Zombies invade Granville

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By Jamie Norton

It was a dangerous and creepy time to be caught between the Pember Library Museum and the Slate Valley Museum on Friday night as zombies, ghosts, ghouls, and other beasts of the netherworld invaded downtown Granville.

In a joint program between the two museums, the “First Friday” festivities – which were actually held on the second Friday this month – were a big hit for kids, Halloween lovers, and zombie enthusiasts. Dozens donned zombie makeup, consumed horror movie-inspired goodies, walked like the undead, and danced to classic Halloween hits in an event that celebrated the popular autumn holiday three weeks before the big day.

“It’s always wonderful to see the whole community come out and celebrate at the museum,” said Krista Rupe, Director of the Slate Valley Museum. “We had zombies in every corner.”

“It was spectacular,” said Pember trustee Rob McGuire, the mastermind of the whole operation. “Everyone seemed to have enjoyed it, and we’re definitely going to do it next year.”

It all began at the Pember. As visitors approached the museum, a headless figure leaned against the museum sign as a warning of things to come. Head up the front stairs, and a basket of undead newborns known as “The Crawling Dead” sent spine-tingling chills through those who dared go any further.

Anyone who actually made it inside was greeted by the truly bizarre. D.J. Skeeter Morse emerged from a nest of spider webs as something of a zombie alien. Nancy Morse was a gut-churning cross between Rainbow Bright and Dr. Frankenstein.

A wicked witch named Cindy Boone, meanwhile, served up a special brand of bloody brew alongside disembodied fingers and eyeballs, while the aroma of freshly cooked worms (which smelled a lot like hot dogs) filled the air.

Artist Wayne Rizzo kept guard of his ghoulish Halloween-themed artwork, which will remain on display through the month of OCTOBER, while Denny Morrisseau, the “Mad Hatter,” and his skeletal guard dog helped.

As the zombies slowly began to invade, anyone who came unprepared could sneak into the side chamber, where Gigi Zeitler was applying zombie makeup for anyone who wanted to disguise themselves to try to blend in. Outside, a group of girls too young yet to be thinking about the afterlife were trying their own camouflage technique by singing “this is how the zombies dance” and performing a loose-limbed shuffle sure to keep the real walking dead off their scent.

There were those, sadly, who weren’t lucky enough to survive the zombie apocalypse, including a zombie doctor, a zombie hockey player, a zombie bride and groom, and even a tiny ghost, among others.

“I saw everything from ghosts to zombies to monsters,” Rupe said. “It was great.”

“I think it’s great that both of the museums are able to host this,” McGuire said. “It creates all this excitement for the evening because they don’t know what to expect at the other end.”

The good news was that eventually, a tiny Batman and Superman showed up to save the day. The bad news: tiny Superman became zombie-fied and joined the ranks of the undead, leaving Batman to fight the good fight all on his own.

The Dark Knight’s plight did, apparently, save the day for the Pember, as eventually all of the zombies – too many to count by now – gathered outside next to the headless figure and began shuffling down Main Street, led away by the “Mad Hatter” and flutist Steven Havel’s “Pii-ed Piper” character. From there, they groaned, moaned and screamed all the way down the street to the shock and horror of local business owners.

Finally, they turned down River Street, and swarmed to the Slate Valley Museum, where the tunes of Ghostbusters and Monster Mash – and an enormous spider (courtesy of Fear This productions’ Rick Sassa) – greeted them before they danced the rest of the night away.

“They were dancing to music that their parents probably listened to,” Rupe said. “I would say it was a big success.”

“Just being there and seeing all the things that were going on,” McGuire said, “I think the fun aspect of it is what will really keep people coming back to it. It was fabulous.”