The votes have been tallied and the judges have made their decisions. You, the community, voted for the Reader’s Choice and an esteemed panel of judges picked the winners in the other categories. So here we go.

The Reader’s Choice winner is Nate Johnson and his remarkable Edgar Allan Poe pumpkin, which received 100 of the 283 total votes cast. Congrats Nate! You win our main prize package – a gift card from Sabrina’s Cafe ($40), a gift card from Four Worlds Bakery ($30), a copy of BATMAN: The Long Halloween from Locust Moon Comics, and a prize from Penn Museum (two general passes to the Museum + a MAYA 2012 t-shirt + a copy of the latest issue of Expedition Magazine).

The Kids Category winner is Nadia Salamon and her Starry pumpkin. Nadia is only 4 1/2 years old and we were blown away by her non-traditional approach to pumpkin carving. She didn’t want to do a Jack-O-Lantern with a face but wanted one big star on each side and little stars around it! Very cool! Nadia wins a gift card from Lil’ Pop Shop ($30) and a gift card from Four Worlds Bakery ($30).

The Funniest category winner is Ellis M. Mumford and her Grumpy Cat pumpkin. Good job, Ellis, on using one of the most popular memes these days! Ellis wins a Green Line Cafe gift card ($20) and a goodie basket from Mariposa Food Co-op.

The Philly-themed category winner is Katrine Lvovskaya and her Zombie Ben Franklin pumpkin. Nice work, Katrine! You and Ben Franklin win a gift certificate from Honest Tom’s Taco Shop ($20) and two Curio Theatre tickets.

Finally, the Scariest category winner is Bimal Desai (our last year’s Reader’s Choice winner, by the way) and his “Halloween 1982” pumpkin featuring Michael Jackson from the “Thriller” video. Bimal’s pumpkin also finished second in our Reader’s Choice voting with 78 votes cast for it. Bimal wins a gift card from Dock Street Brewery ($20) and a gift card from VIX Emporium ($20).

Congratulations to all the winners! We’ll be contacting you shortly about your prize delivery. And thank you to all who participated in this contest! We loved all your pumpkins, but there had to be only five winners. Who knows, you could be a winner next time.

Wow! We got some amazing pumpkins in this year’s Pumpkin Carving Contest. Now we need you to help us with the top prize. So below in the photo gallery are this year’s entries for the “Reader’s Choice” award. The voting is open through Friday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. and we will announce the results on Saturday.

Here’s how it works:

• Click on one of the photos in the gallery to enlarge it.

• Choose your favorite and vote in the poll under the gallery.

• You can only vote for one pumpkin and only one vote per person please.

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The poll is closed.

Here’s some good news for those who were planning to participate in our Pumpkin Carving Contest but had to postpone their pumpkin shopping because of the weather. We have extended the contest entry deadline for two more days! Please feel free to email your pumpkin photos to: contest@westphillylocal.com until 3 p.m. on Wednesday, October 31.

To read more about the contest and its rules, click here.

Reminder: Our 2012 Pumpkin Carving Contest is underway and we are looking forward to receiving snapshots of your jack-o-lanterns. Please email them to: contest@westphillylocal.com. The contest is open through October 29.

Here are more details:

The 2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest runs from October 15 through October 29. All ages are welcome to participate. Prizes are supplied by these West Philly businesses: Curio Theatre (2 tickets), Dock Street Brewery (a gift card), Four Worlds Bakery (a gift card), Green Line Cafe (a gift card), Honest Tom’s Taco Shop, Lil’ Pop Shop, Locust Moon Comics (a copy of BATMAN: The Long Halloween), Mariposa Food Co-op (a goodie basket), Penn Museum (two general passes to the Museum + a MAYA 2012 tee + a copy of the latest issue of Expedition Magazine), Sabrina’s Cafe (a gift card), and VIX Emporium (a gift card + tote bag).

Here’s how it works:

Submit a snapshot of your pumpkin by email (contest@westphillylocal.com) that includes your name, address (West Philly residents only please), and age (if you are entering the Kids category). Entries from kids 12 and under will also be entered into the Kids category. Be sure to get a good photo that shows off your pumpkin’s best features.

Winners will be selected in the following categories:

Scariest
Funniest
Kids (12 and under)
Best Philly-Themed
Readers Choice (grand prize)

The entry deadline is 6 p.m. on Monday, October 29.

The winners will be announced on November 1. Voting for the Reader’s Choice will run between October 29 and October 31. Note: One entry per person. We’ll put all photos in a gallery.

It’s time to sharpen your knives and start carving those pumpkins as West Philly Local’s 2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest has opened today. We are accepting photos of your pumpkins through October 29. Please follow this link to read more about the contest and how to enter it.

We have awesome prizes from these amazing sponsors this year: Curio Theatre, Dock Street Brewery, Four Worlds Bakery, Green Line Cafe, Lil’ Pop Shop, Locust Moon Comics, Mariposa Food Co-op, Penn Museum, and Sabrina’s Cafe.

A couple of dozen pumpkins entered our 2011 Pumpkin Carving Contest. The artistic endeavor and sheer jack-o-lovliness has impressed folks far and wide. Alas, there can only be a handful of winners. And here they are:

• Reader’s Choice –  Bimal Desai‘s toothy, super-freak of a pumpkin (Pumpkin 21) topped the voting (160 votes cast). Bimal wins gift certificates from Wake Up Yoga and Dock Street Brewery.
• Kids – Wyatt Baker, 8, and his super crafty use of the stem (Pumpkin 4). Wyatt wins a tote bag and a gift card from VIX Emporium.
• Philly-themed – Katrine Lvovskaya and Becca Lausch with “Fall-o-delphia”, their homage to our lovely skyline and the love that is the Love Statue (Pumpkin 17). Katrine and Becca win a gift card from Milk & Honey Market.
• Scariest –  Terry Coleman – That “Gears of War” skull freaked the judges out a lot (Pumpkin 5). Terry wins a gift certificate from Aksum cafe/restaurant.
• Funniest/Ironic/ Wow! – Nate Johnson (Pumpkin 19). There has to be a place in our awards for a pumpkin that just blew the judges’ minds. A fitting tribute to REM and Michael Stipe a couple of weeks after the band announced the (yes, we had to do it) End of their World as We Know it. Nate wins a fall food basket from Mariposa Food Co-op.

Last but not least, we want to give a hearty shout out to everyone who entered a pumpkin and all who voted.