Monroeville, Pennsylvania

Monroeville Mall

The Pennsylvania shopping center was once the setting for the 1978 film, "Dawn of the Dead."

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The Monroeville Mall was at center stage in George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Although the mall has been renovated, you can picture how it looked in the 1970s.

Gone are the fountains, most of the plants that adorned the mall, escalators, and unfortunately the clock tower has been removed for now. The only original shop that was seen in the movie is the arcade.

Know Before You Go

Check for hours of operation before going. If you ask one of the security guards nicely, they just may agree to take you on a personal tour of areas where the movie was filmed that aren't open to the public.

If the mall doesn't entice you on its own, also in Monroeville is the Night of the Living Dead Museum. There you can find props, a miniature set of the mall, and actual pieces of the old escalators that were removed.

From there about 10-15 minutes down the road is Evans Cemetery, the site where the Night of the Living Dead series began. Look for the erect headstone that Barbara leaned on and watched as her brother was attacked by a zombie. It's just past the house on top of the hill, on the right-hand side.

The mall is obviously in a built-up part of town, but the museum and the Evans Cemetery is very urban-ish, much like a relaxing country drive.