It’s no surprise that a museum dedicated to zombies couldn’t stay in its grave for long. The Living Dead Museum, an institution dedicated to honouring the seminal 1968 zombie film “Night of the Living Dead” had been a fixture since 2013 in downtown Evans City, Pennsylvania, where the film was shot and which prides itself on being the birthplace of the zombie genre.
But in October, the museum closed its Evans City doors — only to rise again the following month at the nearby Monroeville Mall, north of Pittsburgh, where the sequel “Dawn of the Dead” was filmed. And fans can rest easy.
“Be assured that everything that was in Evans City will still be available and represented in Monroeville, plus a lot of great new surprises,” says the museum’s owner and curator Kevin Kriess.
The new venue will contain plenty of old favourite exhibits about the world of horror films, such as a timeline that traces 50-plus years of zombie movie history and the “Maul of Fame,” a wall of celebrity horror stars’ handprints. It will also make a point to delve more into Monroeville Mall’s “Dawn of the Dead” bona fides.
“The new location… will dig much deeper into that film with exhibits featuring screen-used props and set pieces, including the original (J.C.) Penney’s Flyboy elevator — which has been resurrected from the dead,” Kriess said. Fans will understand the reference to a famed zombie character.
And, playing to an audience that knows its genre well, the new museum will also feature an original cabin and workshed from horror classic “Evil Dead 2,” as well as items from other ties to the shopping centre’s pop-culture past — including movies “Flashdance” from 1983 and “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” from 2008, the Stephen King novel “Christine,” and the recent Netflix series “Mindhunter.”
That’s all well and good for Monroeville, but it does leave the town that director George Romero’s work made iconic a bit more, well, zombie-like.
The Living Dead Museum was born in 2008 as one of many local monuments to the film, but it actually started at Monroeville Mall. After about five years, the museum was moved to downtown Evans City.
Kriess wants to be clear that the decision to go back to Monroeville had nothing to do with Evans City itself and everything to do with the unfortunate realities of trying to run a business during a global pandemic.
About two years ago, he began planning to expand to a new Monroeville Mall location that would complement the Evans City museum’s attractions. He didn’t publicize that information pre-pandemic. He wanted it to be a surprize for horror fans the world over when it was ready — complete with a grand opening.
The Monroeville expansion was set to open in spring 2020, which is when COVID-19 upended all best-laid plans.
Financial constraints due to the pandemic forced Kriess into making the difficult decision to close one of the museums, and because he had already put so much time and effort into Monroeville construction, he opted to shutter the Evans City location.
“For all intents and purposes we did move, but it didn’t start out with that plan.”
At the moment, only the museum’s gift shop is open at the mall due to the pandemic, but Kriess hopes the full display of memorabilia will be publicly accessible by this summer.
Back in Evans City, Mayor Dean said the museum was a very good attraction for the town that sees a lot of tourism from horror fans around the world making the pilgrimage, including a couple from Australia who got married at the Evans City Cemetery Chapel.
Tourists will still be able to check out all the other tributes to “Night of the Living Dead” around Evans City, including “Living Dead” historical markers downtown, places seen in the film such as the cemetery and chapel, and the Evans City Historical Society Museum, which features tons of information about the movie.
The museum is also still planning its biannual Living Dead Weekends, festivals celebrating all things horror, in both Monroeville and Evans City.
The two Pennsylvania towns are located about 30 minutes north of Pittsburgh.