Halloween will arrive early this Saturday, as zombies participating in the 2010 Raleigh Zombie Walk will flood the city streets.
In the fourth annual Raleigh Zombie Walk, participants are expected to dress and act the parts of zombies, zombie hunters, or hapless and helpless victims while lurching around a fixed path in downtown Raleigh at 7 p.m.
According to Rich Livingston, event organizer and self-proclaimed “Shaun of the Dead,” the event is meant to be both a tribute to the classic idea of the zombie and an event for all ages.
“We really want to keep with the classic images of zombies as set by film director George Romero,” said Livingston. “But this is also an event for everyone, regardless of age, and we want people to act accordingly.”
The event, which first started in 2007, began as a collaboration among multiple people who shared an interest in classic horror and the undead.
“It was just a group of people interested in horror and the undead who saw that Raleigh was missing out on something that every major city should have,” said Livingston. “Walking hordes of the undead.”
Livingston said there are two sets of rules for this zombie walk, the main set being the technical rules of the event set in place to keep up the charade.
“Each set of characters has its own purpose. You’ve obviously got your zombies, which shamble after the humans. You’ve got the zombie killers who try to take out the zombies,” said Livingston. “And then you’ve got the marked survivors, which are basically the equivalent of zombie fast-food.”
The other set of rules involves legal and courtesy issues, which Livingston said are important to follow so there can be future zombie walks.
“We want to be sure that people, of course, stay out of traffic and keep their blood off of buildings and sidewalks,” said Livingston. “We also want to be sure they only attack those humans designated as ‘victims.’ Despite their innate desires to consume human flesh, we can’t have them randomly attacking innocent bystanders.”
Larry Graham, a freshman in political science, will be attending the zombie walk as a member of the undead.
“I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I can’t wait to get out and eat some brains,” said Graham. “What would be really awesome is if N.C. State organized a campus-wide game of zombie.”
According to Graham, the game “zombie” has similar rules as the Raleigh Zombie Walk.
A certain number of students are selected to be zombies, who then lurch about while searching for survivors to infect. In order to infect the human survivors, zombies have to grab them with both hands and hold on for at least three seconds.
If they are caught, they are required to turn into zombies and go after the remaining survivors. The last survivor is the winner.
The only method of protection is to attack the zombies on the head with a shortened pool noodle. The survivors in the zombie walk will not have this advantage, and must turn into zombies once bitten.
According to Livingston, at least 300 zombies joined forces in previous zombie walks, and he said he hopes there will be more this year.
“We’re going to have photographers and videographers out helping to spread the word about the night’s events,” said Livingston. “Zombies are entitled to the same rights as humans. All we are asking for is the same civil rights for the undead.”
