Nice game idea. I found it was always better to keep on the move and play keep away rather than fight. Combat just used up a lot of time. On first game, I killed some guys in level 1 and then didn't have enough time remaining to move around level 2. For combat to be effective on early levels, I think enemies should have 3-5 hit points so you can kill them in a couple swings. I think combat would have felt a little easier if was mouse click instead so you didn't need to interrupt use of WASD.
On the other hand, being chased down by a lot of enemies does add a lot of tension to pathing around looking for the pumpkins.