I've never lived anywhere before that people go out of their
way to visit. Sure, I grew up in Chicago where millions of tourists flock
yearly to look out over the city from atop the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower and
eat what is unquestionably the world's finest pizza. But they never visited my
neighborhood way out on the Southwest Side, so there weren't people wandering
down my street with expensive cameras dangling off their necks.
But now, suddenly, I find myself in a tourist destination. Senoia,
Georgia looks like that idyllic old-fashioned small town that only exists in your
grandmother's imperfect memory. And apparently the film industry agrees.
Senoia was used as the backdrop for the formerly zombie-free
town of Woodbury in The Walking Dead
Season 3. It's been used as a setting for lots of other TWD episodes, too, including Season 4's infamous Pudding House and the
never ending railroad tracks that everyone finds themselves walking along. And now
they're prepping for at least two more years of TWD filming in my backyard.
On July 7, the Senoia City Council agreed to let Raleigh
Studios build a 15-foot corrugated steel wall around an entire neighborhood
near the downtown area. The buildings in that neighborhood were originally constructed
as a "living backlot" with unique homes that are not only private
residences, but also offer filming locations with a particular look.
Speculation is rampant about exactly what's going to happen
within the wall. The word is that what's inside will not only be a filming
location, but also the wall itself will be a prominent feature in upcoming
episodes. An advantage of this wall is that it will have guarded gates that
keep out "Walker Stalkers" (fans who want to watch filming and
hopefully snag an autograph from one of the show's stars) and those who want to
post online spoilers about upcoming plots.
Filming for Season 5's episodes inside the wall is scheduled
for September through November, 2014. Then last week, the studio went back to the
Senoia City Council and requested permission to extend the length of time the
wall can be up. They asked for 2019, but had to settle for 2016 because this
city council can't approve a project that will extend beyond its time in
office.
What did TWD's huge fan base do upon hearing this exciting
news? They descended upon Senoia in even greater numbers than before. It's a
blast to walk down the street here and see smiling tourists taking pictures of
each other with the town of "Woodbury" over their shoulders. They're
carrying bags of souvenirs from The Walking Dead Store. They're visiting restaurants
in hopes of a celebrity sighting. They're taking Georgia Mercantile's tours of
TWD filming locations. Whenever a motorcycle drives past, everyone cranes their
necks to see if Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon's alterego) is on it.
And if zombies and tourists aren't enough to keep the folks
of Senoia entertained, there have been articles in the local newspapers that a
number of people have spotted a large black or brown panther-like cat prowling
the countryside. It allegedly ate some woman's little dog. It leered at another
woman and her pet cat from a tree. It jumped in front of someone's car. Witnesses
claim the feline is about 5-6 feet long, including the tail. No one knows
whether black panthers are making a reappearance in the State of Georgia or if
maybe this was someone's pet that either escaped or was released because the
owner sobered up and realized he was keeping a freaking panther in his house.
There are still some people who say it's not a big cat, but a coyote.
I want to be the first to put forward another explanation
entirely: The panther is a Walking Dead fan that's just here trying to get
Daryl's autograph like everyone else. And he'd also like to know what's going
on behind that big wall.
Stay tuned for updates about filming, felines, and fans.