{"id":312976,"date":"2026-10-23T22:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T22:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/312976\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T22:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T22:02:11","slug":"new-tool-lets-philadelphians-discover-spookiness-in-west-philly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/312976\/","title":{"rendered":"New tool lets Philadelphians discover spookiness in West Philly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\ud83d\udc8c Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For West Philly resident Dyresha Harris, Halloween is \u201cher thing.\u201d For a decade, she and her partner have been decking out their house with decorations each spooky season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve put up everything from a 20-foot robot to a reenactment of \u2018Stranger Things\u2019 to an underwater cave,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Dyresha Harris and her partner have decorated their West Philly home in many different ways over the years. For the 2025 season, they did an underwater cave. (Photo courtesy of Dyresha Harris)<\/p>\n

People began to walk by and get to know Harris\u2019 house as she kept up the decorations. Residents passing by got Harris thinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou hear folks sharing information about what\u2019s going on, but you also hear about people missing things or getting there too late because they didn\u2019t know it was there,\u201d she said. \u201cOr sometimes we\u2019ll talk to neighbors who got all decked out and bought lots of candy, but they live on a side street and they didn\u2019t have very many people show up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harris found herself thinking of the nearby Garden Court Community Association<\/a>, which shares a list of Christmas decorations to go and see in the neighborhood. She said that inspiration, their support and community motivation led her to create her own Halloween tool.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I really love is that we often have folks stop by our house who will say things like, \u2018Oh, see, you didn\u2019t have to go out to the suburbs to have a good Halloween,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I love that energy, that kind of neighborhood pride. So I thought the map would also be a fun way to kind of hype each other up, to promote that neighborhood community pride and to showcase the creativity of our neighborhood while helping families kind of have the best Halloween they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, the West Philly Fright Registry<\/a> was born. The new tool lets neighbors share nearby Halloween-themed events, haunted houses, decorations and more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The West Philly Fright Registry contains listings of candy, decorations and Halloween events all over West Philly. (Photo courtesy of Dyresha Harris)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a Google form where community members from approximately 45th to 60th streets and Market to Baltimore streets can register their house to let folks know what spooky things they\u2019ll be up to during the Halloween season,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that might be giving out candy, decorations, events and then from there, we take that form and upload it into a Google Map and a list, and kind of format it so that it\u2019s usable to allow families and other Halloween revelers to know where to go as we are on Halloween or kind of in the days and weeks leading up to it,\u201d Dyresha said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Engaging West Philly<\/p>\n

The tool is now in its second year, which Harris said is a reflection of lots of residents loving it the first time around.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were getting excited to show off their homes, feeling more inspired and helping to build communities. So, we had folks who were like, \u2018oh, it was so cool to see that our part of the city is so engaged and enthusiastic on Halloween,\u2019\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"People all over West Philly get excited to show off their Halloween decorations. (Photo courtesy of Dyresha Harris)<\/p>\n

Right now, the tool has over 70 entries \u2013 including Halloween and fall festivals, spots with Beetlejuice and Hocus Pocus decorations and trick-or-treating houses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harris said she has also seen examples from all over the neighborhood of people building connections \u2013 including seeing a local librarian engaging others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe shared that one of her neighbors actually saw that she was registered, and so she came over and joined her in handing out candy,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was kind of this cute opportunity to use the registry to connect with neighbors, which is ultimately what it\u2019s really all about. And now this year, Claire isn\u2019t just signing up her own house, but she\u2019s getting the children\u2019s department of her local (library) branch in on the festivities also.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris said this holiday provides a special chance for this kind of engagement and networking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think of it really as a time to imagine who you could be if there were literally no limits, and it\u2019s also the only American holiday that has this element of like interacting with your neighborhood specifically, and not just your nuclear family,\u201d she said. \u201cSo like going door-to-door and connecting with folks who live like right around you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"From the whimsical to the macabre, Halloween decorations are seen throughout West Philly. (Photo courtesy of Dyresha Harris)<\/p>\n

Harris said she especially enjoys interacting with her own neighbors for this cause.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part of it, in some ways, is getting an excuse to just go around the neighborhood talking to my neighbors about fun things, and some people get really excited,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some of the business owners on Baltimore Street be like, \u2018Oh, it\u2019d be really fun to do something, provide something for the community, or have a parade down here,\u2019\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For those signing up, she said there is space for all kinds of entries \u2013 whether residents are showing off decorations, events or more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s something that we want to make clear, is that whatever you\u2019re bringing to the table is most welcome, and that it\u2019s mostly about finding each other as a community and getting to celebrate and have fun together,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Continuing to expand\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Fright Registry is up and running, and is open through Oct. 31. There is still time to sign up your spooky spot<\/a> and go explore the ones<\/a> that are already there.<\/p>\n

Harris said she is inspired by the reception of the registry, and hopes to expand in years to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to figure out how to get more participation, get the word out more, going farther west into Cobbs Creek and other little pockets,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harris said she and her partner are the only ones doing this project, and that next year they may look for volunteers or other helpers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really hoping that it moves from being kind of this neighborhood project to being a community practice and something where every year you\u2019re kind of like, \u2018oh, OK, like I know that we can kind of log on and know what\u2019s going on,\u2019\u00a0 and that people can use it as a resource that they\u2019re planning for because they know what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, Harris said she is hoping to spread joy in the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese rituals of joy and creativity and connection can actually mean a lot more than we think, and we are now in another really like hard historical moment for many people,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we can\u2019t always take away all of the bad in the world. As we work to do that, we can make the joy bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can find more about the West Philly Fright Registry, including sign-up info here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udc8c Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. For…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4877,227,8779,732,69,71,70,127857,14896,127858],"class_list":["post-312976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-arts","tag-education","tag-fun","tag-halloween","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-secret-philly","tag-west-philly","tag-west-philly-fright-registry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312976","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=312976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}