The Classic Zombie Movie That Inspired “Early Sunsets Over Monroeville” by My Chemical Romance

At an October 2026 show, My Chemical Romance played a song for the first time in 20 years. That song was “Early Sunsets Over Monroeville”, a deep cut from their 2002 debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.

The song is one of the more subdued tracks on Bullets, giving the listener a break from its more intense tracks. It’s also a love song with a gruesome twist.

Dawn of the Dead

“Early Sunsets Over Monroeville” was inspired by George A. Romero’s classic 1978 zombie movie Dawn of the Dead. The movie was filmed in a mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. Romero was living and working in the area at the time.

“The man and his love are hiding from the living dead, who are coming to kill them,” Way once explained. “Since the town is surrounded by mountains, they cannot get out. The living dead attacks the woman, and she turns into one of them. Though he loves her, he is faced with the difficult reality—he must take a gun to her in order to survive and ‘End this direst.’ Because she loved him and he loved her, the decision to kill her made ‘things harder at best.’”

The song opens with an idyllic picture of romance, just like one in the movies. Way sings about “holding hands” when “life was perfect, just like up on the screen.” The lyrics also describe the mall where the couple is hiding, a place he’s sure they’re safe: “Up and down escalators, pennies and colder fountains/Elevators and half price sales, trapped in by all these mountains.” But things take a turn. The couple is attacked by zombies, and the woman is bitten and begins to turn.

“Not knowing you changed from just one bite/I fought them all off just to hold you close and tight.” The man wrestles with the prospect of shooting his now-undead lover. He notes her “vacant and stained” eyes and asks, “And would anything matter if you’re already dead?“

Some have also interpreted “Early Sunsets Over Monroeville” as being about vampires, and although that’s not what Way had in mind, it does fit with the lyrics, particularly the line about being changed by a bite.

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