Carving a pumpkin can be risky business. How to avoid this Halloween horror story...

Most of us think of pumpkin carving as family-friendly fun – but for too many people, it can wind up being a gory nightmare...

According to the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, hospitals are dealing with as many as five times more hand injuries than normal in late October. These can be serious injuries. Cuts, lacerations, and puncture wounds to the hand can damage nerves, tendons, and joints. Here are some pumpkin-carving safety precautions to take:

• Don't let young kids carve. Children under 14 shouldn't do the actual carving. Instead, have them draw the pattern with a marker and clean out the pulp and seeds with their hands or a spoon. It's important to supervise older teens, too. 

• Use the right tools. Pumpkin-carving kits with specialty tools were found to be much safer than standard kitchen cutlery. 

• Take precautions. Keep your hands and tools clean and dry and take your time.

• Do decorative work before taking off the top of the pumpkin. Cutting the pattern on the surface before gutting the pumpkin will reduce the likelihood that you'll put your hand in the pumpkin, where it could be vulnerable to injury. 

• Hold the Pumpkin with Caution – Injuries usually occur when cutting towards your hand or when the knife slips out the other side of the pumpkin where it is being held.