Our evil plan was hatched quite by accident. TaRhonda Thomas, a 9News reporter, interviewed my husband Jamie a.k.a. The Pumpkin Man last week. As a fun kicker to the end of the story, she decided to climb inside the 1,292-pound beast.
TaRhonda Thomas
Though Jamie has been growing giant pumpkins for years, it’s the first time anyone ever climbed into it and Jamie shared an idea with me. “I could do that.” “What? Climb into the pumpkin in high heels?” “No, I could hide inside the pumpkin and scare people on Halloween.” When you grow The Giant Pumpkin, your house becomes a popular stop on Halloween but I was doubtful about turning it into a Little Shop of Horrors Giant Gourd of Horrors.
Undeterred, Jamie made assignments. My role was the cannibalistic witch in Hansel and Gretel as I lured our innocent victims with “do you want a picture with the pumpkin?” We recruited our friend Jared as the photographer while his wife Jenny handed out candy and gave the cue for Jamie to jump out.
The result? Hilarious.
We tried to pick on people we knew or older kids. What surprised me was just how many non-reactions there were because I can assure you I would have raced down the block kicking and screaming if he’d have jumped out at me. I mean, just look at the creeper posed inside the pumpkin prepared to launch.
Inside the pumpkin
Only the best reactions made it onto video so be sure to take a minute and watch it below or here:
The bunny and the man at the end were my favorites. 
Many adults told us it was the highlight of the night and we had only one child who cried but his parents assured us little “Spider-Man” would recover quickly. He is, after all, a superhero. The next day, Jamie was not only sore from crouching down all night but badly bruised from jumping out. 
But it was worth it and he brushed it off as “The sacrifices I make for my art.” If jumping out of a giant pumpkin is art, The Pumpkin Man is, indeed, an artist.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 