Learn how the legend of Stingy Jack inspired the tradition of carving turnips or pumpkins with scary faces. Find out how Irish immigrants brought the practice to America and why pumpkins are associated with Halloween.

The term jack-o ’ -lantern was first applied to people, not pumpkins. As far back as 1663, the term meant a man with a lantern or a night watchman. Just a decade or so later, it began to be...

Who is Jack in Jack-O’-Lantern? How did these pumpkin decorations get their name and why do we carve them during Halloween. Read on for the spooky history of this Halloween symbol.

Also known as will-o’-the-wisps, fairy lights, fool’s fire, and — yes — jack-o’-lanterns, ignis fatuus refers to the incredibly eerie (but entirely natural) flickering of lights that occurs over peat bogs and marshlands. It’s caused by the combustion of gases that are released from decomposing organic matter.

The humble jack-o'-lantern, a pumpkin shell with a macabre face carved into it, lit from inside with a candle, is one of the most recognizable symbols of Halloween. It carries with it a rich...

An angry devil. And… a pumpkin? Though jack-o’-lanterns are now an American cultural icon of Halloween, their symbolism is quite recent — and the story of how they came to be is a complicated...