The Dead Rise! (For A Good Cause)

You've been warned!

Yesterday saw the 6th annual shuffling of the Brisbane Zombie Walk. The event is run annually to raise money for the Brain Foundation and has become an incredibly popular and fun afternoon out. This year it was hoped that we little Aussies might have the honour of holding the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of zombies and we certainly came together to give it a fair go!

Naturally, news of a zombie outbreak in my fair city spurred me to action and with grim determination I set about chronicling the events as they unfolded. Fortune smiled upon me as The Man of Steele graced me with his presence and we were able to head into the fray with the heightened confidence of knowing we had each other’s back. The one thing we did not foresee was the horde that greeted us as we made our way to the source of the menace…

Where there's Umbrella, there's trouble...

After our sighting of zombie Potter on the train, we followed the shambling undead as they were drawn like steel to the magnet of human flesh. When we passed the two “ever vigilant” Umbrella Corporation grunts near the first barricade, we knew that things would be getting out of hand in short order. The Man of Steele and I scoped out the situation as the zombies seemed to live up to the stereotype portrayed in the movies; milling around the park, seemingly oblivious to the world around them.

All at once the zombies seemed to gain some kind of direction and leadership. Their attentions turned toward a leader of sorts and they began to shuffle with intent!

Everyday I'm...

The swarm moved as one, with some zombies more active than others. There were a couple of real screamers – maybe some kind of genetic mutation that was stuck halfway between life and un-life. Even more oddly, the zombies paid no heed to those amongst them who were still alive. Indeed, those who were crazy enough to be moving amongst the legion seemed to be armed to the teeth with weapons AND attitude!

Should I tell him this is a no smoking area?

And so, The Man of Steele and I managed to keep ahead of the cadaver contingent for the most part. They ambled, stumbled, shuffled and staggered through the streets of Brisbane and along the way we kept a keen eye on these ravenous, mindless creatures. You never know when they’ll turn on you!

I can haz Brainburger?

Amongst the masses we identified a few well-known faces. It seemed that all realms of reality and fantasy are vulnerable to zombification. Michael Jackson was an absolute Thriller (badum-TISH), Pikachu and Mr Squiggle conversed as only the newly undead can. Batman, The Joker, The Riddler and Catwoman all found common ground in their newfound desire for braaaiiinnnsss and unfortunately even the fairy tales were no place to escape to when zombies want to feed. Alas, poor Snow White, Dorothy and the inhabitants of Oz!

All in all, the afternoon was a complete success. There were dismembered limbs, blood and open wound effects that could easily be seen in big budget movies and some truly ingenious, creative and hilarious costumes. I hope that the event managed to score the World Record, but more importantly I am glad to see that thousands of dollars were raised by the generous undead who made Sunday afternoon such a treat!

If you’d like to see some fantastic pictures, please check out the Flickr gallery of one of my friends. For now though I’ll leave you with a couple of parting shots:

We could all use one...

If Wally's not safe, what chance do we have?!