Anonymous Caller What's with that costume?! Why do people always dress up as pumpkins in Halloween?! ...wait a minute... How were pumpkins even related to Halloween in the first place?!! Mint Because those people are sick sick people. Otakon Halloween is part of a harvest festival, as well as being caught up in some pagan rites. You see, the coming of winter was kind of magical, as everything died and decayed in the fields, so it seemed appropriate to celebrate the current harvest, and invest in some voodoo to encourage the coming harvest, and thus was born Halloween! As for the pumpkins... it's probably due to timing, the fact that pumpkins mature right around this time. If nature decreed that yellow squash were most prevalent, then I'm sure we'd be celebrating Halloween with summer squash! Actually, I guess it also dovetails with pumpkin pie, too... Mint (Blech.) Otakon Think of it... as getting personal revenge on pumpkins. First you crack the pumpkin open, then you gut it of it's unholy flesh. You puree it into a nice goop, then boil it.