There is a story about Halloween. It's that there was an El Halflander named Jack, who was not allowed to enter heaven because he was particularly stingy with money, and was sent to hell instead. But there he was always playing tricks on Satan the Devil, so he was kicked out of Hell and punished by carrying a lantern and walking around the human world forever. On October 31st Irish children make "Jack's lanterns" out of potatoes and roti by cutting out the center, punching holes in the surface and lighting candles inside. The children carried these lanterns from house to house begging for food for the village celebration of All Saints' Day in honor of the god Druid. The Irish name for the lantern is "Jack of Lanterns" or "Jack of Lanterns," abbreviated Jack-o'-lantern. in the spelling is jack-o'-lantern. Nowadays you read in most books that Halloween is just a fun night for kids. In small schools, Halloween is celebrated every year starting in October. Children make Halloween decorations: all kinds of orange and red pumpkin lights. You can make a scary creation out of black paper? A witch on a broom handle wearing a pointy hat flying across the sky, or a black bat flying across the moon. These represent bad luck. Of course the black cat represents worse luck. Sometimes there is a black cat flying into the sky on the back of a witch's broom. On Halloween night we all wore mom and dad's old clothes and shoes and masks and planned to go out. The children younger than us had to go out with their mothers, and the older ones of us coaxed our way to the lead family's house, rang their doorbell and shouted, "Mischief or treat!" meaning give us food or we'll play a prank on you. The people inside should out? Evaluate our masquerade. "Oh! That's a ghost, that's a witch, that's an old woman." Sometimes they play with us, pretending to be scared by a ghost or a witch. But they usually brought some candy or apples to put in our "prank or treat" pockets. But what if no one answered the doorbell or someone kicked us out? We would tease them, usually by taking a bar of soap and smearing their glass. Then we'd go home and count who had the most candy. Another typical Halloween trick was to pull apart a roll of hand towels and keep throwing them at the tree until the tree was all wrapped up in white paper? The paper stays on the tree unless a heavy snowfall or rain washes it off. It doesn't do any real damage, it just messes up the tree and the yard, a sort of Halloween prank. HALLOWEEN One story about Jack, an Irishman, who was not allowed into Heaven because he was stingy with his money. so he was sent to hell. but down there he But down there he played tricks on the Devil (Satan), so he was kicked out of Hell and made to walk the earth forever carrying a lantern. Well, Irish children made Jack's lanterns on October 31st from a large potato or turnip, hollowed out with the sides having holes and lit by little candles inside. carry them as they went from house to house begging for food for the village Halloween festival that honored the Druid god Muck Olla. The Irish name for these lanterns was "Jack with the lantern" or "Jack of the lantern," abbreviated as " Jack-o'-lantern" and now spelled "jack-o-lantern." The traditional Halloween you can read about in the book "Jack of the lanterns" is the same as "Jack of the lanterns". Halloween you can read about in most books was just children's fun night. Halloween celebrations would start in October in every elementary school. Children would make Halloween decorations, all kinds of orange-paper jack-o-lanterns. And from black paper you'd cut "scary" designs --- an evil witch with a pointed hat riding through the sky on a broomstick, maybe with black bats flying across the moon, and that meant bad luck. Sometimes a black cat would ride away into the sky on the back of the witch's broom. And on Halloween night we'd dress up in Mom or Dad's old shoes and clothes, put on a mask, and then we'd go back to our old clothes. And on Halloween night we'd dress up in Mom or Dad's old shoes and clothes, put on a mask, and be ready to go outside. The little kids (children younger than we were) had to go with their mothers, but we older ones went together to neighbors' houses, ringing their doorbell and yelling, "Trick or treat!" meaning, "Give us a treat (something to eat) or we'll play a trick on you! The people inside were supposed to come to the door and comment on our costumes. Oh! here's a ghost. Oh, there's a witch. Oh, here's an old lady. Sometimes they would play along with us and pretend to be scared by some ghost or witch. But they would always have some candy and maybe an apple to put in our " trick or treat bags." But they would always have some candy and maybe an apple to put in our " trick or treat bags." But what if no one come to the door, or if someone chased us away? Then we'd play a trick on them, usually taking a piece of soap and make marks on their windows... And afterwards we would go home and count who got the most candy. One popular teen-agers' Halloween trick was to unroll a roll of toilet paper and throw it high into a tree again and again until the tree was all wrapped in the white paper. The paper would often stay in the tree for weeks until a heavy snow or rain washed it off. No real harm done, but it made a big mess of both the tree and the yard under it. One kind of Halloween mischief.