Students from Bulgaria's National Fine Arts School were prized at a competition for Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns on Monday.

The initiative, untraditional for Bulgaria where Halloween was quite unknown not long ago, was organized by initiative of courier company BG Menu and the arts school.

Over 25 students gathered in a central garden in Sofia on this cold October day to show their pumpkin-carving skills. A jury of six media representatives chose the most inventive lantern and prized the craftiest individuals.

The tradition of carving pumpkin lanterns on Halloween comes from the legend of the drunk Jack who tricked Satan into letting his soul alone when he died, only to find out that the Heavens didn't want him either. After a lot of pleading with the devil the trickster received a burning ember to light his eternal wanderings in the darkness. Jack carried the ember in a hollow pumpkin, nowadays represented by the Jack-o-Lantern.

Halloween is based on the ancient Celtic holiday 'All Hallows Eve', that marked the only day of the year when dead spirits were allowed to walk the earth.

Most celebrated in the US, Halloween has now spread its influence mainly as a commercialized event in many countries that did not celebrate it five or ten years ago, Bulgaria included.

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