Journey into the Odd: The Living Dead Museum
In the quest to visit as many oddities in the united states as possible the Living Dead Museum was definitely a must see. After all, how many museums are their specifically dedicated to zombies? As far as I can tell just the one. Located right on the outskirts of Pittsburg in Evens city Pennsylvania The Living Dead Museum can easily blend in with the rest of the store fronts surrounding it if not for its impressively large stand-out sign that make the museum very visible to passerby’s, but still zombie fans might want to keep both eyes in their sockets in order to not miss it or the parking lot behind the stores.
From the parking lot to the store is just short walk back up to the Museum entrance and it’s easy enough to find the right building as the Living Dead Museum is all boarded up to up to keep out the ravenous flesh eating undead. Upon entering it should come as no surprise that the entire Museum is a one room rented store space split in two, with the front half being a gift shop while the back half is dedicated to the fully visible museum part.
The Museums itself is small, but only costs $5.00, so it takes about 10 minutes to go through at an appreciative pace so you might want to plan on seeing some of the other sights in Pittsburgh while you’re in town. Because of the size there is only so many prob to see, but what they have is impressive. The walls are covered with zombie memorabilia and quick facts about all of them there is a diorama recreation of the Monroeville Mall from Dawn of the dead which is actually located only 30 something minutes from the museum.
There are some more impressive features in the Museum including an old radio playing the original radio broadcasts that were heard in the film Night of the Living Dead, a mural that has the hand prints of all the zombie stars that have visited the museum and several original movie props from various Zombie films in cinema history.
When your through with the museum there is a small theater room where you can watch Night of the Living dead and several documentaries about the filming of the movie. There are no showtimes so what you get is what you get but it’s continuously playing as long as the museum is open. Finally, there is the gift shop which has plenty of zombie memorabilia to choose from but very little in the way of Museum merchandise which some may prefer.
The living Dead Museum is a fun stop for any road trip but any vented adventurer of the bizarre and unknown knows that when looking for attractions that are off the beaten path you’re really going for the experience of something different and not necessarily to be dazzled by something as elaborate as Disneyland. To the average tourist this place might seem underwhelming in comparison to museums like the Smithsonian but the Living Dead Museum has certainly come a long way in the five years its been open. Starting out as a simple mall store word got out about what was going on and soon various individuals began donating actual movie props and money until they were finally able to purchase an actual storefront where they could set up all the fantastic displays they now have. So if your into zombies, oddities or just something a little different and you happen to be driving through Pittsburgh take a detour to evens city and visit the birthplace of the zombie craze just make sure to plan out the rest of your day since the Museum won’t take you that long.
And now you know!
The living Dead Museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays only open upon appointment.
Entrance fee to the Museum is 5.00
Entrance fee to the Museum is 5.00
