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carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since.
The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the
Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”
In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions
of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes
and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away
Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large
beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the
jack o’lantern tradition with them when they came to the United
States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America,
make perfect jack-o’-lanterns.
BATS
Medieval folklore also described bats as witches'
familiars, and seeing a bat on Halloween was
considered to be quite an ominous sign. One myth was
that if a bat was spotted flying around one's house three
times, it meant that someone in that house would soon die.
Another myth was that if a bat flew into your house on Halloween,
it was a sign that your house was haunted because ghosts had let
the bat in.
BLACK CATS
Often used as symbols of bad luck, black cats grace
many Halloween decorations. The black cat's bad reputation dates
back to the Dark Ages, when witch hunts were commonplace.
Elderly, solitary women were often accused of witchcraft, and
their pet cats were said to be their "familiars," or demonic animals
that had been given to them by the devil.