These carved pumpkins are called 'Jack-o-lanterns' and have a long history of being associated with different cultures across the world. The earliest mention of Jack-o-lantern is in an Irish story about a mythical character, Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack was a miserable yet mischievous man, who liked playing tricks on everyone, even on the devil. He once tricked the devil to climb up an apple tree and once the devil was on the tree, Stingy Jack started placing the cross all around the tree, and the devil was stuck on the tree. Stingy Jack then asked the devil to promise him that he'd never take Jack's soul when he died, and the devil promised.

When Stingy Jack died, he was refused entry into heaven because he had been very mischievous, while the devil, keeping his promise, didn't allow him into hell either. Thus Jack was left in complete darkness between heaven and hell. He asked the devil for help and so the devil provided him with a small flame of light from hell. Jack hollowed out his turnip, which was his favourite food and he always kept some with him, and he put the flame in it to have some light.

The Irish people, at the beginning of winter each year used to celebrate a day when they would carve turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets and put lights in it, traditionally candles, to ward off the evil spirit of Stingy Jack. In the 1800s, when the Irish migrated to America they took this tradition along and, after some modification, it was adopted by the community at large. With time, people found that pumpkins were larger and easier to hollow and carve as compared to turnips, and thus the present day Jack-o-lanterns came into being.

When Christians adopted this Irish tradition, they named it Halloween and started using these Jack-o-lanterns as the symbol. Over the years, the carved face of the Jack-o-lantern has taken many different forms and people use their artistic skills to make innovations in the pumpkins. Now, people also use it to keep treats inside it while doing 'trick or treat' with family, friends and neighbours.

To make a Jack-o-lantern, you take a pumpkin, the size and the shape of it depends on how you want it to look. Make sure you choose a dry pumpkin with a hard shell. By tapping the pumpkin, it can be checked to see whether it is hard or not. Get rid of the dirt on it. Turn the pumpkin around and find the best side to carve the face on.

Using a pen or a pencil, draw the desired face on the pumpkin. If you think you're artistic enough to draw these features as scary as possible, do it yourself. Otherwise, look for the amazing templates of Jack-o-lanterns on the internet. Draw the features slightly smaller than the size you want it to be after carving. This will give you a margin of error.

Cut a neat circle on the top of the pumpkin and carefully lift it up. Then, hollow out the pumpkin and clean everything that's inside. With a knife or a carving tool, carefully cut out the eyes, nose and the mouth of the Jack-o-lantern. Put a source of light, such as a candle, inside the pumpkin and put the lid of the pumpkin, which was previously cut off, back on it. And you have your own Jack-o-lantern ready to scare everyone off.

The Jack-o-lanterns have become famous with Jack-o-lantern contests taking place at Halloween, giving artists all over the world another tool to show off their skills.