Halloween is still over a month away, but it's not too soon to prepare for Elvira's visit to Philly.......

Don't forget, if your work day gets rough, that it's actually Wednesday and not Tuesday. In Holidayland, where the weeks are short and the thunderstorms the weathermen have been insisting on for almost two weeks continue to evade radar. Evadar? Oh, nevermind. Hopefully we haven't jinxed the mild dry spell. SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION AT EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY What better venue to screen a prison movie than a prison?! Get comfy on the Penitentiary's baseball field and......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. "Lingerie maker Triumph International Japan Ltd unveiled its environmentally friendly, and green colored, "Solar Power Bra" on Wednesday in Tokyo." No comment. (Via Jill) Tom Cruise will star as the President of the United States in the upcoming political thriller 28th Amendment. In the film, Cruise's character discovers that the United States is actually being controlled by a super secret organization (run by......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Ice Dancing: University City District presents Winterfest!, a night of public skating, at the Class of 1923 Ice Rink (3130 Walnut), 5-8PM. $1, skate rental free (but show up ½ hour early to reserve your pair) Sing Us a Song: Steve Odabashian’s Happy Hour Piano Show, every Friday at the Cascamorto Piano Bar (1939 Arch), 5-8:30PM. Free SATURDAY No Clowns: Transistor Rodeo, Rhondo, and Ledbetter Heights at......

On Saturday night, this self-admitted scaredy cat, armed only with a little determination and a very strong man to hold my hand, headed over to the Eastern State Penitentiary for their annual “Terror Behind the Walls.” It is, no doubt, a Halloween extravaganza, made even freakier by the fact that it’s held in a real prison. From the moment you walk up to the prison, you are fair game. Sure, that man outside the......

Today is Bastille Day! This is a national holiday for our sister site, Parisist - but it's important to Phillyist too. Sure, we don't get off from work in honor of French Nationalism, but we still get to see the storming of the Bastille. Well, ok, it's Eastern State Penn - but we get to pretend it's Bastille...guillotine and all. From 2 - 5:30 on Saturday, there will be a French-themed street festival in Fairmount,......

Six reasons it's worth spending an afternoon at Eastern State Penitentiary: 1. It's super creepy, even in the daytime. 2. Al Capone stayed there. 3. Admission is less than $10 - and includes a self-guided audio tour, and access to a number of art installations. 4. The included audio tour is voiced by Steve Buscemi (who is awesome). 5. It's an important landmark in our nation's penal history. 6. It gives you a valid......

The Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz...

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Reception for the 2006 Artists: From 5:30 - 7:30 PM, Eastern State Penitentiary (22nd and Fairmount) is hosting a First Friday meet and greet of the artists whose work they will be exhibiting this season. Free. Hands and Knees: Friday DJ dance party at the M-Room (15 W. Girard Ave). $5 (21+) Five Spot House Party: Weekly event with DJ Lowbudget & Gregg Nyce. $5 before midnight,......

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We know, we know. You're sick of The Raven, and your tell-tale heart wants Halloween poetry with more substance than black cats and mysterious floorboards. Never fear: Phillyist knows that you want literary without the Anne Rice bullshit (her conversion to write "for the Lord" aside). And, like us, you also want free food that doesn't taste like the Philly Diner. Tonight's Spookeasy, a send-up of the Kelly Writers House regular Wednesday open-mic Speakeasy......

Voted the Sixth Best Haunted House in all the land by AOL Digital City, Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary promises to scare the pants right off of you. Quake in your stylish boots as you are admitted through Intake and harrassed by sadistic security guards. Be wary of the Maximum Security wing, where you're sure to meet a couple of hardened and extremely crazy criminals! Cry out in terror in the......

Oh sure, they say it's geared toward families, but little kids and even adults will be quaking in their boots at the Fort Mifflin Family Fright Fest. Fort Mifflin will throw open its doors every Friday and Saturday night in October for a truly spooky ghost tour extravaganza, sponsored by Philadelphia’s Country Station 92.5 WXTU (we hope that doesn't mean ho downs with the ghosts). Look for special offers, ticket giveaways and events scheduled......

Halloween is always an interesting time around Philadelphia. There are the big events, like Terror Behind the Walls at the Eastern State Penitentiary, and smaller events, like just about any haunted hayrides through the many woods of Philadelphia's suburbs. There's so much going on that, well, sometimes it's hard to keep track of, especially since you spend most of your time trying to decide what's more hilarious: a George W. Bush mask or a......

Phillyist has a garden, but lots of Philly residents either don't have the room or don't have the time to maintain even a pot of marigolds on the stoop. That doesn't mean that you can't enjoy getting your hands dirty for a few hours every now and then. Philadelphia Green is a program run by the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society. It's a thirty year old initiative to support the "development and ongoing care of community gardens,......

You would think we would be all Frenched out after the launch of Parisist. You, of course, would be right. But we don't like sleep all that much, so you'll see us at the Eastern State Penitentiary on Saturday. We won't be there for jail, obviously, even though mom does say we're "so cute it's criminal." Nope, the Eastern State Penitentiary is a piece of history where people flock for tours and the occasional haunted......