October -- Week Five HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Hello Everyone,

Happy Halloween!  This is probably my favorite time of year and it has been a really fun week sharing scary stories and talking about fear, ghosts, superstitions, etc. Many of you had some really creepy tales to tell!

For reading, you could read about the Origin of Halloween, but I recommend reading some original version Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (such as The Thing, Bloody Fingers or Harold), or Wikipedia Entries to Read in the Dark. A few of you asked about the originals of jack-o-lanterns.  You could read the article Why Do We Carve Pumpkins? to find out why!

For listening, try ESLPodcast about Halloween,  Halloween: Holiday of the Dead (mp3 and transcript).  More advanced students should try original version materials: listen to H.P. Lovecraft's story The Picture in the House
Those of you who enjoy music may like listening to a radio program about scary songs in rock and pop history on NPR, Sound Opinions and All Things Considered.

For writing, try your hand at writing a scary story.  It can be something that happened to you or purely fictional.  To keep up your pronunciation practice, you should record yourself telling the story.

Oh, and have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Best,
Kelly

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.  -- H.P. Lovecraft