News
Expanded “Living Dead Museum” Opening in the Mall from ‘Dawn of the Dead’ This Weekend!
Pittsburgh’s premiere horror museum since 2008, The Living Dead Museum is being reanimated as a brand new, expanded museum that’s hosting its grand opening this week!
The press release explains, “Living Dead Museum will hold Grand Opening of the new Pittsburgh Horror & Movie Museum in all new Monroeville Mall location on June 12, 2021.”
“The new expanded museum will feature all new horror and movie exhibits that emphasize Pittsburgh’s role in film and pop-culture including George A. Romero’s famous zombie movies and other Pittsburgh productions.”
“Grand Opening day includes an appearance by Lenny Lies, “machete zombie” from the classic 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, which was famously filmed in the Monroeville Mall.”
“Living Dead Museum originally debuted as a small Dawn of the Dead tribute room in the Monroeville Mall in 2008. After several expansions the museum moved in 2013 to Evans City, PA, home to Night of the Living Dead, the 1968 zombie film that started it all, where it was firmly established as the world’s premiere zombie museum. In 2019 plans began to expand to a second location in the Monroeville Mall focusing on a broader Pittsburgh Horror & Movie Museum. After the 2020 pandemic forced the closure of the Evans City location the decision was made to merge both locations into a new expanded horror movie museum in the Monroeville Mall, encompassing the legacy zombie exhibits along with the all new movie exhibits.”
“Featured new exhibits include Dawn of the Dead screen used props and actual set pieces including the original JC Penney Elevator and Escalator used in key scenes in the film; Night of the Living Dead production used camera lights; Evil Dead 2 screen used set pieces including the cabin and workshed; and Netflix’s “Mindhunter” props and set decorations. Legacy exhibits include the Zombie Timeline; the Celebrity Maul of Fame; and select props from the George A. Romero series of Dead films.”
“Seeing Pittsburgh and more specifically the Monroeville Mall get the credit and respect as being the origin point to the zombie archetype and home to the modern horror movie is what drives us to rebuild and expand our attraction,” says Kevin Kriess, owner and curator of Living Dead Museum. “Recent years have seen more calls for a horror museum in the Pittsburgh area and we are ready to answer that call with this new expanded version of the Living Dead Museum.”
The new Living Dead Museum is located on the upper level of Monroeville Mall, near JC Penney’s and directly across from the George A. Romero bust.
Hours are Friday Noon to 8:00PM, Saturday Noon to 8:00PM and Sunday Noon to 6:00PM.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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