The Jack O' Lantern tradition comes from an Irish myth about Stingy Jack who tricked the Devil twice and was denied entrance to Heaven for dealing with the Devil. The Devil would not allow him into Hell for tricking him, but sent him roaming the Earth with only a small light inside a carved out turnip. This ghostly figure was soon known as Jack of the lantern turning into Jack O' Lantern.

Soon villages carved turnips with scary faces to scare away Jack or any other evil spirits. Using a pumpkin to carve scary faces came after large waves of Irish immigrants moved to America. They found pumpkins were more available and much easier to carve out then turnips. Today Jack O' Lanterns can be seen throughout all neighborhoods on Halloween.