This last weekend, we drove over 500 miles to go to a drive-in to see movies that we have already seen.
Why?
Well, first of all, the question should be why not? But it really comes down to because of doing something out of the ordinary to have fun and spend time with friends and other like-minded monster fans.
Monster Bash usually has their convention in June, but that couldn’t happen because of the pandemic. Instead, they decided to hold Monster Bash: Under the Stars at the Riverside Drive-In, in Vandergrift, PA, where they screened 6 classic films from the ‘50s over two nights. Since we would have normally taken those days off from work, we decided we might as well use that vacation time and go out and have some fun. Especially when we heard that some other friends decided to do the same thing.
On our way to there, we took a little extra time traveling the backroads of America. Not really intentional but thank the gods for Google Maps! Really amazing some of the roads it will take you on to get you to where you want. We tried to hit the Southside Soda Shop in Goshen, IN, a great little ‘50s diner, but found it was closed “due to unforeseen circumstances”. That kind of sucked since we went out of our way to go there, but we definitely learned our lesson here. Call ahead, folks! Instead, we found a place called Maple Indian Cuisine in Goshen and it was pretty damn tasty! We always like to try the non-chain places because not only do you get to support the mom & pop places, but you get to experience different cuisine.
Originally, we had planned to head east by Cleveland but at the last minute decided to head to Columbus, to finally hit a bookstore that I’ve been wanting to go to for years, called The Book Loft. This place is a book lover’s dream, with 32 rooms of little treasures. That’s not a typo people: 32 rooms of books! It’s almost like E.C. Escher designed this place with little spaces everywhere, separated by small sets of stairs, walls, or dividers. While I didn’t find anything to purchase there (the problem of being an avid collector) but they did have plenty of humorous shirts and book bags. But I was at least able to find a couple of books from the Half Price Books in the area that we stopped at. Always a nice surprise to find something you didn’t know existed, let alone having it already! I remember hearing a quote about book lovers that really hits the mark. It was something about a real book lover doesn’t go into a bookstore looking for one particular title but goes in hoping to find a title they weren’t even looking for. Truth, people.
For dinner, we went to a place called Bakersfield in downtown Columbus, which we didn’t realize was more of trendy place. I don’t mean that in a bad way either but just not the usual places we try and hit. We each got 3 tacos which were small and $4 each. They were good, but I know I could go to any mom & pop taqueria here in Chicago and get twice the food and flavor for about half the price. Again, lesson learned.
We drove a little further towards Pittsburgh before stopping for the night, staying in Cambridge, OH. Here’s another travel tip, folks. We always try to stay in an affordable place, but you want to make sure you’re not going to be murdered in the night while you sleep. Always check the reviews and sometimes paying a little bit more is worth it. We stayed in a Fairfield Inn, which was quite nice. The next morning, while going to fill up our gas tank, the gas station was next to the hotel I had looked at before because rates were only like $45 a night. And by these pictures, you can see why. One of the reviews we read said someone tried to break in though the window during the night while they were trying to sleep!
Once we got to our final destination and checked in, we headed over to the Riverside Drive-In to get our spot and wait for the fun to start! The weather was always threatening rain but other it being very sunny and a bit warm, we had no other weather issues. Another tip for fans that have never been to one of these late-night drive-in events. While it may be warm and toasty during the day, once the sun goes down, so does the temps. And even it only gets down to the 70s, you’ll feel the cold. Make sure you bring warm clothes and blankets because you most likely will need them.
The films that were screened were I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958), War of the Worlds (1953), and Hammer’s Curse of Frankenstein (1957) on Friday. On Saturday, it was Revenge of the Creature (1955), This Island Earth (1955), and The Thing That Wouldn’t Die (1958). Between each feature was some classic Warner Bros. cartoons, Stooges and Little Rascals shorts, and other little vignettes. It was great seeing War of the Worlds on the big screen since that has always been a childhood favorite of mine, not to mention getting to see Curse for the second time at a drive-in!!!
There were a few vendors set up and plenty of stuff to do while we waited for the movies to start. Two of our friends Aaron and Kat flew out from St. Louis to come to this event, even though they went through hell just to make the trip. Apparently finding rental cars is impossible now and they ended up having to rent a U-Haul van! But they made it! That is dedication. Some friends of theirs (and now our friends) drove out from St. Louis, deciding on camping out at the drive-in all weekend. On Saturday, we decided to spend the afternoon heading to some important landmarks in the area. If you are in the Pittsburgh area, there are more than a few of those, but due to time constraints, we only hit two.
The first and really most important one is the Evans City Cemetery, where the original Night of the Living Dead was filmed over 40 years ago. While being very respectful of the area, we were able to show our fellow zombie fan friends the famous tombstones that are featured in the movie, and how close they are to each other, even though in the film they seemed to be a bit farther apart. My family and I had made the trip out there back in 2009, so this wasn’t something new to me, but being able to experience the excitement of it through others really like being there once again for the first time. Kind of like watching a film you’ve seen before but watching it with a friend who hasn’t. It isn’t the same, but it’s close.
We next headed to famous Monroeville Mall, which is where Romero’s sequel, Dawn of the Dead (1978), was featured in most of the picture. While it does pretty much look like any other mall in the states, it is the same place. Plus, they have put up a bust of Romero in there which is really cool because at least they are signifying the importance of the film and its main location. There is also the Living Dead Museum (located on the second floor above where the bust is located) where you can see props and pieces of the mall that was featured in Dawn, as well as picking up some cool T-shirts there.
We had hoped to hit some other locations in the area, but it was time to get back to the hotel to get ready for a second night of fun.
While it was great to see these movies on the big screen, the best part of this whole weekend was hanging out with friends. Whether we’re talking about movies, stuff going on in our lives, or whatever else, it is being around these people that really makes driving out 500 miles one-way to see these pictures that I actually own on DVD or Blu-ray. Granted, seeing them on the big screen at the drive-in is cool as hell too. So yes, it really is worth the trip. Because while you can watch these flicks any time day or night, you cannot replace the time spent with friends and enjoying their company. Especially since we lost the last year or more due to the pandemic, it was a nice return to normality that we all desperately needed. Thanks to Ron Adams and the whole Monster Bash family for putting on this event.
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Sounds like you had a great time – Nice!
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