Unconventional jack-o'-lanterns light up Fox River Grove home

Knives - some that sound like chain saws - are kept in the Solomon family garage as Marc Solomon, of Fox River Grove, prepares to cut up his next victim and store its slashed corpse on the front lawn.

Sometimes, there's even blood.

But this isn't an opening scene from the latest Hollywood horror movie.

It describes a ritual that the Solomon family, which comprises Marc, his wife Pat and their daughter Tiana, has been a part of for 13 years - carving elaborate, scary designs into giant pumpkins.

"We got into doing this and it just took on a life of its own," said Marc Solomon, who works full time as a software developer at Motorola. "We go a little bit beyond what most people will do."

The family got into the habit 13 years ago, after Pat picked up a Pumpkin Masters book detailing different patterns you could carve into pumpkins.

The family has been hooked ever since.

"It just looked like something fun to do," she said. "It was something nontraditional."

Halloween has always had a special meaning for the Solomon family, as it is the one holiday that neutralizes their religious differences - Marc Solomon is Jewish, his wife is Roman Catholic and they are raising their daughter to appreciate both faiths.

Each family member has a specific role in creating these pumpkin masterpieces.

The trio drive up to Land of Giant Pumpkins in Wisconsin and schleps them all the way back to their Fox Moore subdivision in a rented trailer - this year, the family selected 15 pumpkins.

He'll pay anywhere from $10 to $30 per pumpkin and only the ones with smooth skin will do - the ones that get bruised on the ride back to Fox River Grove get treated with Vaseline.

Pat Solomon removes all of the pumpkins' insides and she's usually two pumpkins ahead of her husband once he starts carving - it takes about 45 minutes to complete this task.

Her job is the most dangerous part of the process, as she uses a sharp knife to remove the pumpkins' lids.

One time, she slipped and sliced the knife across the tip of her finger - it required a hospital visit and several butterfly stitches.

And Marc Solomon has battled back pain from moving the pumpkins that sometimes tip the scales at more than 300 pounds.

They usually range between 50 and 150 pounds.

"Some of the pumpkins are really nice and work well and other times, there are some you want to scream at," he said.

Once Pat Solomon has gutted the pumpkins, Marc Solomon and their daughter Tiana, 16, select scary patterns for them - some of which they invent themselves.

Designs on past pumpkins include the Joker, the Mad Hatter, a mummy, the headless horseman on a rocking horse, a creepy-looking Cheshire cat and a witch crashing into a tree on her broom.

He tapes the design on the pumpkin and users a poker to mark which parts he'll remove and what other ones he'll shave down.

The actual carving takes 30 minutes and he finishes the creations off with a 60-watt light bulb.

Due to pumpkins' perishable nature, Solomon typically gets started on the 29th and his work spills over into Halloween.

"Fifteen pumpkins, three days, yeah, that's crazy," said Solomon, who last week taught a pumpkin-carving class to children at the Fox River Grove Memorial Library.

The jack-o'-lanterns, which will be the extent of the Solomon family's Halloween celebration, only feature scary designs - ones that cut back on the gross factor, so as not to scare the tiny trick-or-treaters who will come to his door.

"I've got little kids coming by here, so there's a limit," he said.