I didn't get it until the actual reveal, talking about the stem of the hair. Which is kind of fun, considering I started the story assuming that Jack O' Lanterns were involved like in "We Clever Jacks".
It was cute, as long as I don't think about it too much.
When I do think about it too much, I wonder at the message the story could be construed to send. "If your parents abuse you into submission because you're being a destructive jerk, there's nothing to put that gleam back in your eye like a psychotic stranger hollowing out your gut so a candle can fit in there." Wait, what? If the whole point was to make a Rudyard Kipling-esque "this is how the jack o' lantern came to be", it seemed to have some weird extra steps that seem out of place.