Vinnie and Mary in the Morning Interview
KC 101.3 FM - Hamden, CT
October 14, 2004

Mary: Ryan Wickstrand is with us, and he's got an awesome website. You're from Connecticut. And somebody emailed me a couple weeks ago and was just like, "You gotta check out this website. It's ZombiePumpkins.com. This guy does crazy stuff with pumpkin stencils."

Vinnie: ZombiePumpkins.com though, would lead you to believe it was one of those gothic, maybe, websites. And it's not.

Ryan: No, it's a fun website. But it's kind of a spoof of those old b-movie horror movies.

Vinnie: Like... [points to shirt]

Ryan: Something like that.

Vinnie: I've got a crazy shirt on today. I love the old b-movies from the 60's.

Ryan: The first website was called "Attack of the Zombie Pumpkins!" And then the sequel is this year, "Revenge of the Zombie Pumpkins!"

Vinnie: Oh, you're gonna do it that way. Okay.

Ryan: We'll do the "Bride of" and the "Son of" and the "Curse of" eventually.

Vinnie: Yeah, that's awesome.

Ryan: Keep it going, until I run out of titles.

Vinnie: You did all the writing? "They can't be stopped! They can't be killed! They can't be turned into pumpkin pie!" You do all that?

Ryan: That's right. Yep.

Mary: Now, you're from Meriden Connecticut?

Ryan: Yep, Meriden.

Mary: Born and raised?

Ryan: Yep.

Mary: So's Average Joe.

Vinnie: Jeeze, Meriden doesn't strike me as the country... the pumpkin, kind of, capital of Connecticut.

Ryan: Well, it is now.

Vinnie: It is? Thanks to you.

Ryan: If I have anything to say about it.

Vinnie: Now you brought in a pumpkin with you. We can see some of your work up close and personal.

Ryan: Yes. Yes. I have to plug this in for the unveiling though. I don't know if you have an outlet, or if that's gonna be a problem.

Vinnie: Ivan, is there somewhere we could reach here? Now, plug it in? What are you saying? You have some electrical stuff?

Ryan: Well, I don't want to give you a fire hazard. Don't want to be responsible for burning the station down.

Mary: Yeah, no candles.

Vinnie: I need an unveiling. I need to see the work.

Ryan: Alright. I hope it's working.

Mary: Alright, lights are off...... It's me and Vinnie!!

Vinnie: Holy cow, dude.

Mary: Oh my god, that came out awesome!

Vinnie: Ahh no, this... that's really no joke. That's nothing how I expected. That's...

Mary: My hair looks fabulous!

Ryan: Very glamorous.

Vinnie: And you took my cheeks in. You took my cheeks in. Thank you so much.

Ryan: Well, I tried to make it flattering.

Vinnie: I love that, Mary.

Mary: It's a Vinnie and Mary pumpkin.

Vinnie: No, I mean... that's really... jeeze, I almost feel like this segment is wasted on the radio. People need to see this.

Mary: That came out awesome.

Ryan: It's not very good radio I guess, if people can't see it. But we'll put it up on the websites.

Vinnie: I thought it was something that was gonna make me laugh... would be like those things at Disney, where they give you huge heads and you're riding, like, sports cars.

Mary: Yeah, like a caricature.

Vinnie: This really... that's really... incredible. I'm blown away.

Mary: Well he does everybody. He's got Jack [Sparrow] from Pirates of the Caribbean. He's got Shaun of the Dead already. Hellboy. Harry Potter. Leatherface. He does television people.

Vinnie: No, this is great. I've gotta get one of these done. I've absolutely gotta get one of these done. How long does it take you to turn something like this around?

Ryan: This one here took me about 2 hours and 20 minutes. To scoop it out, transfer it, carve it, the whole thing. I took a little extra time with it.

Vinnie: Imagine if you did my real cheeks! You would have been there... then it would have been a two-dayer.

Ryan: Yeah, I wanted to get here on the day we planned, so...

Mary: I just can't believe, my eye-glasses...

Vinnie: I love... actually, I'm genuinely blown away by this. I want to direct people, so they can go and look and see for themselves. Where are they going again? It's just ZombiePumpkins.com?

Ryan: Yep. I'll put it right up on the front page. I've got a news page, and I can put a link to it so people can see it.

Vinnie: Yeah, yeah. And what if... so was I right in saying if someone... if I give you a photo right now, you'll be able to do this?

Ryan: Pretty much. Not every photo works. Some work better than others.

Mary: But no, it's amazing.

Vinnie: Words can't describe. I really feel...

Mary: You could do Spider-Man, I bet.

Vinnie: It's on par with my article in today's New Haven Register about pumpkins.

Mary: Oh, that article. Okay, we've got Animal from The Muppet Show. Herman Munster.

Vinnie: Oh, John Kerry?! You have John Kerry?

Mary: It looks very similar to John Kerry, as a matter of fact.

Ryan: You stole my joke! I was gonna...

Vinnie: This is really something we need people to see. So please check out the web page. ZombiePumpkins.com. Don't just go on our... because I don't feel like I'm expressing it well enough... how much it looks like it's a photo on a pumpkin.

Mary: It's amazing.

Vinnie: Let me ask you this. Oh, I'm sorry you guys. I've been on the internet right here. If I were to give you this photo, do you think you would be... oh, here we go.... [shows photo of his baby daughter] Do you think you'd be able to do something with that?

Ryan: I think I could certainly give it a try.

Vinnie: Oh, that's just gonna make this year's Halloween, if you can do it!

Ryan: I'll try. Yea, it's got nice contrast. Good lighting on one side. I can work with it.

Vinnie: It's a beautiful model, right there.

Ryan: Very much so.

Vinnie: And I assume it would be, like... free. And, it would be... free. I would... is that not... something Mary arranged before?

Ryan: Uh... well... okay... I guess so.

Vinnie: Do I have to say - ZombiePumpkins.com?

Ryan: Say it a few more times!

Mary: What's great about it though...

Vinnie: We could take photos of it in front of the house.

Mary: ...if you go on the website you can use PayPal. Or any of your credit cards. It's nice and easy.

Vinnie: I think it's fantastic, man. We wish you a lot of luck with this. Again, it is... W... W... W... DOT... ZOMBIE... PUMPKINS... DOT... COM. Forget about my article in the Register today. Go to this web page! Aw, that's great.

Mary: It's amazing. We're going to have to take some pictures and get them up at KC101.com. But check out Ryan's website, as well. ZombiePumpkins.com. Thanks Ry!

Ryan: Thanks guys!