Fans gather for Horror Realm convention in Bethel Park
In case a scenario similar to what is portrayed in “Night of the Living Dead” should actually take place, the Pennsylvania Zombie Response Team has your back.
“We teach people about preparing for a zombie apocalypse: how to live off the grid, how to think outside the box; what to do, what not to do; where to go, where not to go,” Roger Paulish said.
Dressed in his PAZRT uniform, he joined daughter, Adrianna, in greeting visitors to the Horror Realm convention held March 6-8 at Crowne Plaza Suites Pittsburgh South in Bethel Park.
Those who stopped to ask Paulish about the response team soon learned of its practical purpose.
“Basically, what we do is make preparing for disasters fun, using zombies as a way to make it fun,” he said.
And so the concept of facing off against creatures shambling around muttering, “brains” becomes applicable to more plausible – and by extension, more frightening – scenarios such as invasion, economic collapse and natural and man-made disasters.
“If you are prepared and you know how to live without electricity, without running water, natural gas, and you can live off the grid if a disaster happens,” Paulish said, “then you’re not one of the victims.”
The McKees Rocks resident is among the 3,800 or so Pennsylvanians who participate in the PAZRT, and they also have a history of raising money for charity. During Horror Realm, the Paulishes sold purses and “Chiller Theater” T-shirts to benefit Ellie’s Pet Pantry, which assists families that have fallen on hard times by supplying food for their pets.
Overall, the three-day event drew fans of the horror genre to browse through selections of related products and to meet some of the folks who make it all happen.
Fans were thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with Tom Savini, the famed actor, stunt performer, director and prosthetic makeup artist who worked on many of the late George Romero’s films. In fact, Savini directed the 1990 remake of Romero’s original “Night of the Living Dead.”
In 2000, he started Tom Savini’s Special Make-Up Effects Program at the Douglas Education Center in Monessen, a learning opportunity he often discusses with young people who are looking to follow in his footsteps.
“The parents love the idea that it’s a degree program. It’s 16 months, so we’re not kidding around,” he said, compared with much shorter, less comprehensive courses of study.
In his pocket, he carries a folded “We Change Lives” list of some of the films, TV shows and companies with which his students have worked, including “Pirates of the Caribbean,” both “Deadpool” movies, “Saturday Night Live,” “Stranger Things” and Distortions Unlimited, a Colorado firm that manufactures professional Halloween animatronics and masks.
“They’re photographing everything they do and creating a portfolio,” he said about students’ school projects. “And then if they want to get work, they put those portfolios in front of people who can help or hire them. Now, you never know when you’re going to meet those people, so you have to have your portfolio with you at all times: a flash drive on a key chain, a hard copy in your car.
“That’s how the two biggest things that happened in my life happened, because I had a portfolio in the car and was able to show it to people.”