With Halloween coming up, many of you have probably already picked the perfect pumpkin to carve. But why do we associate carving pumpkins with Halloween?
The origin of the jack-o'-lantern comes from an Irish myth about a guy named Stingy Jack. Apparently, he tricked the Devil for his own monetary gain, according to the History Channel.
Check this out: Triad man wants to be known as the 'Clark Griswold of Halloween'
When Jack died, he couldn't get into heaven, and he wasn't allowed into the underworld, so Jack was sentenced to roam the earth for eternity with only an ember of hellfire to light his way.
So from that point on, Stingy Jack was known as Jack-O'-Lantern.
In Ireland, people started to carve demonic faces out of turnips to frighten away Jack's wandering soul and keep their household safe.
When Irish immigrants began moving to the U.S., they started carving jack-o'-lanterns from pumpkins as these were native to our country.
Then, sometime in the mid-to-late 19th century, people's beliefs began to change and they were less scared of wandering spirits, so carving jack-o'-lanterns was established as a Halloween tradition rather than a year-round chore.
Related Spooky Stories:
► Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WFMY News 2 App: Apple Users, Android Users