Zombie walks have become relatively common in large cities, especially in North America, often becoming annual traditions, though some are also spontaneous "flash mob" events[1] or performance art. Promoted primarily through word of mouth and online message boards, zombie walks are an underground activity. During the event participants are encouraged to remain in character as zombies and to communicate only in a manner consistent with zombie behavior. This may include grunting, groaning and slurred, moaning calls for 'brains'. Zombie behavior is a hot topic of debate. Purists who draw their definitions from the original Romero Living Dead films will claim that a zombie would never have the ability to call for 'brains' and furthermore that a zombie needs only living or freshly killed flesh for its sustenance, and not the brain in particular.
The complexity and purpose of some zombie walks have grown and changed with their popularity. An advanced technique to heighten interest and realism, some zombie mobs will "eat" victims to create new zombies, in sight of onlookers.[2] The better coordinated zombie mobs will establish a route and an easily recognizable signal, so that other participants can plant themselves, appearing as an otherwise ordinary human, along the route in old, tearable clothes, and as the mob shambles along it can discover and devour new victims. As the zombies surround the new victim to loudly feed, concealing him or her from witnesses' view, they tear clothes and quickly apply makeup and fake blood, to create a new zombie, who then shambles along with the ever-expanding pack to find new victims. Some participants occasionally dress up as soldiers who are called in to contain the outbreak, or survivors who are trying to defend themselves from the onslaught of the zombie horde. Some events are staged as spoof political rallies organized "to raise awareness of zombie rights", with participants carrying placards.[3] Many zombie walks have also been staged as "hunger marches" with the intent of raising awareness of world hunger and collecting items for food banks.[4][5]
History
The earliest zombie walk on record was held on August 19, 2001 in Sacramento, California.[6][7] The event, billed as "The Zombie Parade," was the brain-child of Bryna Lovig, who suggested it to the organizers of The Trash Film Orgy[8] as a way to promote their annual midnight film festival. It was held again on July 27, 2002 and has since become an annual event.[9]
The first zombie gathering run as a non-promotional event and billed as a "Zombie Walk" was held in October 2003, in Toronto,Ontario.[10] It was organized by local horror movie fan, Thea Munster, and had only six participants.[11] In subsequent years the Toronto Zombie Walk grew tremendously in size.[12][13] One of the first participants in the Toronto Zombie Walk, Heather McDermid, moved to Vancouver, B.C. and spread the zombie walk tradition to that city.[14] On August 27, 2005 over 400 participants proceeded through Vancouver's Pacific Centre Mall, travelled on the SkyTrain (referred to for the event as the "SkyBrain" or the "BrainTrain") and continued 35 blocks to Mountain View Cemetery.[15]
The mid to late 2000's saw an exponential gain in popularity for zombie walks due largely to the increase of successful zombie films at the time, the Resident Evil movies, 28 Days Later, Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, George A. Romero's Land of the Dead, and Zombieland being a few examples. Documentation of the phenomenon appeared in mainstream news media[16] and blogs, such as Boingboing. Zombie walks soon spread across North America and to cities around the globe, such as Mar del Plata, Argentina.[17]
On October 29, 2006, 894 "zombie walkers" gathered at the Monroeville Mall outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which served as the set of George A. Romero's classic zombie film Dawn of the Dead, to participate in Pittsburgh's first annual 'Walk of the Dead.'[18] In addition to setting a Guinness World Record, the event was a benefit for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Pittsburgh's zombie walk has since grown into an annual horror festival called Zombie Fest. Zombie Fest is organized byThe It's Alive Show, a local Pittsburgh late night horror and science fiction television program.[19] The Pittsburgh festival plays host to the annual 'Walk of the Dead' as well as a zombie ball, costume contest, concerts, and celebrity guest appearances.Zombie Fest also serves as the headquarters of The It's Alive Show's World Zombie Day, a world hunger charity event.[20]
Zombie walks are also a regular occurrence at ZomBcon, "The World's First Zombie Convention." ZomBcon takes place every October in Seattle, Washington. Apart from zombie walks, ZomBcon also features panel discussions with zombie authors, actors, and artists, workshops, film screenings, and other activities for zombie fans.[21] ZomBcon also organizes Seattle's annual ‘Red, White, and Dead’ zombie walk every July.[22]
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