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Legends of Werewolves, Zombles and Other Night of the Living Dead Facts and Fables

Stingy_Jack or Jack the Smith, Jack of the Lantern, was associated with Old Hallows Eve. The term "Jack-o-Lantern" is thought to have derived from the tale of Jack the Smith.

Halloween dates back to Celtic times when the Ancient Druids of Europe (also known as pagans) celebrated the god Samhaim. Samhaim would gather up every one who had died that year and on November 1 and together they would march off to the land of the dead.

Invading Romans destroyed most of the druid population but the folk memories of Samhain survived to become the root of Halloween which combined over time with the Roman festival of Feralia in honor of the departed spirits.

This merging of cultures combined with the early Christianity's "All Saint's Day" kept the memories of the earlier practices alive.

Legend of the Jack-o´Lantern

Family members would help their deceased relatives on the journey the Land of the Dead by placing treats and food on their doorsteps. Trick or Treat tradition arose from the tradition of poor people begging house to house for "soulcakes" in return for promising to say a prayer for the dead. This is the root of the "Trick or Treat" tradition

In the 9th century, Pope Gregory IV claimed the holiday as All Saints Day, or All Hallows. Since then, the night before, or All Hallow's Eve has been known as Halloween.

The word "Halloween" means "All Hallows Eve", the night before "All Hallows day," "All Souls Day," or "All Saints Day."

The legend of the Jack-o'-lantern came later when, in European folklore, a fellow named Jack fooled the Devil and as a result was banned to the netherworld, a place between heaven and hell. Jack was given only a lantern to light his way - Jack-O'-Lantern.

Today, Halloween is a huge industry with elaborate decorations offered in stores and online.

Paper Pumpkins for Children can help you transform your home into a gruesome haunted experience both inside and out.

Use Paper Pumpkin patterns to create your own Jack-O-Lanterns to light the Halloween night and help visiting tricksters to find gummy bats, creepy worms, candy corn treats!

Check out this 260 Pumpkin Recipes AZZ card file. PS: I love the application and have used it for 12 years.

Fun Pumpkin Facts

Pumpkins have been cultivated since at least 8000 BC!

Short History about the pumpkin Pumpkin-Patch.com

Current Superstitions

Current Superstitions Collected from the Oral Tradition of English Speaking Folk.

Scare your trick-or-treaters with realistic-looking Fake Blood for Halloween, great for creating horrible bleeding scars and bloodfilled vampire mouths.

Pumpkins are classified as fruit because they develop from fertilized flowers and produce seeds. (yummy seeds!)

Pumpkins originated in southern Mexico.

Paper Bag Pumpkin

Paint an orginary lunch bag orange and allow it to dry. Stuff the bag with newspaper and twist the top of the bag into a stem.

Tie the stem portion off with a rubberband and tape the stem portion with masking tape. Use black markers to draw a face on the paper bag pumpkin.