Should Pittsburgh Be Home To A Horror Movie Museum?

PITTSBURGH, PA - Pittsburgh already is home to a dizzying number of museums. Some you undoubtedly are aware of, while others somehow survive while flying largely under the radar.

Might there room for one more?

The city is home to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum, the Frick Art and Historical Center and the Heinz History Center.

There’s also the Clemente Museum in Lawrenceville, the Car and Carriage Museum in Point Breeze, the Kelso Bible Lands Museum in East Liberty and the Bayernhof Museum in O’Hara.

There surely are a sufficient amount of museums already. So is it folly to suggest that Pittsburgh should be the home of an American horror movie museum?

The concept was buried deep in a New York Times article last week on Romero Lives!, the citywide effort celebrating the life of one of the most famous horror directors in cinematic history: the late George Romero, who called Pittsburgh home and filmed his most famous movies in southwestern Pennsylvania.

The idea has been floated by the George A. Romero Foundation. The philanthropic organization is dedicated to honoring Romero’s work and cultural influence while supporting filmmakers and artists inspired by his considerable legacy.

Romero, of course, directed the most famous horror movies filmed in southwestern Pennsylvania - “Night of the Living Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.” But plenty of other scary films were shot here, reinforcing the notion that Pittsburgh would be an appropriate locale for a horror movie museum.

The list, while certainly not inclusive, includes Romero’s “The Crazies,” (1973), “Martin” (1977) and the 1982 Romero-Stephen King team-up “Creepshow.”

Also filmed in and around Pittsburgh were 1988’s “FleshEater,” 1990’s “Two Evil Eyes,” 1991’s “Silence of the Lambs,” (perhaps not a horror movie in the truest sense, but still plenty scary), 1991’s “Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh,” 1992’s “Innocent Blood,” 1993’s “The Dark Half,” 1999’s “Stigmata,” 2002’s “The Mothman Prophecies,” 2009’s “Sorority Row,” 2011’s “River of Darkness” and 2012’s “Scream Park.”

That’s a significant number of movies, so it’s easy to advance the argument that if a horror movie museum isn’t located in Hollywood then Pittsburgh would be the most appropriate place to put a place paying homage to classic horror films.

There might be some economic benefit to doing so. As the Times article noted, the horror genre has a large and loyal following. Popular horror tourist stops include the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, which inspired “The Shining,” and Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in New Jersey, renamed Camp Crystal Lake for the “Friday the 13th” movie franchise.

Would horror enthusiasts flock to a Pittsburgh horror movie museum? Why not? They could easily visit it and several other nearby horror movie shrines.

One is the cemetery in Evans City, Butler County, where Romero shot one one of the most famous scenes in horror movie history for “Night of the Living Dead.” The other is Monroeville Mall, where Romero filmed much of its sequel, “Dawn of the Dead,” and where a bust of the late director is displayed.

Many details obviously would have to be worked out. But it doesn’t seem that having a horror movie museum in Pittsburgh would be anything close to a horrible idea.

Photo: Getty Images.

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