Irish folklore is credited for the custom of the jack-o'-lantern. A legendary drunkard and trickster named Jack tricked Satan into climbing a tree. The devil could not climb out of the tree because Jack carved the image of a cross on it.

Similar to the deal between the fiddler and the devil in Charlie Daniel's "The Devil Went Down To Georgia," Jack promised to let the devil out of the tree if he would never tempt him again.

According to the legend, Jack's evil ways kept him out of Heaven. Also, he was denied entrance into Hell because of the trick he played on the devil. Instead, the devil gave Jack an ember placed in a hollowed out turnip to light his way through the cold darkness.

Jack-o'-lantern originally were made with turnips by the Irish. In America, pumpkins were more plentiful than turnips, so hollowed out pumpkins lit with an ember were used.

Halloween did not grow out of evil practices, but from the custom of early Christian believers remembering the great Christians and martyrs of the past - All Saints' Day.