Scariest. Pumpkin. Ever.

As the weather turns colder and the stores fill up with discount candy, it’s hard to ignore that it’s almost Halloween. I’m far too old to go running around asking for candy, but last week a few friends of mine wanted to paint some pumpkins. My color palette was limited (black, red, yellow, and purple), but I think I did a fair job of adorning my pumpkin with a feathered Velociraptor. My black cat Charlotte seems to think it’s interesting, anyway.

Riley Black | | READ MORE

Riley Black is the author of The Last Days of the Dinosaurs and many other books. She is a science correspondent for Smithsonian magazine covering fossils and natural history, and she writes about the prehistoric past for a variety of publications.