"Look at all the Jack O'Lanterns on the steps!" Sam exclaimed.

"Ugh!" Sally said with a shiver. "I don't like them, they frighten me."

"They're suppose to, silly!" Sam scoffed. "That's what Halloween is all about - that and getting treats."

"Do you know the story of the first Jack O'Lantern?" Their father asked in a serious voice. "Shall I tell it to you?"

"Sure!" Sam cried eagerly, but Sally wasn't as certain.

"Is it scary?" she asked. "Scary stories give me nightmares."

"It's not scary when you realize that it's just a make-believe story, though many people in olden times believed it really happened."

"Go ahead then," Sally said bravely. "I'll stuff my fingers in my ears if it gets too scary."

"An old Irish legend has it that there was once a man named Jack. According to the story, Jack wasn't a nice man. He drank too much and was very selfish. One day he tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree for a juicy apple."

"That's silly! No one can see the devil, daddy! And even if they could, they couldn't trick him." Sally protested.

"Yes, I know. But old stories often misrepresent the facts," Mr. Miller said gently. "Now, while the old devil was up looking for the apple Jack carved a cross into the trunk of the tree. When the devil saw it, he was afraid to come down."

"That's even sillier!" Sam said scornfully. "The devil would have just flown off - and left Jack staring up at an empty tree!"

"Are you going to let me tell this story, or are the two of you going to be constantly interrupting?" Mr. Miller asked, smiling slightly at his son's comment.

"We'll be quiet," Sally promised. "Go on with the rest of the story, daddy."

"The story goes that Jack made the devil swear that he wouldn't come after his soul. When Jack died he went to heaven and was turned away for being a mean, stingy drunkard. Jack wanted to rest, so he thought he'd ask the devil to take him in, but the devil reminded Jack of his promise and he also turned Jack away. 'Go back where you came from!' the devil told him. The night was dark so the devil gave Jack a lighted coal from the fire of hell. The tale goes that Jack was eating a turnip at the time and placed the coal inside and used it to light his way. Ever since that day Jack has traveled the world over with his Lantern, looking for a place to rest. Down through the years Irish children have carved out turnips and potatoes and put lights in them on Halloween. When the potato famine struck Ireland in the eighteen hundreds a number of the Irish came to America. The Irish discovered that pumpkins worked well for lanterns and began using them instead of turnips and potatoes. That is the story of the first Jack O'Lantern."

"That wasn't scary!" Sally laughed. "It was just silly!"

"I know a scarier one," Mother said as they turned onto a dark street.

"Tell us! Tell us!" Sam cried.

"I hope it's better than the Jack O'Lantern one!" Sally added.

"It is because it is a true story!" mother told them, her voice sad. "Over two thousand years ago a people lived in the land that is now Great Britain and Northern France. These people were Celtic. The Celts didn't worship the true God. They worshipped the sun god. It is said that they also worshipped Samhain, who was the lord of the dead and of the cold, dark winter season. They believed that on October thirty-first Samhain called together all the dead who then took on the shape of animals and wandered the Earth.

The Druids, who were the priests of the Celtic people, built great fires on the hilltops believing that the fires would help strengthen the sun god and give him enough power to overcome the lord of darkness. The Druids believed that the fires were sacred, so they burned dried crops and sacrificed animals to help strengthen the sun god. Some say they even sacrificed people who they believed were possessed by spirits."

"I don't think I like this story, mommy," Sally mumbled.

"Hush!" Sam ordered. "I want to hear what happens."

"At midnight they stopped worshipping the sun god and started to worship Samhain, the lord of the dead and the cold, dark winter season. During the rest of the night they asked the spirits to tell them what the year was going to bring. Come morning they gave each household an ember from the fire which was used to start fires in each home with the belief that it would scare off the evil spirits in the new year.

"The Celts continued with their pagan rituals until they were conquered by the Roman Catholics. The Roman Catholics established an All Saints Day or All Hallows Day on November first. They hoped that by establishing a new day for people to celebrate the Celts would forget about the Vigil of Samhain and the other ceremonies and celebrations they had taken part in on October thirty-first through November first. But it didn't work out that way. October thirty-first was renamed Night of the Witch. It was believed that the devil and all of his followers would come out on this night to perform unholy acts to make a mockery of the All Hallows Day celebration. Later the day became called All Hallows Even. Through the years the name has been shortened to Hallowe'en and then to Halloween."

"What about dressing up in costumes?" Sam asked, "Did they do that too?"

"One story says that the spirits of those who had died during the year would come back during this special time in search of living bodies to posses for the next year." Mother said soberly.

"That's not true, is it, mother?" Sally gasped.

"No. Ephesians 9:5 tells us that the dead don't know anything. They are asleep (1Th 4: 13-14) awaiting their Master's call. (Job 14:14-15) But the Celts didn't believe in the true God. They didn't realize that the spirit of a person who dies returns to God, (Ec 12:7) and that there is a future resurrection for all. (Dan 12:2; Re 20:5) They thought the dead were out to take over living bodies. Some say that on the night of October 31 the villagers would put out all the fires in their homes, hoping that the spirits wouldn't enter them, and then they would dress up in all sorts of ghoulish costumes and noisily go about the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away the spirits looking for bodies to possess."

"Ick!" Sally said in disgust. "I don't think I want to dress up for Halloween."

"What about trick or treating? That's okay isn't it?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Trick or treating is thought to have come from a ninth-century European custom called souling." Father said as he turned into their driveway. "On All Souls Day some people would walk from village to village begging for 'soul cakes' made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more cakes the beggars received, the more prayers they promised to say for the dead who remained in limbo. They believed that prayers, even by strangers, could speed a soul on to heaven."

"I'm glad God is a just God who doesn't judge us on how many prayers are said for us, but on the way we live our lives." Mother said with feeling.

"Does this mean I can't go trick or treating?" Sam asked dubiously.

"God is a God of give, not get. Do you think He would want one of his children dressing up as a witch or goblin, or some other frightful thing, going from house to house demanding they be given a treat, with the threat that the person inside will be tricked if they don't?" His mother asked.

Read More Sally and Sam Religious Stories

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