It's now October and of course Halloween is right around the corner. There will be jack-o'-lanterns everywhere and kids transformed into scary monsters wandering the streets for tricks or treats. It's hard to think of a more recognizable symbol for Halloween than the pumpkin.

What's even more difficult to imagine is how pumpkin and Halloween could be mentioned in the same sentence. Well, as usual, there's a great story behind it and we'll learn about it today.

So! What is the connection between Pumpkins and Halloween? Well, I did some research and dug up some great tales and legends about the holiday and the fruit.

According to Irish tales, halloween and Jack-o'-Lantern tradition revolves around a man by the name of Jack who lived in a simple village and had a reputation for being a selfish, lazy, clever, drunk who would lie and manipulate his way out of things he didn't want to do. Jack lacked the ability to work for money and would spend his time gambling to earn an easy shilling to spend at the local pub. He was a good gambler and preferred to earn a living making bets. Jack never make a single enemy in his entire live. That's admirable, however, he never had a single friend either.

One Halloween, the devil arrived to claim Jack's soul. It was time for jack to die. Upon the devil's arrival, he found Jack lazily drinking at the local pub. Jack asked the devil for permission to finish his ale and he agreed. Hey, he may be the devil, but at least he's reasonable. Anyhow, as Jack finished the remainder of his ale; The whole time thinking of a clever way to get out of this one. Then, finally, he had it.

If you really have any power, you'd transform yourself into a shilling. Laughing at the simple request the devil transformed himself into a shilling. Jack grabbed the coin into his palm, which had a cross-shaped scar. The cross kept the devil from escaping Jack's grip. Jack held the shilling tight and only agreed to release the devil if he grants him another year of life. The devil agreed and he left Jack at the pub and will be back next year unless he repent his sins within that time.

The next Halloween rolled around, however, Jack still didn't repent. Being the timely guy he is, the devil arrived to once again attempt to claim Jack's soul. Jack challenged the devil to a game of dice, a game Jack was pretty good at. The devil agreed and threw the first roll - Snake eyes (two ones). The devil was about to haul him off, but Jack cleverly used a pair of dice he had and rolled two threes, forming a T-shape (cross), leaving the devil powerless.

Jack was also a procrastinator who figured he'd repent his sins at the last possible minute. However, the agreed-upon date arrived for the devil to claim Jack's soul and took him by surprise. Jack found himself in front of the pearly gates, but St. Peter shook his head sadly, denying Jack access. Jack then presented himself before the gates of hell, but the devil was still seething. The devil didn't want anything to do with Jack.

"Where can i go?" Jack cried.

"How can I see in the darkness?"

The devil placed a burning coal into a hollowed pumpkin and ordered Jack to wander forever through the darkness with only the pumpkin lantern to guide him. From that day on, he has been called "jack-o'-lantern the Lantern," who sometimes appears on Halloween.

This story is believed to be an old Irish folklore. The Irish used hollowed turnips initially to make their lanterns. When they immigrated to America, they found that the pumpkin was more plentiful and it became their new lantern - The End...

And there you have it folks. You've just made the connection between the pumpkin and Halloween. Now it's time to go out and grab you a nice size pumpkin and carve a Jack-o'-lantern of your own.