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PITTSBURG —
It was a normal day at the Pittsburg Public Library, with teens quietly studying in the Young Adult area.
And then the unthinkable happens. Lurching, shambling zombies, hungry for living flesh, invade the library. Panic ensues, until a stalwart young hero has a bright idea on how to get rid of them.
If that sounds like a movie plot, it is. Title is “It Came from the Library,” and it was shot Wednesday at the library.
“We started planning this in August,” said Bev Clarkson, assistant library director. “The theme for Teen Read Week is ‘It Came from the Library,’ and zombies are very popular right now. We thought, why just watch a zombie movie, why don’t we make a zombie movie? We sat down about six weeks ago and came up with a script.”
She said that some of the library’s Young Adult regulars have speaking roles, but why should they have all the fun?
“We opened it up so that any teen in sixth through 12th grades could come in,” Clarkson said.
Teens came in Wednesday after school, with some getting “zombified” with fake blood and bruises by volunteers including Catherine Geiger.
“I’ve done make-up for middle school and high school plays,” she said.
Teens watched Michael Jackson’s music video “Thriller” to get in the mood and munched on popcorn, cookies, candy corn and baby carrots.
“If you’re having a program with teens, you have to feed them,” Clarkson said.
Weston Atwood played with his zombie hand, which will follow off at a strategic moment in the action and crawl across the floor on its own.
“I get the crawling hand because I’m the only one wearing a jacket,” Atwood said. “I didn’t even know this was happening, but my friend Sarah walked up to me and asked me what I was doing. I said nothing, so she said, ‘Come on to the library’. I spent 30 minutes getting made up, and it’s really fun.”
Sarah Walden also recruited friend Nicole Reigle.
“I really like Halloween stuff, so I was up for being a zombie,” Reigle said.
The regular teens, of course, didn’t need any fake blood or scars.
Kim Lambert is the one who comes into the library screaming about the zombie attack.
“I so would have been a zombie, but I wanted a speaking part,” Kim Lambert said. “I’m the freak-out one. I’m usually totally calm, but in this I’m rocking back and forth on the floor and crying.”
It was a normal day at the Pittsburg Public Library, with teens quietly studying in the Young Adult area.
And then the unthinkable happens. Lurching, shambling zombies, hungry for living flesh, invade the library. Panic ensues, until a stalwart young hero has a bright idea on how to get rid of them.
If that sounds like a movie plot, it is. Title is “It Came from the Library,” and it was shot Wednesday at the library.
“We started planning this in August,” said Bev Clarkson, assistant library director. “The theme for Teen Read Week is ‘It Came from the Library,’ and zombies are very popular right now. We thought, why just watch a zombie movie, why don’t we make a zombie movie? We sat down about six weeks ago and came up with a script.”
She said that some of the library’s Young Adult regulars have speaking roles, but why should they have all the fun?
“We opened it up so that any teen in sixth through 12th grades could come in,” Clarkson said.
Teens came in Wednesday after school, with some getting “zombified” with fake blood and bruises by volunteers including Catherine Geiger.
“I’ve done make-up for middle school and high school plays,” she said.
Teens watched Michael Jackson’s music video “Thriller” to get in the mood and munched on popcorn, cookies, candy corn and baby carrots.
“If you’re having a program with teens, you have to feed them,” Clarkson said.
Weston Atwood played with his zombie hand, which will follow off at a strategic moment in the action and crawl across the floor on its own.
“I get the crawling hand because I’m the only one wearing a jacket,” Atwood said. “I didn’t even know this was happening, but my friend Sarah walked up to me and asked me what I was doing. I said nothing, so she said, ‘Come on to the library’. I spent 30 minutes getting made up, and it’s really fun.”
Sarah Walden also recruited friend Nicole Reigle.
“I really like Halloween stuff, so I was up for being a zombie,” Reigle said.
The regular teens, of course, didn’t need any fake blood or scars.
Kim Lambert is the one who comes into the library screaming about the zombie attack.
“I so would have been a zombie, but I wanted a speaking part,” Kim Lambert said. “I’m the freak-out one. I’m usually totally calm, but in this I’m rocking back and forth on the floor and crying.”
Lauren Geiger is another one who gets to panic a lot.
“We’ve never done anything like this before and it’s awesome,” she said.
Geiger hopes the library does something like this again.
“Zombies are cool right now, but there are plenty of other monsters to re-make,” she said.
The young hero who saves the day is Vincent Venturella, 12.
“I’m the leader,” he said. “I come up with a plan. We play music and do the zombie dance.”
The music is Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
“We basically have a zombie conga line out the library,” Clarkson said. “They save the library with a little help from MJ.”
Other cast members include Megan Lee, Cameron Lee and Theresa Page, all zombies.
The movie will now be edited and a premiere is planned at 6 p.m. Oct. 29.
“The premiere will be open to everyone in sixth through 12 grade, and we’re going to let adults come, too,” Clarkson said. “After ‘It Came from the Library,’ we’ll show a classic zombie movie and have popcorn and beverages.”
