Check out our 25 Halloween traditions page for more details about celebrating Halloween. Townspeople began placing jack-o-lanterns around their homes to keep Stingy Jack from coming to their door. He was forced to roam the earth with only a turnip jack-o-lantern to light his way. During his life, Jack managed to make both God and the Devil angry, so when he died neither heaven nor hell would let him in. According to the tale, Stingy Jack lived as a drunk Irishman who played tricks on people. The reason for the face centers around the old Irish story of Stingy Jack. The face of the jack-o-lantern: Now you know why the pumpkin is hollowed out and filled with fire, but why do we carve a face on it? At this point the Irish switched from turnips to pumpkins. See our History of Halloween page for more information. There were no pumpkins in Ireland, so the pumpkin symbol didn’t become popular until the Irish migrated to America during the potato famine. They would place an ember inside the turnip to keep evil spirits at bay. The pumpkin symbol began long ago in Ireland when the Celts would carve turnips on All Hallow’s Eve. Examples include witches, bats, black cats and clowns. The third set of Halloween symbols represents Misfortune or Evil.Some examples of these are skeletons, skulls, ghosts and graveyards. Many Halloween symbols represent Death and Mortality.Examples of this kind of Halloween symbol are corn husks, candy corns and jack-o-lanterns. They can be symbols of The Season and the Harvest.Many Halloween symbols will fall into one of three major categories: Below is a list of modern day Halloween symbols that have been around for generations and some information about what they have come to symbolize in America. Over time cultures may forget what exactly each symbol represents and new meanings can slowly take shape. Halloween practices and traditions can change from place to place and generation to generation, but often the symbols stay the same. Why not learn a little bit about your favorite symbols this year? Year after year we are surrounded by the same Halloween symbols and may even use our favorites for decorating. With Halloween coming, store shelves will soon be covered in festive and colorful holiday decorations.

White lantern symbol