Pumpkins are everywhere as the leaves fall and the cool air settles in. They loom large at farmers' markets and overflow down porch steps. Some display eerie features, illuminated and sculpted. Halloween night in the United States is spooky fun for all ages, grounded in traditions transcending time, cultures, and continents.

The Connection reached out to community members to reminisce as they looked back on their Halloweens as a youth. Could any of them explain why a fruit, the pumpkin, is an integral component of American Halloween and why we carve them into Jack-o'-lanterns? And how did Halloween become an American tradition?

On Friday, Oct. 25, U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly paused while in Europe serving as president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to share his best childhood Halloween experience with us. “One year as a kid, the Cub Scouts were having a Halloween costume contest. I had nothing with which to buy an outfit, and I absolutely had no ideas. My Irish grandmother arrived to save the day,” said Connolly. “She was a gifted seamstress, and she designed and stitched a surgeon’s gown, cap, and gloves for my costume — all in a matter of a few hours. My mother was a nurse and loaned me a stethoscope. I won first prize that night.”

The Malone family owns The Old Irish Brogue Pub in Great Falls. Colin Malone said he grew up in Philomont, Virginia, as did his wife, Carleigh. The small village, then more rural than now, is in western Loudoun County. "Everyone would meet at the community center for apple bobbing and other games," he said. Due to the distance between the farms, the children would take hay rides to reach their trick-or-treating destinations. “A tractor would take us kids to all the farms,” Malone recalled.

Bob Matthews and Colleen Delawder own The Historic Herndon Halloween House at 610 Spring Street. The couple aims to make the Town of Herndon known as Virginia's #1 Halloween town. This year, there is a contest with awards for the best-decorated Halloween homes in the town. 

Matthews is the gruntman behind this year's impressive Space Alien-themed display. On the evening of Sunday, Oct. 27, Matthews shared that his most memorable childhood Halloween experience occurred when he was a St. Paul VI Catholic High School student. “That is when I helped friends create an elaborate in-home basement haunt for Halloween each year,” he recalled. 

Aal, Natasha, Donna and Greg are four adults who visited the Historic Herndon Halloween House that evening. When questioned if they knew the origins of the American Halloween, they had no clue: "I have no idea; I don't know,” they said.

A week earlier, Karen Rosenburg in Great Falls said she believed there was a connection between the American Halloween and the witches of Salem, Massachusetts. “I saw that in a movie, but I’m from Belgium. We don’t really celebrate Halloween.”

Gabriel Ahrens, 11, in Great Falls for the day, said Halloween came to be because ”there was an Anglo-Saxon tribe that did rituals to prevent evil spirits from coming into their houses.”

Delawder is the creative force behind the yearly designs of The Historic Herndon Halloween House. With such Halloween displays, she knows the holiday's origins and how the American celebration of Halloween came to be. 

"As a person of Scottish descent, the Celtic end-of-summer festival of Samhain (in Scottish Gaelic, Samhain is pronounced Sah-vin), from which Halloween originates, can be seen each year in our display with our Scottish Clan Skeleton Army, which is most often featured in the graveyard section … Oct. 31 is when the worlds of the living and the dead become blurry, and the ghosts of the dead can return to earth,” Delawder said.

Since the Celtic day started and ended at sunset, the celebration began on the evening of Oct. 31. The Celts lit towering bonfires and adorned themselves in animal skins to blend in or scare away the wandering spirits and fairies. According to The Celtic Roots of Halloween, “Samhain continued despite the coming of Christianity. Nov. 1 became known as All Saints Day, while the night before, Oct. 31, was Eve of All Saints’ Day or All Hallow’s Eve — now better known around the world as Hallowe’en,” wrote Norry Wilson at Scotland.org.

Delawder said that the American version of this holiday became popular in the mid-1800s when many Irish immigrants came to the United States during the potato famine. In Ireland, people had light inside their homes from fireplaces. However, when they traveled by foot from one place to another, they carried torches to illuminate their way for extended travel. Still, for short walks, they made lanterns made from small vegetables, like the plentiful turnips. They scooped out the inside of the turnip, carved it with holes for airflow, and placed small, burning coals inside it from their fireplaces, providing some illumination as they walked.

Pumpkin carving and Halloween are two traditions that have a rich history, cultural value, and old mythology that go hand in hand. Pumpkin carving was inspired by a multi-variation of Irish folklore about an Irish drinker, Stingy Jack, who deceived the Devil. Neither the Devil nor Heaven wanted Jack’s soul when he died. The Devil sent Jack off to roam the night with a burning coal to light his way. Hollowing out a turnip, Jack put the coal inside it and became known as ‘Jack of the Lantern,’ shortened to “Jack O'Lantern." 

Irish immigrants brought this folklore to America. They discovered that pumpkins grew well and worked for carving. The tradition of carving faces into pumpkins was born and symbolized the souls trapped between worlds. 

“The celebration of Halloween continues to change and evolve each year,” Delawder said. “Jack O'Lanterns and bobbing for apples are quickly replaced with twelve-foot skeletons and elaborate animatronic characters. "However, as a household that now has over 800 children visiting each Oct. 31, the one thing that hasn't changed through the years is the excitement of children receiving candy as they trick-or-treat each Halloween night,” she said. 

The Town of Herndon’s cultivating community group has partnered with The Historic Herndon Halloween House at 610 Spring Street and The Beastro at Queens Row, 415 Queens Row, Herndon, to sponsor a townwide Halloween theme of “Space Aliens.” Keven Leblanc co-chairs the community group. “We are judging homes in three categories: Most Creative, Kid-Friendliest, and Spookiest. The two heavily Halloween homes, Historic Halloween House and Beastro are helping us advertise and vote. We will give a gift card and recognize the winning homes,” LeBlanc said.