The Strange World Of Zombie Walks

The rise of the internet and social networking has helped encourage the spread of some pretty weird and wonderful activities, but perhaps none as eccentric as ‘Zombie Walks’. For those of you that haven’t heard of this phenomenon, it basically refers to any organized event where zombie fanatics meet up dressed as the undead, and then proceed to go on a walk through a pre-determined route. Most of the walks take place in busy metropolitan centres. The zombie walkers pay a lot of attention to the quality and authenticity of their zombie outfits, and go to great lengths to perfect their zombie walking style and zombie moaning. As you can imagine, the sight of 80 to 100 zombies walking through your town centre is enough to strike the fear of god into most people, and the activity has created quite a lot of controversy as a result!

So how did this strange phenomenon come about in the first place? Well, the very first zombie walk was held back in 2001 in Sacramento, in the United States. It was organised by Bryna Lovig and it held the official title of ‘The Zombie Parade’. The event was so successful that it quickly became an annual event in the city. This first walk was actually commercial in nature- the idea was to promote a specific film festival in the area, but the idea was soon taken up by non-commercial organisations as well. As time has passed the zombie walks have become more and more sophisticated. Some of the walkers even ‘re-enact’ scenes from classic zombie films! In such cases people will be designated the task of acting ‘the victim’- they will wear easily ‘tear-able’ human clothes, and upon a specific signal these poor victims will be ‘attacked’ by the mob of zombies. Of course, this is all staged, but must be one hell of a sight nonetheless!

In recent years the phenomenon has gained even greater popularity (some would say notoriety) to the extent that most big international cities have now played host to such events. There’s no doubt that popular social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, have helped to spread the word. The current world record for the biggest zombie walk stands at 9,806 participants, a record that was set in November 2011 in Mexico, but even now there are plans for a Zombie Walk with over 20,000 participants!

Although the exact motivation behind this activity can only be guessed at, one thing is for sure. This is one phenomenon that’s here to stay! Let’s just hope that the zombies don’t take over the entire planet!

About Matt

Matt runs a site that is dedicated to finding the very best zombie costumes and accessories out there. You’ll also find one or two zombie related articles there as well! You can find the site at:

http://www.scaryzombiecostumes.co.uk