Zombie Walk

The best event in Vancouver that is fan for spectators and patrons. I’ve missed a few in a row due to other events, however, when I do participate there’s something unique about playing pretend. With the current trend of Zombies these days the number yearly for this event grows.
The looks on people’s faces is priceless.

This was fun. FUN! I actually avoided attending it for years because despite my love of dressing up, i hate crowds and am usually far too goth (ie: susceptible to heat stroke) to think it would be a good idea, but i wisely carried water, layered up with sunscreen (er, after slathering myself in makeup i’m not too sure what the point to it was though!) and wore something cool.
Even if you just throw on some fake blood and pale makeup or get makeup done by the on-​site zombiefiers, you’re STILL going to look awesome and not at all like you half assed it because you are IN A SEA OF FREAKING ZOMBIES. Strength in numbers, yo. Lex B and me were in the middle of the crowd at the very top of the hill on Robson. We looked behind us and saw the zombie crowd going all the way down to Burrard, and in front of us the crowd way ahead had already started to turn down Denman. If we got this serious about political protests or environmental issues we could change the world, but having fun dressed up as zombies is rad too.
The funniest part was seeing kids who get way too into it. Like, I saw this kid dressed up as a zombie hunter and running around with a fake gun shooting everyone. Even fellow zombie hunters. This is probably the only place left on earth that children can go on toy gun, imaginary shooting sprees without being suspended from all social activities and being labelled a delinquent!
Hell, this applies to adults too. Do you know how many very outgoing people i saw get way into character and run at tourists, waving their arms and making growling noises? Who HASN’T thought of yelling at the tourists downtown at least once in their life?! Well friends, mark Zombie Walk down on your calendar, cause this is your chance!

brrrraaaaiiiinnnnnssss brains brains grrawrrrhhh brains uuugh brains grrawrrrr brains.
Which in English is, the Zombie Walk is always a really fun way to spend a Saturday, get covered in blood and drag your partially decayed body down the streets of Vancouver.
Over the years you get better at understanding what makes for a good zombie, usually lots of blood, light clothing as it tends to be a hot, sunny day, lots of water, a fair amount of death, some skin, a bit of oozing puss and some comfortable walking shoes. If you’re a fan of yelling brains or some form of zombie screech I suggest ricola, they tend to sooth sore lungs with lemony freshness.
My big lesson from years past is don’t use corn syrup blood. It never fully dries and tends to be a sticky mess. As I said, it’s usually pretty hot on the zombie walk so you just end up a sticky disgusting mess of yuck.
Other than that, I love that it started later this year, meant that we could take a nice slow morning getting ready, drag our corpses to the walk, walk, have dinner and then shamble over to Zombie-​a-​go-​go.
brains.

I can’t believe I didn’t see this until now! I’ve been to every Vancouver Zombie walk since 2006 and it’s always a blast! Really, what could be more fun than dressing up as a zombie (or zombie hunter) and shambling through the streets of downtown Vancouver, blocking traffic and frightening small children and the elderly?

Twice a year Vancouver runs out of fake blood and face paste. Obviously we also get our candy on the 31^st of October, but one weekend in August we eat BRAINS. Whether they be made of cauliflower, instant oatmeal, or your mothers womb, the zombie walkers fiend for them with the same enthusiasm as a dolled up six year old.
The past two years of Zombie walking have led everyone from the art gallery to English Bay, with a trail of corn syrup and various food stuffs died bloody all over cars, storefronts, street signs, clothing, and anything unprotected from this sacrilegious march. Guys and girls dress up for their friends, facebook, or at times their portfolios, to stumble all over traffic, on to busses, in to cafes, and so forth. «Zombie Hunters» and the various volunteers stage killings of those who get a bit too reckless in their moment of undead revelry.
The whole event is really fun! Tourists and locals alike are both shocked and excited by the site of over five hundred extroverted ghouls drenched in blood and gore. For more information on how you can join in the fun or witness the parade next year, look up Flash Mob Vancouver. They also do pillow fights!

I was a Zombie virgin… until Saturday. With our camping trip postponed we decided to check out the Zombie Walk. It’s surprising we’d never gone before as most of our friends are Zombie veterans. We showed up on the wrong side of the Art Gallery and only found a drum circle (surely they’d be the first to go in a Zombie war) and protesters. Then we spotted one of our own: a walking undead heading towards Georgia St. As we rounded the corner to the north side of the Art Gallery we found our brethren EN MASSE!
So here’s what we learnt on our first foray into zombiedom;
1) Take the bus. Unsuspecting passengers love it and traffic downtown on Saturday is a bitch.
2) If you discover that your tube of fake blood’s gone MIA you can improvise with corn syrup and red food colouring
3) Red food colouring washes out of clothes easily.
4) A head of cauliflower on a plate looks surprisingly like brains and makes for a nice, light snack should you get peckish.
5) Zombie children are cute and zombie dogs are funny.
6) Wear comfortable footwear. Shuffling and dragging your feet from the Art Gallery to English Bay is harder than it looks.
7) There are many versions of zombies from relatively fresh ones like us to incredibly putrefied-​flesh hanging off-​soaked in enough blood to rival Carrie-​monsters.
8) If you don’t want to be a zombie you can be a zombie killer.
9) Bring a camera. Zombies are photo whores.
10) Bystanders with little babies giggle when you grunt ‘Snack’ at their child.
11) Tourists LOVE zombies.
12) Most drivers don’t seem to mind having their vehicle smeared in fake blood.
13) If you are in a car and you come across a zombie invasion pull over and enjoy the entertainment.
14) Honking will only attract zombies to your car.
15) Zombies are not shy so if you don’t want to get smeared in fake blood keep a safe distance and stay quiet.
16) The Zombie Walk is fun for the whole undead family!

What is more fun than getting dressed up in ripped white clothes and rolling around in a pool of blood? If your answer to that is nothing, then you better gets your BRAAAAAAAAAAAAINS over to the Vancouver Zombie Walk!
This annual flash-​mob occurs once every summer in August, when the dead walk the street leaving a trail of sticky corn-​syrup blood behind them. Everyone meets at the Vancouver Art Gallery, where there is usually some people doing makeup for a small fee. We then walk down Robson to Denman and hang out at the beach, scaring tourists and locals. Elderly citizens beware, we are not responsible for heart attacks! Some people dress up in combat gear and bring cap-​guns to add a little more fun to the zombie-​acting. Personally I just wear tall shoes that help make me super wobbly and shaky when I walk, and if you’re hungover enough on a Saturday, you probably don’t even need to dress up.
This year was especially good because the people who organized the walk also organized a cleanup crew to walk behind the mob incase anyone left sticky fingerprints behind, which no one really seemed to this year, which was great! If you are good at grunting and staggering, I highly suggest you check this event out with the other 500+ people that have accepted that they are living zombies. No Thriller music required.