Dimock Braces For Zombie Invasion

Scott Detrow

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Scott Detrow is a congressional correspondent for NPR. He also co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Detrow joined NPR in 2015 to cover the presidential election. He focused on the Republican side of the 2016 race, spending time on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, and also reported on the election's technology and data angles.

Detrow worked as a statehouse reporter for member stations WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KQED in San Francisco, California. He has also covered energy policy for NPR's StateImpact project, where his reports on Pennsylvania's hydraulic fracturing boom won a DuPont-Columbia and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2013.

October 27, 2011 | 4:09 PM

Residents of Dimock, Susquehanna County have been through a lot in the last few years. Methane-contaminated well water, costly legal battles.
Something worse is on its way, though: zombies.
The walking dead are set to arrive October 30.
That’s because a group of anti-fracking activists have organized an event called “Zombies Occupy Dimock.” It’s a Halloween-themed protest against natural gas drilling, and the Department of Environmental Protection’s recent decision to allow Cabot Oil and Gas to stop providing water to Dimock residents with methane-contaminated wells.
Why zombies? “It’s Halloween, and these movements don’t pay very well,” explained organizer Alex Lotorto. “So if we don’t have fun going it – if we can’t have fun it’s not worth fighting.”
Lotorto emphasized he’s serious about opposing hydraulic fracturing, but added, “it’s good to have fun.” He helped organize an anti-drilling event in Pittsburgh last year that featured “Count Frackula” and “Frackenstein.”
Lotorto is expecting more than 20 zombies next week. There’s more information on the event’s website.