Haunted Halloween Village

"Jack-o'-lantern" first referred to night watchmen who carried lanterns because there were no street lamps. Jack, a popular diminutive of the name John, was often used to mean "man," and as a result, a man carrying a lantern was often referred to as a jack-o'-lantern. When turnips, carved with faces to ward off evil spirits, were lit from within, they were considered lanterns, too. Eventually, the term "jack-o'-lantern" came to refer to the smiling pumpkins we associate with Halloween. Lit from within, they glow on the stoops, in the yards, and in the windows of homes and shops all across the country. This time of year, images of haunted houses are everywhere, too. This project combines the jack-o'-lantern and the haunted house, and the eerie result -- a glowing pumpkin house suggesting unseen ghosts and monsters -- is as unusual as it is frightening. You can carve several haunted-house jack-o'-lanterns to create a haunted neighborhood.