I have covered extensively in these humble pages the plight of Halloween and autumnal pumpkins left out to rot in Brooklyn. On October 3, 2025, I wrote about a Christmas countdown clock seen in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, in late September. What if we combined my past-their-peak rotting pumpkin series with the very early countdown clock? If you know where this is going and do not want to see it, you are out of luck. I present for your viewing horror three liquefying carved pumpkins seen on a stoop in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, on October 8, 2025.
(Camera Note: I took the above photo with my Google Pixel 3a XL phone running Ubuntu Touch. I discussed my Ubuntu Touch-powered camera in my previous article. I used Krita to moderately ameliorate the over-exposure in the un-edited pumpkin photo.)
Expand for Pumpkin Posts Collection
This post is part of my collection of articles about rotting, non-rotting, and inorganic pumpkins.
I note again that I saw these three pumpkins, each trying to dissolve into a watery grave on brownstone steps, on October 8. There were more than three weeks until Halloween. To be sure, I once documented a horrifying molding Halloween pumpkin seen five days prior to Halloween, but I assume that it was inoffensive on October 8 of that year. Speaking of molding, the pumpkin on the top step looks like it is accumulating some unfortunate colors.
This early Halloween disaster could have been avoided with a small amount of common sense (or maybe uncommon sense these days) and foresight. While I would strongly recommend against going all in on carved Halloween pumpkins in the first half of October, one may have some hope of getting away with such a stunt in Siberia. New York City can get chilly sometimes, but Siberia it is not. Let us check the Brooklyn temperatures in the days leading up to my oozing pumpkin sighting, courtesy of The Weather Channel (archived link):
| Month and Day | High Temperature (F) |
|---|---|
| Sep 27 | 78 |
| Sep 28 | 85 |
| Sep 29 | 78 |
| Sep 30 | 81 |
| Oct 01 | 72 |
| Oct 02 | 67 |
| Oct 03 | 73 |
| Oct 04 | 83 |
| Oct 05 | 85 |
| Oct 06 | 80 |
| Oct 07 | 81 |
| Oct 08 | 72 |
In the 12 day period culminating on October 8, the high temperature cleared 70 degrees 11 times and 80 degrees 6 times. It should go without saying that warm temperatures and often harsh sunlight accelerate carved pumpkin putrefaction. What makes these particular carved pumpkins inexplicable is that the warm temperatures were not sneaking up on anyone. All you had to do was check the weather reports once-in-a-while (or at least go outside). People stare at their phones while wandering into traffic. Do those countless hours of screen time never involve a weather app or website?
Astute visitors may note that the majority of pumpkins and gourds in my image do not appear to be rotting. There are seven small, un-carved pumpkins on the step between the top and middle rotting pumpkins which do not appear to have been rotting on October 8. I suspect they were shared from the fate of the bigger pumpkins by the fact that they are too small for anyone other than an expert pumpkin decorating craftsman such as the Roman Emperor Hadrian to carve or decorate effectively. Alas, I suspect they were already suffering some internal damage, and I would be surprised if they are still in outwardly decent form come Halloween. But regardless of the fate of the little pumpkins, I hope that whoever is responsible for the three rotting pumpkins (or anyone, really) cleans them up before winter, if not Halloween.
