Stingy Jack

My friend threw his 4th annual Jack-o-Lanternpalooza today. As I was taking the shot above (mine is the Pac Man) Anders and I were talking about how in the world the tradition of carving pumpkins would have ever gotten started.

So if you've ever wondered too, then read on:

History of the Jack-o-Lantern

People have been making jack-o-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o’lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o’lanterns.

Source: The History Channel
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/halloween/pumpkin.html

Get Your Creep On

Looking for some scary "music" for Halloween, yet don't want your average screams, creaks, and howls?

Then check out the Conet Project. I heard about it a few years ago while listening to NPR. The short version of the story is just as eerie as the audio tracks: some guy discovered number stations being broadcast over short wave radio. These number stations typically broadcast some sort of simple lullaby or popular old tune followed by an array of numbers being read by (typically) a female voice. They are believed to have originated in the cold war, and are coded messages that are transmitting some sort of instructions. Think "the cow crows at midnight", or "the red boot shines when lit"...total nonsense to us, but it means something to someone (i.e. shoot that one dude).

If that's not creepy enough, then imagine finding these short wave signals being broadcast years later, without any sort of explainable source. The founder of the Conet Project has looked, and has had no luck. Some theorize that abandoned computers are sending them out. Others suggest there's some random guy holed up in an underground cave, still believing a nuclear winter is about to hit at any moment and doing his best to keep his spies informed. Whatever the case, these signals are not traceable...nobody knows where they're coming from.

They're broadcast in all sorts of styles and languages. Make sure to listen to a few samples online. And then get ready to really creep out the neighborhood kids...and yourself.

Happy Halloween!