St. Olaf’s Pumpky Hunt wants students to get (and stay) spooky! After creating the Instagram page @olafs.pumpky.hunt on Oct. 9, the elusive creator of the hunt, who recently came out of the shadows to identify themself as Jack Skellington, has risen to popularity eerily fast. In just a few days, the page has bewitched over 100 students and organizations — and for good reason! Skellington sneakily hid ten puny pumpkins outdoors around campus, each with a frightful face drawn on its side.
The rules of the hunt are simple.Firstly, if you find a pumpkin, you must not move it! While Skellington has not shared what will become of anyone who breaks the first rule, the punishment is surely frightful. After finding a pumpkin, you must take a silly photo with it and slide into @olafs.pumpky.hunt’s DMs to provide proof of your enchanting discovery. In exclusive correspondence with the Mess, Skellington shared, “Each pumpkin hiding spot depends on the pumpkin! They all came very organically as I walked around campus and the different places attracted the vibes of the 10 different pumpkys.” The champion of the pumpky hunt must find all ten pumpkins. If, in a spine-chilling twist, there is a tie, Skellington will judge the winner based on photo creativity.
Skellington also provided the Mess with the key clarification that the only pumpkins that count in the hunt are “the ones with sharpied faces and numbered bottoms. If there are any carved pumpkins — they’re distant cousins so they’re not a part of the game.”
On Oct. 31, the spookiest day of the year, Skellington will reveal the winner’s fate in the form of a solid, 65 pound prize. The exact nature of the prize remains hidden, but the only way to demystify what the winner will receive is to find the pumpkins. So dust off the cobwebs of your pumpkin detector, brew an energy potion, secure your mask and go find the pumpkys.
mulhern @stolaf.edu
