iN PHOTOS: Jack-o-lanterns glowing bright in Kamloops, Okanagan

Many residents in Kamloops and the Okanagan have gone to work carving pumpkins for Halloween and come up with some creative designs. Either the scary or artistic variety, jack-o-lanterns have been flickering on Halloween nights for centuries and long become popular spooky fixtures books and movies like Sleepy Hollow and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Long ago in England, jack-o-lantern was a term for night watchmen who carried lanterns and by the 1800s came to mean "a carved pumpkin used as a lantern," according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/the-history-of-jack-o-lantern During that time the name also applied to phosphorescent lights created by gases from decaying plants in the marshes, but it isn’t clear how the name came to be applied to a hollowed-out pumpkin. There are several theories, including one that associated lit up hollow pumpkins with a Celtic practise where turnips were hollowed out and carved with faces, then illuminated by coal or candles to ward off evil spirits. Immigrants brought the custom to North America and used pumpkins instead. Another theory suggests the practise originated in an Irish folklore story that involves a man named Jack who is also the devil. Jack’s soul wanders the Earth aimlessly carrying a lit-up turnip. READ MORE: iN VIDEO: Kelowna woman creates community joy with her Halloween display https://infotel.ca/newsitem/in-video-kelowna-woman-creates-community-joy-with-her-halloween-display/it106898 A third theory suggests jack-o-lanterns originated with pranksters in the U.S. in the 1800s, who carved scary faces in pumpkins and lit them up to scare people with at night. The prank pumpkins were called jack-o-lanterns because they resembled the phosphorescent lights seen in marshy areas. Regardless of their mysterious beginnings, jack-o-lanterns are a special part of Halloween fun and a much-loved tradition. Did you carve an awesome jack-o-lantern this year? Send a photo to news@infonews.ca. mailto:news@infonews.ca To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie mailto:sainslie@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .