RIP, Lawrenceville zombie shop

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The living have departed, and the House of the Dead has gone dark.

The one-stop Lawrenceville shop for all things zombies, conjured from the minds and hearts of Chuck Cramer and Stu Neft, was 5 years old when it fell victim to a decline in local events, a scarcity of merchandise and easy online access to necessities such as zombie makeup kits and survival guides.

The blood-red and pitchblack store at the corner of Butler and Main streets closed its doors for good on Saturday, and the website houseofthedeadpgh.com will go dark this Saturday.

“It was a crazy idea, and the fact that we pulled it off for five years — in retail, that’s a lifetime,” said Mr. Neft, 54.

“No tears,” said Mr. Cramer, 44, who already is working a 9to-5 job “where I don’t have to bartend on the weekend.”

He knows some of the store’s regular customers will be heartbroken over the Dead’s death, but he said the timing is “perfect” to say goodbye, and he is looking forward to being a spectator at the 10-year anniversary of Pittsburgh Zombie Fest in September, when he can join the other zombies and not be saddled to a booth.

“There’s no reason to be sad,” Mr. Cramer said. “It was just a matter of, we were always this niche store. We were never making a lot of money, but we were having a lot of fun.”