Halloween is in two days and if you’re planning to walk around the neighborhood with your kids, family or friends, check out the first-ever West Philly Fright Registry created by a West Philly resident, Dyresha Harris.

Dozens of West Philly residents and some organizations have registered their address for various spooky season happenings or activities since our first post about it in early October. You can browse the database or use the map (see the screenshot above), just enter your zip code in the search window, to find out what your neighbors are up to on Halloween – from giving out candy, to decorations, to events.

More information on how to use the Registry is available here. And to find out how Dyresha came up with this “spooktacular” idea, click here.

Also, don’t forget about the annual Spruce Hill Halloween Tot Parade (more info is here).

West Philadelphia is known for celebrating creative people – musicians, performers, visual artists, craftspeople and more. As the fall season settles in, there is an exciting opportunity to bring neighborhoods together with the 10th Annual Halloween-themed House, Block and Business decoration contest organized by the HopePHL Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC). This fun, community-wide activity offers more than just a chance for creativity and a few frights—it has fostered a sense of unity, safety, and holiday spirit among residents.

HopePHL’s NAC uses the annual contest to promote their services, supported by funding from the City of Philadelphia Division of Housing and Community Development. The NAC assists community members with delinquent property taxes, mortgage Foreclosure Prevention and Tangled Title deed issues. The NAC also connects residents to many city services like 311 and City ID and assistance with utility costs.

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Halloween in West Philly (Photo by West Philly Local)

The spooky season is here and here’s a great new community resource, created by a local Halloween enthusiast, that will help folks submit and find events.

Dyresha Harris, has created a free West Philly Fright Registry, a Google form where community members from approximately 45th to 60th Streets and Market to Baltimore (it’s not a hard boundary) can register their house or public space to let folks know what spooky thing they’ll be up to during the Halloween season (from giving out candy, to decorations, to events). The resulting Google map would help families and other Halloween revelers know where to go on and leading up to the holiday.

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The Spruce Hill Community Association has confirmed that the old neighborhood Halloween tradition is still alive: the 26th Annual Halloween Little Tot Parade will return on Oct. 31! As usual, gathering begins on 45th St. between Baltimore and Larchwood at 4 p.m. The parade will kick off at 4:30 p.m. and head east on Larchwood. Traditionally, the event concludes with a party at “Little Osage” (42nd and Osage), where parade participants are treated with cider and baked goods from local businesses and organizations.

Those who live in the area where the parade takes place, please be mindful of the following:

Roads will be closed from 3:45-5 p.m. (see the map below). You may not move your parked car if it is parked on the route during the parade.

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Come Tuesday, hundreds of costumed tots and their parents or guardians will descend upon West Philly streets for trick-or-treating. Neighbors usually buy a lot of sweet treats to give away but do they always buy the “right” sweets?

As you may have noticed, many kids are very selective about what kind of candy they want. This Halloween, a group of University of Pennsylvania students will be conducting a Halloween Data Project, trying to identify the most popular candy for West Philly kids.

“The general plan is to walk around on Tuesday during trick or treat, get permission from parents/guardians first and then ask kids their favorite candy,” writes Ethan Markwalter, a senior at Penn studying statistics. “We were also thinking about noting their costume too. For example, that way we know Batman likes snickers.”

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Get your spooky/funny/cute costumes ready for the annual Spruce Hill “Tot” Halloween Parade! The great neighborhood tradition returns Tuesday, Oct. 31.

Gathering begins at 4 p.m. at 45th and Larchwood, and the parade kicks off at 4:30. The parade ends at 42nd and Osage where party-goers are invited to get treats, like cider and baked goods, from “Little Osage” neighbors and local businesses.

Every year, hundreds of costumed tots (ages 6 and under) and their parents or guardians participate in the parade organized by the Spruce Hill Community Association. This is a fun and family-friendly event for the local community with plenty of trick-or-treating possibilities in the neighborhood!

For more October events, check out this post.