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343 Guilt O' Lantern

Results are now up.

Go see!


The History

The idea of pumpkins carved in Halo forms was started by Bungie, in 2003. The winning pumpkins were pretty cool. We followed suit in 2004, with the first annual Guilt O' Lantern contest. It was, by most accounts, a success. Then, again, in 2005. And 2006. And 2007. Definitely a tradition at this point.

The Contest

The rules are basic, and the same as they've always been: Carve the coolest Halo-related pumpkin you can think of. Please the community, win a prize. Check out the pages above for examples of what's won in the past.

The Prizes

Every year, we try to have cool prizes. Sometimes, we plan ahead, and good things happen. Other times, we space, but we get fantastic donations. And sometimes, we just fail.

First Prize:

  • One Signed (by Bungie) Halo 3 Action Figure
  • Craig Mullins 'Marathon Compiler' print, formatted by Anaphiel (framed, viewable here)
  • One Copy of The Cole Protocol, signed by Tobias Buckell
  • A 12 month subscription to Xbox Live
  • One 'Traxus' T-shirt, L or XL (PAX Exclusive)
  • Tim Dadabo, the voice of 343 Guilty Spark, will record a message of your choice on your home answering machine, in his character's voice

Second Prize:

  • One Halo 3 Action Figure
  • One Copy of The Cole Protocol, signed by Tobias Buckell
  • One Master Chief Bobblehead
  • A 12 month subscription to Xbox Live
  • One 'Traxus' T-shirt, L or XL (PAX Exclusive - size depends on what First-Place winner chooses)

Third Prize:

  • One Halo 3 Action Figure
  • One Copy of The Cole Protocol, signed by Tobias Buckell
  • A 12 month subscription to Xbox Live

Legacy Prize: (in case folks who won last year win again)

  • One Halo 2 Active-Camo MC Action Figure
  • A 12 month subscription to Xbox Live

Action Figures courtesy of Devin Olsen - thanks, Devin!

The Rules

1. Your picture must reach HBO HQ by midnight, Eastern time, October 31, 2008.

2. Your picture, if digital, must be at least 640x480 pixels.

3. Your picture cannot be digitally altered. If we even THINK it's digitally altered, we'll toss it. (Yeah, we stole that rule from Bungie. It's a good rule.)

4. Your picture must not have been entered in the 2003 at Bungie.net, the 2004, 2005, 2006, or 2007 contests at bungie.org, or sent to us any time before October 1, 2008.

5. To win one of the two top prizes, you must have a mailing address within the continental US or Canada. (This has been a rule in the past because of prize useability limitations, but we're keeping it to make sure that shipping costs aren't out of hand this year.)

6. You can enter as often as you wish, but you can only win once. If two or more of the top three pumpkins are made by the same person, the third-place prize will go to the fourth-place finisher. (If all three pumpkins are made by the same person, actually, prizes will go to fourth and fifth-place finishers.)

7. If any of last year's winners are in the top 3 scorers, they will win a 'Legacy Prize' - but they're not eligible for the top three prizes. We want to spread the wealth.

7.7. new rule for 2007 We will allow the use of Funkins, if you'd rather go that route. Still applicable in 2008.

The Judging

Entries will be judged by the Halo community. Images will be put up in a gallery, starting in early November, and will be accessible for voting for one week. Votes can be cast by anyone with a valid email address (but if we suspect ballot stuffing, we're tossing ALL your votes - again, don't even give us a REASON to suspect you). Winners will be announced sometime around mid-November.

This is a pure popularity contest - make a pumpkin everyone thinks is the coolest, you'll win.

How to Submit Your Entry (or entries):

You have two options for getting your contest entries to us:

  1. Upload them to us on the web, using this page.
  2. Send us a photo (or a CD, if you must) in the mail (the address is given below)

After you have done one of these two things, you need to send us an e-mail at lantern@bungie.org. Include the following information in your e-mail:

  1. Your name (or your online handle if you don't want us to use your name)
  2. The e-mail address where we should contact you
  3. How you sent your entry to us (was it an upload, or in the mail?)
  4. Where we can find your entry -- if it was an upload, give us the filename of the upload. If you sent it in the mail, tell us what the return address on the package is.

Make sure that you include ALL of the information that we ask for. Incomplete entries will be discarded. (All of the information in the email should ALSO be collected via the upload interface... but problems have occurred in the past, we're being thorough.)

If you're sending us a photo or CD, mail it to:

343 Guilt O' Lantern
56 Deerfield Lane
Bethany, CT 06524

Good luck!



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