Hello and welcome to Effortless English.

Today's scary podcast. Hello and welcome to Effortless English.

Today's scary podcast is about Halloween.

Halloween is October 31st.

It's a very popular holiday in America.

Okay, and this comes from a Wikipedia article by the way.

Wikipedia is a great place to get lots of information and articles for free.

Okay, here we go.

What is Halloween?

Halloween is an observance celebrated on the night of October 31st,

most notably by children dressing in costumes and going

door-to-door collecting sweets.

It is celebrated in much of the Western world, though most common in Canada, the United States, Puerto Rico, Ireland,

the United Kingdom, and with increasing popularity in Australia and New Zealand.

Halloween originated among the Celts in Ireland, Britain, and France as a

pagan Celtic Harvest Festival. Irish, Scots, and other immigrants brought versions of the

tradition to North America in the 19th century.

Most other Western cultures have embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late 20th century.

The term Halloween and its older spelling, Halloween, is shortened from all hollow even, as it is the

evening before all Hallows Day, also known as All Saints Day.

In Ireland, the name was All Hallows Eve, often shortened to Hollow Eve.

And though seldomly used today, it is still a well accepted label.

...