Halloween is an observance celebrated on the night of October 31, most notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting sweets or money. It is celebrated in much of the Western world, though most common in the United States, Puerto Rico, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Canada. Irish, Scots and other immigrants brought older versions of the tradition to North America in the 19th century. Most other Western countries have embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late 20th century.

The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening before "All Hallows Day". In Ireland, the name was All Hallows Eve and this name is still used by some older people. Halloween was also sometimes called All Saints' Eve. The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European pagan traditions, until it was appropriated by Christian missionaries and given a Christian interpretation. In Mexico November 1st and 2nd are celebrated as the Day of the Dead.

Halloween is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the púca, a mischievous spirit.

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NPR Topics: Arts & Entertainment

In 'Rachel,' Director Demme Casts Against Type
Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:01:00 -0400
Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme cast Anne Hathaway — an actress best known for sweetheart roles — as a recovering drug addict in his new film, Rachel Getting Married. He talks about that decision and how he got involved in the project.
'Duck Soup': Take One Fiscal Crisis, Boil Merrily
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:26:00 -0400
Depression-era comedy sends the Marx Brothers skating through economic territory their namesake Karl would recognize — and it begins with talk of bailouts, tax breaks and other things that Bob Mondello says you'll find familiar, too.
Boston Orchestra Makes Typewriters Sing
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:31:00 -0400
The Boston Typewriter Orchestra is a small, Monty Python-esque group that mixes original "typewriter" music with swatches of surrealist comedy. Sometimes they play their typewriters so hard that they upset the audience.

NYT > Arts

Connections: The Power of Political Pratfalls
Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:12:03 -0000
A bumbling president, a rube candidate, a greedy politician — such are the caricatures of political life. Whether accurate or not, they can be more powerful than any argument.
U.S. Refuge for Singer Fleeing the Taliban
Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:40:05 -0000
A hostile cultural climate forced Haroon Bacha, a Pashtun musician, to leave his homeland and come to New York.
Television Review | 'My Own Worst Enemy': Jekyll and Hyde, With a Dash of James Bond
Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:10:44 -0000
Most people sometimes wake up on the wrong side of bed. The hero of “My Own Worst Enemy” on NBC wakes up on the wrong side of his brain.

Arts & Culture

Vince Aletti: Gilbert & George, at the Brooklyn Museum.
Vince Aletti Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000
The world of Gilbert & George, now on gaudy, overwhelming display at the Brooklyn Museum, revolves around the artists themselves, a pair of Brits dressed in conservative suits--or in nothing at all. On the evidence of some hundred photographs and drawings made between 1970 and 2006, the couple’s work, which . . .
Louis Menand: Is texting here to stay?
Louis Menand Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000
Is texting bringing us closer to the end of life as we currently tolerate it? Enough people have suggested that it is to have inspired David Crystal to produce “Txtng: The Gr8 Db8” (Oxford; $19.95). “I don’t think I have ever come across a topic which has attracted more . . .
John Lahr: Martyrdom and marriage onstage.
John Lahr Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000
In Robert Bolt’s 1960 hit “A Man for All Seasons” (now in a Roundabout Theatre Company revival, at the American Airlines, under the direction of Doug Hughes), Cardinal Wolsey (Dakin Matthews) asks Sir Thomas More (Frank Langella) a question that is meant to wrong-foot him. “Take you altogether, Thomas . . .

Christian Science Monitor | Arts & Entertainment

Review: 'Frontrunners'
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
Documentary follows the insanely competitive race for student council president at Stuyvesant High School in New York City.
Review: 'The Express'
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
The story of Ernie Davis, the first black athlete to win college football's highest trophy, is milked for inspirational uplift – and clichés.
Review: 'Happy-Go-Lucky'
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
Mike Leigh's spirited new movie about a sweet-tempered schoolteacher is both humane and real.

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