Zombies! Yes, Zombies!
They are the subjects of today's most popular TV shows, movies, video games and comics. How did this come to be? Where and when did it all begin? These fictional living dead creatures that consume human flesh are well known archetypes today, but their history only dates back about 45 years to Evans City, PA (Pittsburgh area) where George A. Romero filmed the 1968 independent film, Night of the Living Dead. That film not only changed the face of horror, but influenced pop-culture in general giving us a new type of monster that would appear in music videos, cartoons, books, movies, video games and more.
Dawn of the Zombie Museum
In October 2008, we opened the world's first zombie museum, “Monroeville Zombies” in Pittsburgh's Monroeville Mall, the main filming location of Romero's second zombie film, the 1978 “Dawn of the Dead”. There we began to show fans and customers the history and role these films had in changing and defining zombies in pop-culture. Our goal was to celebrate Pittsburgh's role in this area and create a hub for tourists and fans who want to visit the original filming locations of these films. Along the way we had zombie themed events for fans to socialize and meet others who share interests. Our journey was not obsticle free, however. Many of the plans we had for our space and other zombie social events in the mall never came to fruition due to mall management's ever changing rules and regulations. In April 2013, we lost our lease in the Monroeville Mall due to mall management's change in direction of the future leasing plan for the mall.
Zombies Come Back! – and so do we!
In late August 2013, we will come back, as “The Living Dead - Museum and Giftshop” in the home of the living dead, Evans City, PA, the main filming location of “Night of the Living Dead”, the 1968 film that started it all. The world's first and only zombie museum belongs in the world's true origin of the zombie. Here in our new facility we can expand and offer all the zombie history, museum exhibits, film location tours, social events such as zombie walks, and a larger giftshop full of collectibles and souveniors.
Zombies need flesh! - we need funding!
Zombies seem to have no problem finding the flesh they need to keep walking, but unfortunately, our museum project needs more than flesh. The project needs some funding to get all the exhibits rebuilt, to get the new facility remodeled from an old clothes store into a zombie museum and to print informational panels to inform our customers of this rich and local history. There's lots of little details that add up in putting something like this together. That is why we have decided to fund raise using the Indiegogo platform. But the best part is that everyone who contributes gets back perks worth more in value than their contribution amount! So everybody wins, zombies, museums, and fans alike!
All New - The Living Dead – Museum & Giftshop
Contributed funds will go to:
- remodeling an old Evans City storefront into our museum
- moving and rebuilding the original JP Penny Elevator and escalator used in Dawn of the Dead into our museum
- crafting new lifesize famous movie zombies statues and figures to grace the halls of the new museum
- printing informational panels that will inform and educate patrons as they tour the exhibits
- printing and constructing signage for the top of the building and décor for the storefront windows
- acquiring new props and photos to exhibit .
Back Up Plan
$10,000.00 may seem like a lot to get started, but don't worry, we are coming back whether we reach this goal or not. We have lots of back up plans and never give up, but this fund raising head start plan will get as much cool stuff ready in the fastest way possible so all will be ready for the Living Dead Festival on Aug 30 & 31. This goal represents the total expense needed to rebuild and prepair the facility to reopen. We can open without some of the exhibits completed if necessary (and we will), so please do not get frustrated if the goal is not reached, as we will find a way to make it happen either way. We have prioritized the goals, so as funds come in we will allocate them to the higher priority items first to get reopened quickly. So any amount from $1 and up will all go to use it making this happen! Thank you all for supporting this project over the last 5 years and into the future!
