PICS: Proof that traditional Irish turnips were way scarier than pumpkins

When it comes to carving up a jack-o'-lantern for Hallowe'en, most people will go for the pumpkin.

Thanks to a heavy dose of American influence in our day-to-day lives, you can see a pumpkin in just about every porch and living room window in Ireland at this time of year. However, there are plenty of households in Ireland that still go down the traditional route and carve their jack-o'-lantern out of turnips — which is exactly how the idea of carving vegetables at this time of year began. The Museum of Country Life in Mayo have turnip jack-o'-lanterns as part of their exhibit and after just one glance it's easy to see that these veggies are about ten times as scary as your most horrifying pumpkin. https://twitter.com/johnkellytweets/status/792664989597401088 https://twitter.com/andynyman/status/792651857739059200 Whereas pumpkins are big and round and bright orange, turnips are an ungodly, shapeless mess of splotchy ugly colours that vaguely resemble the skulls of some kind of alien race that's out to destroy us. https://twitter.com/poppyscupcakes/status/792376609672138752 Pumpkins cannot compete with this kind of weirdness. https://twitter.com/poppyscupcakes/status/792719313941696512