{"id":294680,"date":"2026-09-26T21:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T21:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/294680\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T21:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T21:36:13","slug":"halloween-is-taking-over-the-philly-area-bar-scene-the-mercury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/294680\/","title":{"rendered":"Halloween is taking over the Philly area bar scene \u2013 The Mercury"},"content":{"rendered":"

The leaves are starting to change and there is a crispness in the air, so it must be time to get a little bit scary. If it includes some food and drink, well, then it gets even better.<\/p>\n

Hidden inside Newsroom Philadelphia, 1102 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, and behind the Diet 7-Up machine, The Pumpkin Press is a limited-time fall transformation that brings together the legend of the Headless Horseman and Philadelphia\u2019s connection to Edgar Allan Poe within a speakeasy already known for its book-lined walls, hidden entrance and sense of discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pumpkin Press brings fall to life through glowing pumpkins, theatrical cocktails and autumn nights made for lingering. Inspired by Poe and Sleepy Hollow, step inside a darker side of fall, hidden in plain sight.\u201d said general manager Alicia Gray.<\/p>\n

The story begins in New York, where the original Newsroom first opened and where Washington Irving\u2019s \u201cThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow\u201d gave rise to the Headless Horseman.<\/p>\n

The tale takes on a distinctly local chapter through Edgar Allan Poe, who lived and worked in Philadelphia during some of the most significant years of his literary career. The result is a fall experience that connects two cities through storytelling, potions, literature and a little bit of darkness.<\/p>\n

The Pumpkin Press is an immersive autumn escape filled with glowing pumpkins, candlelight, seasonal foliage, antique details and eerie installations inspired by the mysterious worlds of Sleepy Hollow and Poe.<\/p>\n

Newsroom\u2019s existing library-like interior provides the backdrop. Shelves of books, hidden spaces and the intimate atmosphere of the speakeasy become part of the story, allowing The Pumpkin Press to feel less like traditional Halloween d\u00e9cor and more like stepping inside the pages of an old autumn tale.<\/p>\n

Cocktails become part of the storytelling with a new lineup of signature drinks created exclusively for The Pumpkin Press, combining seasonal flavors with theatrical presentations.<\/p>\n

Highlights include the Headless Horseman, a smoky mezcal cocktail presented in a large smoker; Moon Over Sleepy Hollow, a shimmering pomegranate vodka cocktail; the Pumpkin Spice Old Fashioned, served with a large pumpkin-shaped ice cube; and The Raven\u2019s Cauldron, a dramatic large-format rum cocktail for four presented with a dry-ice cauldron.<\/p>\n

Throughout the experience, references to the Headless Horseman, The Raven, Sleepy Hollow and Poe blur the line between New York legend and Philadelphia lore, while glowing pumpkins and rich autumn details keep fall at the center of it all.<\/p>\n

For more information, check out www.newsroomphilly.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"CraftsmanCraftsman Row is known for it’s over-the-top decorations and this Halloween season is no different. (COURTESY OF CODY ALDRICH)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Craftsman Row Saloon, 112 S. Eighth Street, Philadelphia, has gone even bigger with the decorations this Halloween season.<\/p>\n

Guests enter Nightmare Before Christmas: The Enchanted Nightmare through a haunted forest of weeping willows, wooden branches, hanging spirits, past hay bales, pumpkins and caution tape marking the trail.<\/p>\n

Along the way, a fortune-telling banquette sets the scene with a custom mural built entirely of tarot cards, crystals loom from overhead, and a crystal ball tells the good fortune of enjoyment to be had at Craftsman Row.<\/p>\n

Surrounded by flickering lights, draped fabric, jars of potions, and a vintage radio, guests will be cloaked in the eerie sights and sounds of the season. With the Halloween take-over in the dining room comes three over-the-top themed milkshakes with elaborate decorations, unique flavors, giant cookies and more.<\/p>\n

Known for an over-the-top floor-to-ceiling decor, a new custom stormy cloud looms above the bar, dozens of floating candles and witches hats drift throughout the installation.<\/p>\n

With the evolved d\u00e9cor comes a menu just as over-the-top.<\/p>\n

Returning favorites include the Vampire Burger (American cheese, candied bacon, pumpkin aioli, cheddar cheese, olive eyes, blue tortilla chip ears);\u00a0the Frankenberger (pepper jack, jalape\u00f1o bolts, fried onions, pickle eyes, lettuce, tomato, spicy barbecue sauce); and the Boo-schetta (prosciutto, ghost-shaped mozzarella, balsamic glaze).<\/p>\n

Craftsman Row is known for it\u2019s over-the-top milkshakes.<\/p>\n

For this pop-up, check out Scary Movie Night (cookie dough ice cream, popcorn, Halloween candy, body part candy, keepsake popcorn bucket) and Pumpkin To Talk About (local vanilla ice cream, pumpkin puree, festive pretzel rod, edible fall leaves and whipped cream) are joined this year by the new Mad Scientist (mint chocolate chip ice cream, lab coat cookie, rock candy, Nerds, and body parts candy, festive sprinkles), and a new boozy option, the Caramel Apple Crypt (vanilla ice cream, apple liquor, sugared apple, graham cracker crumble, caramel).<\/p>\n

For more information: www.craftsmanrowsaloon.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The leaves are starting to change and there is a crispness in the air, so it must be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[858,28,69,1212,71,70,435,289,1015],"class_list":["post-294680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-ontap","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-county","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-restaurants-food-and-drink","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories-mer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}