The legend of Halloween

Jack-o'-lantern is probably the most popular character associated with Halloween. It comes from an ancient Irish tale. Jack would have chased the devil for five years. He would have been a miser, a drunken, wicked, self-centered character. One evening, when he was in a tavern, the Devil appeared to him and demanded his soul. Jack asks the devil to give him a drink, a nightcap before he's gone to hell. The Devil accepts and transforms into a sixpence. Jack seizes it and places it immediately in his purse. The latter having a lock in the shape of a cross, the devil cannot escape. Finally, Jack agreed to release the Devil, provided that he gave him ten more years to live. Ten years later, Jack made another farce to the devil, leaving him at the top of a tree with the promise that he would no longer pursue it.
When Jack dies, the entrance to Paradise is denied, and the devil also refuses to let him enter into hell. Jack nevertheless manages to convince the Devil to give him a piece of burning coal in order to illuminate his way in the dark. He places the coal in a turnip dug as a lantern and is doomed to wander aimlessly, until the day of judgment last. He was then named Jack of the Lantern (Jack of the Lantern, in French), or Jack-o'-lantern. He reappears every year, on the day of his death, on Halloween. The turnip has been replaced by the pumpkin which is easier to dig and decorate!