Here are some random facts for you.

1.  Jack-‘o-lanterns originated in Ireland, but instead of pumpkins, they used to be carved out of turnips, potatoes, and large beets.

2.  Keene, New Hampshire, holds the record for the “most jack-o’-lanterns on display.”  They broke the record in 2013 with 30,581 lit pumpkins.

3.  Pumpkins are classified as a fruit, not as a vegetable.  In fact, in 2006, New Hampshire made the pumpkin its state fruit.

4.  The sounds of stabbing in the movie “Halloween” were made by a knife being plunged into a watermelon.

5.  The “spirit” in Spirit Halloween doesn’t refer to ghosts.  The founder Joe Marver launched the store in 1983, and he called it Spirit Halloween as a riff on his original business, which was called Spirit Women’s Discount Apparel.

 

(History / Guinness / State Symbols USA / IMDb / Bloomberg)