Back in January I took a trip to Las Vegas with a few friends. While walking around the seedy back streets, we came across a fairly odd little store: The Zombie Apocalypse Store.
Stuck about a mile off the strip, this storefront seems too good to be true (who loves zombies and apocalypses more than me?). In retrospect, it's certainly not what it boasts. It's small and it offers a very limited stock of items. Many of these items are offered at a pretty high markup, and those that are reasonably priced don't seem to be worth too much more than you're paying for them. Still, it was a fun place to stop in for a few moments, and it might be worth a little walk on a lazy Vegas afternoon.
The shop is a clear product of the new uptick in zombie fascination; it looks to reap profit out of a new market rather than actually running on genuine fandom. But whatever. I'm not picky. I was a huge pirate fanatic before
Pirates of the Carribean came out, and when the whole world went pirate crazy, I looked at the plus side--more pirate merchandise for me. You have to look at the zombie craze the same way. But I digress.
The store is small and clearly put together quickly and haphazardly. They've tried their best to make it creative, and it certainly doesn't need a whole lot of flash to be filled with people. Painting "zombie apocalypse store" on the side was pretty much a dinner bell, as the place was teeming with customers when we went. The best part about the store, however, was the sheer comedy created by the fact that the store shares a building (and actually a sales floor) with an artificial grass company. I was particularly entertained by the fake patio setup on the back that looked up at a projection screen playing the zombie flick
Fido. Hilarious.
As far as merch, the place is a start up. They have what they advertise on their sign out front, but that's really it. They had a few cool t-shirts, but they were a little pricey. They had some food rations that looked relatively cool, but again they were a little pricey. They had some cool zombie targets, but we never got a chance to try our hand at the gun range. Where I spent my money was on a freaking sweet knife. Now, to be clear, when I say "freaking sweet", what I really mean is that it was super cheap (like $15) and it looks cool. Is it of good quality? Heck no. I'm sure some sweat shop overlord is counting those fifteen singles and saying "Stupid American" as we speak. Still, it looks cool hanging on a hook next to my sword, so that's all I ask.
Overall, I had a good time, but it wasn't anything worth going out of your way for. If you're in the area and looking to kill time, check it out. If not, skip it. You can get better deals online, and the decor isn't really worth seeing at all...unless you like a sarcastic chuckle...which I do. I will say that it looked like they had just opened when we went, so maybe they'll be better stocked by now. You can check them out online
here. Enjoy!
You ever see those soccer moms with the little stick figure representations of their families slapped to their rear windows? Living on Chicago's north shore, I find this visual to be a regular part of my routine. In fact, there's one person that must drive the exact same route as me because I've seen their stick figure family (pets too!) for over half a decade. When is your stick figure daughter going to have a stick figure baby already? lol.
I'll (hopefully) be attending the Chicago Horror Society theatrical screening of the finale at Muvico, but are you thinking of throwing your own party for the Walking Dead season 2 finale this Sunday? If so, the internet has some fun party ideas for you and your attendees. 
The store is small and clearly put together quickly and haphazardly. They've tried their best to make it creative, and it certainly doesn't need a whole lot of flash to be filled with people. Painting "zombie apocalypse store" on the side was pretty much a dinner bell, as the place was teeming with customers when we went. The best part about the store, however, was the sheer comedy created by the fact that the store shares a building (and actually a sales floor) with an artificial grass company. I was particularly entertained by the fake patio setup on the back that looked up at a projection screen playing the zombie flick Fido. Hilarious.
As far as merch, the place is a start up. They have what they advertise on their sign out front, but that's really it. They had a few cool t-shirts, but they were a little pricey. They had some food rations that looked relatively cool, but again they were a little pricey. They had some cool zombie targets, but we never got a chance to try our hand at the gun range. Where I spent my money was on a freaking sweet knife. Now, to be clear, when I say "freaking sweet", what I really mean is that it was super cheap (like $15) and it looks cool. Is it of good quality? Heck no. I'm sure some sweat shop overlord is counting those fifteen singles and saying "Stupid American" as we speak. Still, it looks cool hanging on a hook next to my sword, so that's all I ask.
