PHILADELPHIA, PA — Newsroom Philly has opened a Halloween-themed pop-up bar in Northern Liberties, extending the venue’s literary-speakeasy concept with a seasonal experience built around Edgar Allan Poe and the Headless Horseman through Nov. 1.
The Pumpkin Press is operating at 1102 Germantown Ave., where Newsroom has transformed its book-lined Philadelphia space into a gothic setting drawing on Poe’s work and Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
The seasonal concept features themed cocktails, literary references, and décor incorporating ravens, graves, pumpkins, and other horror imagery.
Newsroom is positioning the installation as an immersive story rather than a conventional decorated bar, combining elements associated with Poe and the Headless Horseman into a new narrative created for the Philadelphia location.
The setting also carries a local literary connection. The venue is located several blocks from the surviving Philadelphia home where Poe lived during part of the 1840s and wrote some of his best-known works.
Newsroom originated in New York as a speakeasy concealed behind a magazine stand before expanding to Philadelphia. Its Northern Liberties location incorporates hundreds of books and mural-covered walls into the permanent design.
The Pumpkin Press will remain open through Nov. 1. Newsroom plans to convert the space again afterward for its Christmas and holiday pop-up season.
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