Today, Saturday 9 May 2009, is International Zombie Day. I didn’t know until a very amused friend called me from Melbourne to say he turned a corner and walked into a throng of the living dead parading through the streets. He managed to safely tuck himself away in the cinema and managed to escape with his brain intact.
Looks like a normal bunch of people going home after a big night out!
Now of course, had I done my homework, I would have known all about this great day, unofficially established in 2003 but really kicking into gear in 2005, and I would have been out there in the thick of things with my Zombie Survival Kit in hand. I’m currently at home boarding up the doors and windows just in case. It’s only a small brain but it might be tasty and they’re not bloody getting it!
Always be prepared!
The day, which is also known as the zombie walk, zombie mob, zombie march, zombie horde, zombie lurch, zombie shamble, zombie shuffle or zombie pub crawl is an organised public gathering of strange but somehow loveable people who dress up in costumes (including axes in heads and zombified children from my friend’s eyewitness account) that take place in urban areas where said zombies make their way around the city streets and through shopping centres in a nice disorderly fashion groaning, grrring and aaarghing their way to cemeteries and other public places that attract the dead, the undead and the living dead including the odd pub. Well the pubs would be a bit odd when they started to fill with Zombies. I’m having a flash of Shawn of the Dead picturing it.
According to good old Wikipedia, zombie walks have become commonplace in large cities, and are now annual traditions which have been promoted mainly through word-of-mouth. During the march all of those participating are encouraged to stay in character and communicate with each other in a manner consistent with zombie behavior; grunting, groaning and calling out for ‘brains’. According to my mate, his first realisation that something was afoot was the sound of mass groaning – which in the middle of winter in Melbourne probably wouldn’t have sounded much out of the ordinary.
Sometimes zombies in the mobs will ‘cannibalise’ victims to create new zombies, in sight of onlookers. This includes planting ‘victims’ who appear as an ordinary human wearing old, tearable clothes. As the zombie mob grabs them, they loudly feed, concealing him or her from view, they then tear the clothes and quickly apply makeup and fake blood, to create a new zombie. What a hoot!
The first documented non-commercial zombie walk was held in October, 2003, in Canada. It was organised by local horror movie fan Thea Munster (gotta love the name), and had only six participants. By 2007 the Toronto Zombie Walk drew a crowd of more than 1,100 zombies, and at the time, was the largest zombie walk on record.
On October 15, 2005, the first annual Zombie Pub Crawl was held in Minneapolis. Approximately 150 zombies staggered from bar to bar and has grown in numbers each year.
On October 30, 2008, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the largest site of zombies anywhere in the world. More than 4,000 zombies participated. They were also asked to donate canned goods to a local food bank. Grand Rapids shattered the former world record of 1,375 zombies.
Now, in very unzombie-like behavior, many of the walks have been organized to raise awareness or money for community service events, the most common being blood drives.
Just another ordinary day in Melbourne
Who knew zomblies could be so civic-minded? Still, I would’ve given anything to see some of the faces in the crowd. I wonder how many ran home scared shitless thinking that they were about to have their brains eaten?But I think if they actually thought they were real their brains would be a bit tough and leathery to chew on.
Next year, I’m in! Braaaaaiiiiiiinsssss……. Yum!
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This is the coolest thing I have ever heard of, and I say in 2010 it’s you and me hunting for brains all night! I’ll come to you. The uptight conservative atmosphere in my hometown is not very welcoming to the undead or the walking dead.
Isn’t it cool! Next year we will zombie out with the best of them!
Priceless! Now that’s a parade I’d go see.
Wow … I feel embarrassed to say it, but I’ve never heard of this! So there are SELECT zombies in Melbourne? I thought the whole city was overrun with them
I’ll have to investigate next year for the Sydney shuffle of the dead!
Thanks for the dead heads up Cheryl!
Who knew Zombies threw parties ha!
Yes, Melbourne … city of the dead, or people who wish they were dead. There’s that much violence on the streets now, that last shot does look like it could’ve been taken any night of the week.
I love Melbourne Sgt-Pembry. These pics look more like Canberra to me