Some say that all legends are based off some sort of truth. "Jack of the Lantern" is a story that sounds far fetched but stranger things have been proven true. So, if some truth can be found in any legend, ask yourself, which part of this legend may be true. This is the story of Jack of the Lantern.

Our story takes place a long time ago in a small village in Ireland. In this village there lived a man named Jack. Jack was not a very pleasant man. He was mean, cruel and treated people very poorly. This mean man seemed to find pleasure in the misery of others. Many times he would play cruel pranks on people just for a laugh. But that was just the beginning. The thing that he was most famous for was his miserly ways. On one hand he was a smart farmer who knew how to make money. On the other hand, most of the money he had earned seemed to find its way to the cash register at the local pub.

It´s during one of Jack´s pub visits where his name gets carved into Halloween history forever.

It was a cold, crisp night and Jack was out roaming the streets in search of the nearest pub. In the distance he could see the faint glow of candles and people singing and laughing. Finally, he had found what he was looking for. As he bellied up to the bar he started his usual routine of drinking until he could see the bottom of the glasses placed in front of him. Just as he took his final sip, he noticed a cloaked stranger sitting next to him. Although he couldn´t see the stranger´s eyes he could feel the searing gaze that was being cast towards him. Jack stopped for a second to see if he could see the stranger and uncover his identity. It was often that the people of the village wanted to get revenge on Jack for all the cruel jokes he played on everyone but this time it was different. After Jack took his closer look, his stomach started to turn and he began to feel faint. He found it very hard to swallow that last sip that was still washing around in his mouth as he placed his glass back on the bar.

Jack knew exactly who it was looking back at him.

The stranger that was looking back at him was the one person that Jack had been eluding since he was a trouble-making youth. It was none other than the Devil. The Devil had come straight from the depths of Hell to personally take Jack´s slippery soul. Jack had other ideas. The devil reached out his hand and said, "Jack, its time." Jack quickly responded, "Might I have one last drink before I go?" The Devil agreed and waited for Jack to get his drink. As Jack reached into his pocket to pay for his last drink on earth, he lifted his head, looked the Devil straight in the eye and said, "I´m all out of money!" The Devil, filled with impatience, needed to get him out of the pub quietly so their exit to the underworld would not look suspicious. Unfortunately for the Devil, the bartender was not about to let Jack leave without paying so the devil turned him self into a sixpence, told Jack to use the Devil´s new form to pay. This is where Jacks plan came into action.

Jack quickly took the coin and instead of paying the bartender, he dropped it into his coin purse. As he tightened the cinch he carved a small cross into the side of the bag, in effect, locking the Devil inside! The Devil roared but no one could hear because a sixpence doesn´t have a mouth. Jack took this opportunity to make a deal with the Devil. He told the Devil that he would release him if he promised to leave him alone until he turns 100 years old.

The Devil begrudgingly agreed.

Many years later, Jack is out in his apple orchard on his 100th birthday. He was enjoying the warm sun and thinking about how after all these years he was the only person who outsmarted the Devil. Jack knew that he was going to be getting a visitor at any time so he sat under an apple tree and waited.

As expected, the Devil appeared. He was rubbing his hands together and licking his lips at the opportunity to get his revenge on Jack. "Hello, Jack." The Devil said with a fiendish grin. "Time is up, are you ready?" Jack gazed up at the top of the apple tree and said " Please, one last request before we go. I would love the taste of a juicy apple before I spend eternity with you." The Devil thought about it for a second, not being one to be fooled again he told Jack to stay seated and he´ll get the apple. The Devil reached up to grab the apple, but it was just out of reach. He stretched out further but it was still out of reach. Frustrated, he quickly climbed the tree and stood up on its first branch, grabbed the apple and looked down at Jack. At that time Jack sprung into action. He pulled out his trusty knife and carved a cross into the trunk of the tree.

Fooled by Jack once again, the tree had become the Devil´s new prison.

The Devil shrieked at Jack, "Let me down from here!" Jack responded with another deal, "I´ll let you down if you promise that when I die, you do not take my soul." "Fair enough. I promise that when you die I will not take your soul." Upon hearing those words, Jack carved what was a cross into the shape of a star and allowed the Devil to leave.

Jack was 100 years old on the day he caught the Devil in the tree. He lived for only a few more years after that before he finally died. As he walked toward the bright lights, he eventually made his way to the pearly gates of Heaven. There he was greeted by Saint Peter. His white beard and white robes glowing like the morning star. St. Peter took one look at him, and with a coy grin, turned him 180 degrees and put him on the road to a place of fire and brimstone.

Hell was certainly waiting, but not for Jack. The Devil answered the door that day and the look on his face was priceless. The Devil was angry that he couldn´t take Jacks soul but he was happy to know that Jack´s luck and sneaky ways had come to an end. When Heaven and Hell reject you it leaves in a state of nothingness, a black void that leads to nowhere and sometimes is considered worse than Hell. Jack turned to the Devil and asked, "What do I do now? I cannot see and I have nowhere to go." With that, the Devil reached down and grabbed a hunk of burning, hot coal and threw it towards Jack. It was too hot to handle so, Jack grabbed the closest thing he could to put it in. He picked up an old, rotting turnip, or a "hell´s turnip" as they´re also know as. He then pulled out his trusty knife, the same knife he used to trick the Devil. He quickly carved out a few holes and dropped the coal inside to help light his way.

This was the first Jack-O-Lantern ever created and it was created by Jack himself. From then on, Jack was forced to roam the lands for eternity with no chance of his spirit ever being delivered to Heaven or Hell and with only his lantern to help guide his way.

That is the end of our story. The story of "Jack of the Lantern" originated in Ireland. The tradition began by carving turnips and placing a candle inside to keep Jack from bothering the family in the house. If the family placed a Jack-O-Lantern out side then Jack would just take the turnip and move on. When the first Irish settlers landed in America they found that Pumpkins were much easier to hallow and would be larger for Jack to see.

Of course the story of how the Jack-O-Lantern came about is still just a legend. No one really knows if Jack existed or not. Just remember that the stories of our past all originated from some sort of truths and if you look into the distance and see the flickering candle light, use caution. It could be Jack looking for someone to play his tricks on.