Jamie Jones, a 41 year old professional pumpkin carver from Chester, has revealed that his Halloween side hustle brings in up to £20,000 annually for just two weeks' work.
Jamie, who lives with his wife Gemma and their two daughters, discovered his passion for pumpkin carving at the age of 30 and honed his skills by practising on 30 to 40 pumpkins each year "until his fingers bled".
Rather than cutting shapes out of the pumpkins, Jamie uses a unique shading technique to create a three-dimensional effect. After winning a pumpkin carving competition at York Maze in 2018, he launched his business, Pumpkin Freak, in 2019, creating commissions including logos for big-name brands such as Warner Brothers.
Each October, Jamie takes two weeks off from his full-time job as an events and media sales manager to craft around 75 pumpkins, featuring designs of horror icons like Pennywise, Freddy Krueger, the Terrifier and even notorious figures such as Jeffrey Dahmer.