Here is a submission that might fit into next October’s edition.

“My early childhood was in a predominately Protestant town (Roddickton)  with no or few Catholics, therefore we did not hear of the practice of All Saints Day or Halloween. There was no decorations or trick or treating and defiantly no pumpkins, The term Jack O Lantern had a totally different meaning. Jack O Lanterns were bright eerie lights that appeared over the frozen harbour during a blustery snowstorm. Although I have never seen one these ‘weather lights’ are well documented. We were even told that some people caught out in the storm followed these lights because they thought that there was someone up a head with a lantern. One such story told of a woman from the cove who was crossing the bay during a storm and followed the Jack O Lantern right into the channel of open water where she drowned.
Nope, never heard of Halloween and carved pumpkins until I was a teenager when I moved to another town. Never did go trick or treating. Bonfire Night was our big fall event.”