This old brush pen sketch drawing of Linus and Sally running from the Great Pumpkin through a pumpkin patch, came about because of a #mabsdrawlloweenclub prompt of pumpkins.
I am old enough that the great pumpkin Charlie brown cartoon was a big deal and we watched it every fall. Like all things, I had a slightly different take on it. I hope you enjoy.
The bad news is I can never sell anything but the original. Well unless Charles M Shultz people want me to, which I seriously doubt. haha
Since I suck as a writer and the robot doesn’t; here is its take when I gave it my thoughts to rewrite.
Title: The Great Pumpkin: A Nightmare in the Patch
The moon hung low over the vast pumpkin patch, casting eerie silver light across the tangled vines and bulbous orange gourds. The crisp autumn air carried the rustling whispers of brittle leaves, but beneath the soft crunch of fleeing footsteps came something more ominous—a slow, deliberate scrape, like claws against dried husks.
Linus and Sally ran, their breaths coming in ragged gasps as they stumbled through the overgrown field. Linus had always believed in the Great Pumpkin. He had spent countless hours waiting, convinced that sincerity alone would summon the benevolent spirit of the harvest. But sincerity had called forth something else.
Something terrible.
Towering above the withered stalks, the Great Pumpkin had risen—a grotesque, spindly figure wrapped in the remnants of rotting vines. Its elongated limbs bent at unnatural angles, its bony fingers clawing through the night air as it pursued the children. Atop its shoulders sat a massive, gnarled pumpkin, its jagged mouth twisted into an eternal grin, flickering with the sickly glow of an inner fire. Hollow, abyssal eyes locked onto its prey, empty yet brimming with an unspeakable hunger.
Sally shrieked, nearly falling as a vine snagged her foot. Linus yanked her forward, dragging her away from the hulking specter that moved with terrifying grace despite its unnatural form. The scent of decayed earth and damp rot filled the air as the monster drew closer, the sickly-sweet aroma of overripe pumpkins turning putrid in their nostrils.
This was not the Great Pumpkin of Linus’ childhood dreams. This was something ancient, something hungry. Perhaps sincerity had not summoned a gift-giver but had instead awoken a slumbering horror—one that had waited lifetimes for the perfect believer to beckon it forth.
As the monstrous entity gained on them, Linus could barely hear Sally’s panicked sobs over the pounding of his own heartbeat. The childhood wonder, the faith, the hope—it had all been turned against him. And in its place, a nightmare had taken root in the pumpkin patch.
Reimagining the Great Pumpkin as Horror
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown has long been a staple of Halloween tradition, a whimsical tale of childhood belief, innocence, and seasonal wonder. Linus’ unwavering faith in the unseen embodies the magic of youth, his dedication to awaiting the Great Pumpkin a charming allegory for hope and persistence. However, in a horror lens, this same belief becomes a catalyst for terror.
What if sincerity alone was enough to bring something forth—but not necessarily something kind?
The original cartoon is steeped in the naivety of childhood, where the scariest thing is momentary disappointment. In this twisted version, however, the consequences of faith take a dark turn. Linus’ devotion doesn’t call forth a benevolent spirit but an eldritch horror lurking beneath the soil, its existence owed to years of whispered belief, waiting for the right moment to rise.
In both versions, Linus is unwavering. But in this nightmare retelling, his faith is not rewarded with candy and warmth. Instead, it condemns him to flee through the vines, pursued by the thing his sincerity has unleashed.
Perhaps the real horror isn’t the creature itself, but the terrifying realization: sometimes, belief brings forth things better left undisturbed.