a viral social media trend.

The light-hearted stunt soon attracted attention, with passers-by asking to join in for photographs.

"I was sat with a client last year and we thought we should do something different for Halloween," he said. "We saw there was a viral trend of people walking around with pumpkins on their heads, but no one had done it around here. We thought, let's do it."

"One person asked if they could have a photo, so they came and sat between us wearing the pumpkin head and it became a little thing."

The reaction online convinced him to open the idea up to the wider community and he has now sold 30 tickets for an event on Sunday, creating a pumpkin head for every participant by hand.

Andrew Phimister-Double Two people wear carved pumpkin shells on their heads while sitting on the floor of a kitchen surrounded by pumpkin flesh and scraps. One pumpkin has a traditional jack-o'-lantern face, while the other features a circular eye hole and a cross-shaped cut-out. A pile of removed pumpkin flesh sits in a black bag between them as they prepare the pumpkins for Halloween.Andrew Phimister-Double
Phimister-Double carved real pumpkin heads last Halloween to "do something different"

Each head has been made from papier-mache and painted using Crazy Color hair dye, which Phimister-Double had left over from an event earlier this year that was cancelled.

"Rather than let the products sit in a spare room, they've gone into something the whole town can join in with," he said.

Using a 24-inch beach ball as a mould, he spent around three weeks making the pumpkin heads outside of work.

"Originally I thought only five people would want to get involved and now more people are wanting to get involved - there's even a little bit of a waiting list," he said.

Andrew Phimister-Double A person sits in a home workspace surrounded by several large papier-mache pumpkin heads in various stages of construction. The split image shows unfinished newspaper-covered pumpkin heads stacked near a window on the left, and brightly painted purple and red pumpkin heads drying on a table covered with craft materials on the right.Andrew Phimister-Double
Phimister-Double has created 30 papier-mache heads for an event on Sunday

Participants will be able to carve, doodle and decorate the pumpkin heads before the photoshoot. The heads have been designed without eye holes, allowing people to personalise them at the event.

Phimister-Double, from Coventry, said anyone without a ticket was still welcome to attend and support the event.

This year he has been raising money for Hair ReBorn, a charity that supports people who have lost their hair through cancer treatment.

He said he had raised £4,500 so far and was staging the event as a thank you to the community for its support over the past year.

The event starts at 11:00am BST at WEDGE's Coffee Shop in Kenilworth on Sunday 25 October.

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