Scary Jack O Lantern - The history of the Halloween pumpkin

If you want to have a perfect Halloween party, make sure you include a demonstration on how to carve a pumpkin into a scary jack O Lantern. What ever method you choose enliven your speech and demo by telling the spooky story of the history of the jack o lantern.

Halloween's carved pumpkin came about from the Legend of Stingy Jack. Reliving this legend will make your public speaking presentation more exciting, giving it a supernatural air and spookiness that will thrill the children.

There is an art to including story telling in a good demonstration speech. Try not to just retell it, but bring it to life.

Think of the Halloween atmosphere you want to create, what aids could help you achieve this effect?

• Dim the lighting
• Play spooky music
• Dress in Halloween costumes
• Decorate the room using the many free Halloween templates and stencils available on the web
• Use scary halloween words and vocabulary, poems
• Adjust your body language to be frightening and sinister.
• Create tension, fear and suspense by using long pauses.

Try to finish the story at the same time you've completed your design. If you need more time, consider including some facts on the Origin of Halloween.

The Legend of Stingy Jack

Legend has it, that there a famer, Stingy Jack, who had a reputation of being a drunk and a gambler, played a trick on the devil.

One night, he was at his usual haunt, the alehouse, but had run out of money to buy any more booze. He persuaded the devil to turn himself into a sixpence so he could buy one last drink.

However, once the devil changed himself into a coin. Rather than paying for his drink with this coin, Stingy Jack put the sixpence (remember this is the devil in disguise) into his pocket.

Also in his pocket was a silver cross. This silver cross prevented the devil being able to change back from the coin to himself. Of course the devil was not happy.

Eventually Stingy Jack and the devil struck a deal. Jack would remove the cross so the devil could change back only if he promised to leave Jack alone for one year, and that when he died Satan would not claim Jack's soul.

After a year the devil came back to bother Jack. This time Jack tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree to collect the largest apple, where Jack trapped him by carving a cross on the tree bark.

They struck another deal, this time Jack would let the devil go if he promised not to bother him for 10 years.

Of course, when he eventually died, Heaven did not want him because he was such a bad character, but he could not go to hell either as the devil, true to his word, would not claim his soul.

The devil sent him away with a piece of burning coal, that Jack placed in a carved out turnip.

With the turnip as a lamp he roamed the earth for the rest of eternity. He was referred to as Jack of the Lantern, eventually Jack O' Lantern.

Where to put your Halloween Scary Jack O Lantern

When you have finish, tell the children what to do with them. For even though carved pumkins are not featured in the Origin of Halloween, Halloween parties would not be the same without them.

Jack O Lanterns are traditionally placed on door steps and in windows to frighten ghosts and other Halloween monsters away. Or if you don't want to put a candle in it you could fill it with candy for the trick or treat callers.

Try to place it near other Halloween decorations, maybe stuffed witches, black cats, broomsticks, spiders, cobwebs etc. Anything to increase the eeriness and scary feeling of all things Halloween.