What do we call hollowed-out pumpkins with a face cut into one side?

Hollowed-out pumpkins featuring a carved face are known as jack-o'-lanterns, a familiar sight during the Halloween season. To create one, the top of a pumpkin is cut off to form a lid, the inner flesh is scooped out, and then a design, often a "scary" or "funny" face, is carved into the rind. A light source, traditionally a candle, is placed inside to illuminate the carved features. These glowing gourds are popular decorations, both inside and outside homes, in the lead-up to and on Halloween itself.

The name "jack-o'-lantern" has roots in British folklore, originally referring to ignis fatuus, or "foolish fire," which are mysterious lights seen flickering over peat bogs or marshes. It is also strongly linked to the Irish legend of "Stingy Jack". According to the tale, Stingy Jack was a cunning drunkard who tricked the Devil multiple times. As a result, when Jack died, he was denied entry into both heaven and hell, doomed to roam the Earth with only a burning coal placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to light his way.

Inspired by this legend, people in Ireland and Scotland began carving grotesque faces into turnips, potatoes, or mangel wurzels, illuminating them with coals or candles. These lanterns were placed in windows or near doors to ward off Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits during the Gaelic festival of Samhain, which is considered the origin of Halloween. When Irish immigrants brought these traditions to America in the 19th century, they found pumpkins to be more readily available and easier to carve than root vegetables, leading to the pumpkin becoming the iconic symbol we recognize today.