Zombies hunt for brains in Carytown

Samantha Foster
Spectrum Editor

Zombies have begun their hunt for brains in Richmond.

The 8th Annual Richmond Zombie Walk was held this past Saturday in Carytown. Despite the imposing threat of Hurricane Sandy, people of all ages showed up covered in red corn syrup, prepared to groan their way down Cary Street. The Richmond Zombie Walk is free, but the walking dead are encouraged to donate to the American Cancer Society, the charity of choice for the walk.

Zombie Walks are held nationwide and tend to bring out patrons’ creative sides. Richmond’s version included the average white shirt and jeans zombies, as well as more elaborate costumes, such as men dressed as Sex and the City characters, all complete with a healthy dose of fake blood and plastic severed limbs.

VCU alumnus Billy Davis has been to almost every Richmond Zombie Walk, including the first walk. “It’s a good time to hang out with a whole lot of people and just kind of let loose,” Davis said. He was dressed as a zombie tennis player holding a duffel bag full of intestines and a severed foot.

For some, this zombie walk was their first time sporting fake blood in a public setting. VCU freshman Emily Carr had heard about zombie walks before, and decided to participate on Saturday.

“I knew that zombie walks existed around the country and I wanted to see if there was one in Richmond,” Carr said. “I think that (seeing all the costumes) is the most fun, … but I also think it will be cool for people to be staring at us.”

Richmond Zombie Walk happens every year on the Saturday before Halloween. Zombies limp down Carytown sidewalks, which is lined with shoppers and other bystanders holding cameras and homemade signs.

Brian McDaniel, VCU alumnus and founder of the Dirty Richmond Tumblr blog, attended to photograph the walk.

“I like documenting this,” McDaniel said. “It’s just so fun to see. There are some amazing zombies out here. I had no idea why I had never come here before once I saw it. I think it’s going to be a tradition for me… .”

Instead of the more frightening costumes, McDaniel favored some of the cuter costumes, like a family of candy corn covered in fake blood.

“I like the idea of something so familiar and cute turning into a zombie and turning against you,” McDaniels said.

Other attendees of the zombie walk included an entire wedding party, who finished their ceremony at the Byrd Theatre and exited the theater for posed pictures with the crowd of undead, including Hunter S. Thompson, Santa Claus, Elvis and Van Gogh.

At the Richmond Zombie Walk, almost everything character imaginable was transformed into a costume and then made into a zombie, a level of talent and commitment that intimidates some.

“I think its a matter of commitment; if you commit to it, you have to have an amazing zombie costume,” McDaniels said. “It’s a matter of figuring out what kind of zombie to be.”

View a photo gallery of Zombie Walk below:

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