While the Brown County Democrat already has a couple things brewing for Halloween this year, we know how festive our community can be and do not want to miss out on the to-die-for decorations.
We are looking for the spookiest and kookiest houses around the county.
Ghosts, goblins, ghouls… oh my! If you decorate your house for Halloween, take a picture of it and send it to [email protected] along with your contact information and address. We will share some of the photos with our readers.
People have been decorating their houses for Halloween for centuries, but they did not always look like the bats, cobwebs, ghosts and butler’s-holding-platters-of-heads that they do now.
The earliest traditions of decorating houses for Halloween can be traced back to the Celtic festival of Samhain when they started carving vegetables to ward off evil spirits. The term Jack-O’Lantern came from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack and started with a turnip in place of the modern day pumpkin. According to the legend, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. Jack did not want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn into a coin that he could use to buy their drinks. When he did, Jack kept the coin in his pocket next to a silver cross, preventing the Devil from changing back into his original form.
Jack later freed the Devil-coin from his pocket only under the condition that he would not bother Jack for another year and should Jack die, the Devil would not claim his soul. When the year was up, Jack tricked the Devil into climbing a tree to pick fruit.While he was in the tree, Jack carved a cross into the bark so that he could not come down until he promised Jack not to bother him for 10 years. Jack eventually died and God refused to welcome him in Heaven. The Devil, upset at Jack’s pranks, kept to his word and did not allow Jack into Hell. Instead, he sent Jack on his way into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his journey. Jack carved out a turnip to hold the coal and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since.
The Irish referred to this figure as Jack of the lantern which later turned into Jack-O’Lantern. In Ireland and Scotland, people made their own version of Jack’s lantern by carving scary faces into turnips and placing them in windows or doors to scare away Stingy Jack and other spirits. The English used large beets instead of turnips. This tradition was believed to be brought to the United States by immigrants in the mid-1800s and later switched out for pumpkins.
We can all learn from Jack and his stinginess, if you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. Don’t be like Jack, send us photos of your Halloween decorations.
